# dumpkeys

## NAME



           dumpkeys - dump keyboard translation tables
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **dumpkeys**[OPTIONS]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **dumpkeys** writes, to the standard output, the current contents of
           the keyboard driver's translation tables, in the format specified
           by keymaps(5).
    
           Using the various options, the format of the output can be
           controlled and also other information from the kernel and the
           programs dumpkeys(1) and loadkeys(1) can be obtained.
    


## OPTIONS



           **-h --help**
                  Prints the program's version number and a short usage
                  message to the program's standard error output and exits.
    
           **-i --short-info**
                  Prints some characteristics of the kernel's keyboard
                  driver. The items shown are:
    
                  Keycode range supported by the kernel
    
                         This tells what values can be used after the **keycode**
                         keyword in keytable files. See keymaps(5) for more
                         information and the syntax of these files.
    
                  Number of actions bindable to a key
    
                         This tells how many different actions a single key
                         can output using various modifier keys. If the value
                         is 16 for example, you can define up to 16 different
                         actions to a key combined with modifiers. When the
                         value is 16, the kernel probably knows about four
                         modifier keys, which you can press in different
                         combinations with the key to access all the bound
                         actions.
    
                  Ranges of action codes supported by the kernel
    
                         This item contains a list of action code ranges in
                         hexadecimal notation.  These are the values that can
                         be used in the right hand side of a key definition,
                         ie. the _vv_ 's in a line
    
                                **keycode** _xx_ = _vv vv vv vv_
    
                         (see keymaps(5) for more information about the
                         format of key definition lines).  dumpkeys(1) and
                         loadkeys(1) support a symbolic notation, which is
                         preferable to the numeric one, as the action codes
                         may vary from kernel to kernel while the symbolic
                         names usually remain the same. However, the list of
                         action code ranges can be used to determine, if the
                         kernel actually supports all the symbols loadkeys(1)
                         knows, or are there maybe some actions supported by
                         the kernel that have no symbolic name in your
                         loadkeys(1) program. To see this, you compare the
                         range list with the action symbol list, see option
                         **--long-info** below.
    
                  Number of function keys supported by kernel
    
                         This tells the number of action codes that can be
                         used to output strings of characters. These action
                         codes are traditionally bound to the various
                         function and editing keys of the keyboard and are
                         defined to send standard escape sequences. However,
                         you can redefine these to send common command lines,
                         email addresses or whatever you like.  Especially if
                         the number of this item is greater than the number
                         of function and editing keys in your keyboard, you
                         may have some "spare" action codes that you can bind
                         to AltGr-letter combinations, for example, to send
                         some useful strings. See loadkeys(1) for more
                         details.
    
                  Function strings
    
                         You can see you current function key definitions
                         with the command
    
                                **dumpkeys --funcs-only**
    
           **-l -s --long-info**
                  This option instructs **dumpkeys** to print a long information
                  listing. The output is the same as with the **--short-info**
                  appended with the list of action symbols supported by
                  loadkeys(1) and dumpkeys(1), along with the symbols'
                  numeric values.
    
           **-n --numeric**
                  This option causes **dumpkeys** to by-pass the conversion of
                  action code values to symbolic notation and to print the in
                  hexadecimal format instead.
    
           **-f --full-table**
                  This makes **dumpkeys** skip all the short-hand heuristics (see
                  keymaps(5)) and output the key bindings in the canonical
                  form. First a keymaps line describing the currently defined
                  modifier combinations is printed. Then for each key a row
                  with a column for each modifier combination is printed. For
                  example, if the current keymap in use uses seven modifiers,
                  every row will have seven action code columns. This format
                  can be useful for example to programs that post-process the
                  output of **dumpkeys**.
    
           **-S** _shape_  **--shape=**_shape_
                  Available shapes:
    
                  **2** default output.
    
                  **4** one line for each keycode.
    
                  **8** one line for each (modifier,keycode) pair.
    
                  **16** one line for each keycode until 1st hole.
    
           **-1 --separate-lines**
                  This forces **dumpkeys** to write one line per
                  (modifier,keycode) pair. It prefixes the word _plain_ for
                  plain keycodes.
    
           **-t --funcs-only**
                  When this option is given, **dumpkeys** prints only the
                  function key string definitions. Normally **dumpkeys** prints
                  both the key bindings and the string definitions.
    
           **-k --keys-only**
                  When this option is given, **dumpkeys** prints only the key
                  bindings. Normally **dumpkeys** prints both the key bindings
                  and the string definitions.
    
           **-d --compose-only**
                  When this option is given, **dumpkeys** prints only the compose
                  key combinations.  This option is available only if your
                  kernel has compose key support.
    
           **-c** _charset_  **--charset=**_charset_
                  This instructs **dumpkeys** to interpret character code values
                  according to the specified character set. This affects only
                  the translation of character code values to symbolic names.
                  Valid values for _charset_ currently are **iso-8859-X** , Where X
                  is a digit in 1-9.  If no _charset_ is specified, **iso-8859-1**
                  is used as a default.  This option produces an output line
                  `charset "iso-8859-X"', telling loadkeys how to interpret
                  the keymap. (For example, "division" is 0xf7 in iso-8859-1
                  but 0xba in iso-8859-8.)
    
           **-C** _dev_  **--console=**_dev_
                  The affected console device can be specified using the _-C_
                  (or _--console_ ) option. This option supports exactly one
                  device name.
    
           **-v --verbose**
                  Turn on verbose output.
    
           **-V --version**
                  Prints version number and exits.
    


## FILES



           _/usr/local/share/keymaps_
                  The recommended directory for keytable files.
    


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