2 xvkbd - virtual keyboard for X window system
5 xvkbd is a virtual (graphical) keyboard program for X Window System
6 which provides facility to enter characters onto other clients (soft-
7 wares) by clicking on a keyboard displayed on the screen. This may be
8 used for systems without a hardware keyboard such as kiosk terminals or
9 handheld devices. This program also has facility to send characters
10 specified as the command line option to another client.
12 The standard keyboard layout is based on the traditional US layout, but
13 some other keyboard layout (see "Screen Shot") are also supported. The
14 default window size may be too large for systems with small screen, but
15 it can be configured to use smaller space (220x90 pixels, for example).
16 For details, see also "Screen Shot" and "How to Customize xvkbd" below,
17 and resouce files in the distribution.
19 xvkbd version 2.1 and later support word completion, which may make it
20 easier to enter long words with xvkbd.
22 IMPORTANT NOTE: When invoking xvkbd from display managers such as XDM,
23 GDM, etc., always use xvkbd with -secure option or you will have seri-
27 xvkbd will work on X11R5 or X11R6. It is tested on redhat Linux and
28 Solaris, and it will work also on most UNIX-like systems.
30 This program uses Xaw (use of Xaw3d is recommended) and no special
35 When xvkbd is started, the image of a keyboard will be displayed on the
36 screen. Clicking any key on the xvkbd window will send the character
37 to the focused window as if the key had been actually typed with the
40 If you want to input upper-case alphabets or other characters on the
41 upper position on the keyboard, you should click the key after select-
42 ing Shift by clicking it, or click the key with mouse button 3 (maybe
43 right button) or mouse button 4. In the similar manner, if you want to
44 input Controled characters, you should click the key after clicking
45 Control, or click the key with mouse button 2 (maybe middle button).
46 Alt and Meta can be used in the similar manner with Control, but there
47 are no shortcuts with mouse buttons.
50 xvkbd 2.5 and later support another way to input characters with modi-
51 fiers such as Shift, Control, AltGr, etc., which may be useful espe-
52 cially for machines with touch panels such as PDAs - we would call it
55 Quick Modifiers can be enabled/disabled by the ``Enable "Quick Modi-
56 fiers?'' entry on the property panel. If Quick Modifiers is enabled,
57 it will be activated by pressing a key on the xvkbd window, move the
58 pointer outside of the key, and then release the mouse button or equiv-
61 The direction of the pointer motion will select the modifier:
65 right-up - Shift AltGr
67 left-up - Shift Control
72 If you are using a window manager and clients where you can set input
73 focus by clicking mouse button on the window (and you don't have to
74 keep pointer in the window after that), you can simply set input focus
75 in the normal way and then click keys on the xvkbd window - the charac-
76 ter will be sent to the selected position.
78 If you are using a window manager or clients where you must keep the
79 pointer in the input field to input from the keyboard, or if the input
80 focus is switched to the xvkbd window when you clicked on the key on
81 the xvkbd window, you must make xvkbd to set input focus explicitly by
82 clicking the Focus button on the xvkbd window and then click on the
83 input field. This input focus can be cleared by clicking Focus button
84 with mouse button 3, or simply clicking Focus button twice.
87 Choosing ``Word Completion...'' in the main menu will popup the Word
90 When you entered characters by clicked keys on the xvkbd window as
91 usual while the Word Completion panel open, words started with the
92 characters will be listed in the panel, and you can enter the remaining
93 characters of the selected word by clicking one of the words in the
96 The dictionary (list of words) file is /usr/share/dict/words by
97 default, but it can be changed by -dict option or xvkbd.dictFile
98 resouce, or on the Property panel.
101 Pressing the ``xvkbd'' logo on the main keyboard (placed near left-bot-
102 tom corner in the default configuration) will popup the main menu.
104 The menu contains following items:
107 Show short description of this program.
110 Launch manual page reader.
113 Open the Keypad panel.
116 Open the Sun Function Keys panel.
119 Open the Dead Keys panel which can be used to enter Latin charac-
120 ters with accent symbol in double stroke.
123 Open the Word Completion panel.
125 Change Keyboard Layout...
126 Open a popup window to change the keyboard layout. In the default
127 configuration, Default (US), Belgian, Danish, French, German, Ice-
128 landic, Italian, Japanese (JIS-X-6002), Japanese (JIS-X-6004),
129 Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish,
130 Swiss/German, United Kingdom and Latin-1 are available.
132 Edit Function Keys...
133 Open a popup window to edit string assigned to function keys. See
134 also "Assigning Text to Function Keys".
137 Toggle show/hide of the keypad on the main window.
140 Toggle show/hide of the function keys on the main window.
143 Popup the Property panel.
145 Connect to Remote Display...
146 Open a panel to specify the name of a remote display to be con-
147 nected, so that following key events will be sent to windows on the
150 Revert to Local Display
151 Disconnect from the remote display so that following key events
152 will be sent to windows on the local display.
155 Enable "Quick Modifiers"?
156 Toggle enable/disable of the Quick Modifiers feature.
159 Toggle locking/momentary of Shift keys.
162 Toggle locking/momentary of AltGr key.
164 Lock Control, Alt and Meta?
165 Toggle locking/momentary of Control, Alt and Meta keys.
168 If this entry is set ON, xvkbd attempts to keep the xvkbd window
169 always on the top of the display (i.e. not to be hidden by other
170 windows). This feature is experimental, and care should be taken
171 as this feature can cause problem in some situations.
173 Behave as Toolbar Window?
174 xvkbd attempts to be a toolbar window when it is used with some
175 kind of window managers such as Matchbox window manager.
178 XTEST extension will be used if this entry is checked. If this
179 entry is set inactive, the X server does not support XTEST exten-
183 If this entry is set ON, xvkbd will temporary jump the pointer to
184 the focused window, if XTEST extension is to be used to simulate
188 Set on/off and duration of key-click sound.
191 Set on/off of the automatic click feature and the delay before
192 automatic click is activated. If this feature is set, xvkbd will
193 work as if left mouse button is clicked when mouse pointer is moved
194 on a button and stays long enough. You may want to set Jump
195 Pointer? to OFF to avoid auto-repeating.
197 Completion Dictionary
198 Set the filename to be used for word completion. This setting take
199 precedence over the `xvkbd.dictFile' resource and the -dict option.
202 xvkbd accept following command line options, in addition to general
203 options such as `-display'.
206 Display version information and exit.
209 Make xvkbd to use XSendEvent() to simulate keyboard events, as it
210 was in xvkbd version 1.0. xvkbd version 1.1 and later will try to
211 use XTEST extension instead in the default configuration.
212 If XTEST extension is not supported by the X server, xvkbd will
213 automatically switch to this mode.
214 Resource `xvkbd.xtest: false' has the same function.
217 Normally, xvkbd attempts to synchronize with the destinating client
218 step by step. This can cause problem when the client (or the X
219 server) responded too slow. In such situation, maybe this -no-sync
220 can solve the problem.
221 Resource `xvkbd.noSync: true' has the same function.
224 Make xvkbd not to jump the pointer when sending events. In the
225 default, xvkbd will temporary jump the pointer to the focused win-
226 dow, if input focus is set explicitly via Focus button, and XTEST
227 extension is to be used to simulate keyboard events.
228 Resource `xvkbd.jumpPointer: false' has the same function.
231 Make xvkbd not to jump the pointer back to the original position
232 after events has been sent. Maybe this can be useful when using
233 xvkbd to move the pointer position.
234 Resource `xvkbd.jumpPointerBack: false' has the same function.
237 Make labels on keys in the xvkbd window to be set independently for
238 each of four shift states, not shifted, Shift, AltGr and Shift-
239 AltGr. This is useful when you want to make the xvkbd window very
241 See also "Customizing Keyboard Layout" and resouce files in the
243 Resource `xvkbd.modalKeytop: true' has the same function.
245 -geometry [widthxheight][+xoff+yoff]
246 Set window geometry (size and position).
247 You can use form like -geometry 400x130 to specify the window size,
248 -geometry +100+100 to specify the window position from left/top
249 edge of the screen, and -geometry 400x130+100+100 to specify both
250 the size and the position. You can specify position from
251 right/bottom edge of the screen by using - instead of +, but please
252 note that you must take account of size of the window border. (If
253 you specify `-geometry -0-0', the window will not fit in the
255 This can be set by xvkbd.windowGeometry resource (note that it is
256 not xvkbd.geometry), too.
259 Do not auto-repeat even if key is depressed long time.
260 If auto-repeat is enabled (this is the default), time before start
261 auto-repeat can be set as `xvkbd*Repeater.initialDelay: 600', and
262 period of repeat can be set as `xvkbd*Repeater.minimumDelay: 100'
263 (unit of there parameters are milli-seconds).
264 Resource `xvkbd.autoRepeat: false' has the same function.
267 Do not display function keys.
268 Resource `xvkbd.functionkey: false' has the same function.
271 Do not display keypad.
272 Resource `xvkbd.keypad: false' has the same function.
275 Do not display function keys nor keypad.
276 Resource `xvkbd.compact: true' has the same function.
279 Display only keypad. This option will be ignored if `-no-keypad'
280 or `-compact' is specified.
281 Resource `xvkbd.keypadOnly: true' has the same function.
284 Send the string to the focused window (see also `-window' option).
285 If this option is specified, xvkbd will not open its window and
286 terminate soon after sending the string.
287 The string can contain:
299 - \S - Shift (modify the next character; please note that modify
300 with ``\S'' will be ignored in many cases. For example,
301 ``a\Cb\ScD\CE'' will be interpreted as a, Control-b, c, Shift-D,
302 and Control-Shift-E.)
304 - \C - Control (modify the next character)
306 - \A - Alt (modify the next character)
308 - \M - Meta (modify the next character)
310 - \[keysym] - the keysym keysym (e.g., \[Left])
312 - \Ddigit - delay digit * 100 ms
314 - \xvalue - move mouse pointer (use "+" or "-" for relative motion)
316 - \yvalue - move mouse pointer (use "+" or "-" for relative motion)
318 - \mdigit - simulate click of the specified mouse button
321 Send the contents of the specified file to the focused window (see
322 also `-window' option). If ``-'' was specified as the filename,
323 string to be sent will be read from the standard input (stdin).
324 If this option is specified, xvkbd will not open its window and
325 terminate soon after sending the string.
328 Put value ms of delay for evey characters when sending characters
329 with -text or -file. Maybe this is useful when problem arises when
330 characters are entered too fast.
333 Specify the ID (hexadecimal value leaded with `0x', or decimal
334 value), the name (instance name or class name) of the window, or
335 the title of the window to set input focus. It is possible to use
336 wildcard characters `*' and `?' to match the window name or the
338 If this is not specified, xvkbd will use input focus under control
339 of the window manager, unless focus is specified explicitly via
340 Focus button. Even if this option is specified, you can set input
341 focus to other windows using Focus button, or clear the input
343 If there are two or more windows which have the name specified with
344 this option, the window which was found first will be selected.
347 Specify the name of the widget to set the input focus. To use this
348 feature, the client must support Editres protocol. In general,
349 this option will be used with `-window' option.
350 If you want to set input focus to the widget foo.bar.zot, you can
351 write zot, bar.zot or foo.bar.zot as widget-name. To avoid confu-
352 sion, the widget-name should match with a single widget of the
356 xvkbd -window xarchie -widget searchText -text "\Ca\Ckabc\r"
358 will enter the string ``abc'' to the ``Search Term'' field of a
362 If this option is specified, xvkbd will attempt to use keysyms such
363 as XK_KP_1 instead of XK_1.
364 Resource `xvkbd.keypadKeysym: true' has the same function.
367 Specify the default dictionary (list of words) file to be used for
368 word completion. The `Completion Dictionary' filename set on the
369 Property panel takes precedence over this.
370 Resource `xvkbd.dictFile: filename' has the same function.
371 See also ``Making your own completion dictionary''.
374 Make xvkbd window can be minimized (iconified) even if no window
375 manager is in use. When this feature is enabled, small triangle
376 will be displayed at left ot the xvkbd main menu, and xvkbd window
377 will be minimized when the triangle is clicked.
378 Resource `xvkbd.minimizable: true' has the same function.
381 Disable invocation of external commands, including user assigned
382 command and the online manual reader. Connection to another dis-
383 plays would also be disabled. This option may be useful when xvkbd
384 is to be run with some kind of privileges.
385 Resource `xvkbd.secure: true' has the same function.
388 Disable termination of the xvkbd program. This option may be use-
389 ful when xvkbd is to be run automatically for systems with no key-
390 boards and users should not terminate the xvkbd.
391 Resource `xvkbd.nonexitable: true' has the same function.
394 Same as -secure -nonexitable. When xvkbd is to be run for login
395 screen, it would be suggested to use this option.
398 Normally, xvkbd will activate modifiers (control, shift, etc.)
399 only while sending characters. If modifiers were specified with
400 this option, the specified modifiers will be activated while corre-
401 sponding key on the xvkbd window is in active. For example, you
402 can specify -modifiers shift,control,meta,alt to apply this for
403 those four modifiers. Maybe this can be useful when attempting to
404 decorate the mouse operations with the modifiers. Please note that
405 the modifiers will also be applied when attempting to click on the
406 xvkbd window and which can prevent the correct operation in some
408 Resource `xvkbd.positiveModifiers: modifiers...' has the same func-
412 Make xvkbd to output debug information. It also disable keyboard
413 width adjustment, to help adjusting key size when making keyboard
418 Output version information and exit. -->
422 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-normal.gif
425 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-belgian.gif
428 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-danish.gif
431 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-french.gif
432 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-french2.gif
435 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-german.gif
438 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-icelandic.gif
441 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-italian.gif
443 Japanese (JIS-X-6002)
444 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-jisx6002.gif
446 Japanese (JIS-X-6004)
447 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-jisx6004.gif
450 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-norwegian.gif
453 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-portuguese.gif
456 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-spanish.gif
459 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-swedish.gif
462 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-swissgerman.gif
465 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-uk.gif
468 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-latin1.gif
470 Small Keyboard (maybe suitable for PDAs)
471 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-small.gif
474 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-hebrew.gif
477 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-greek.gif
480 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-turkish.gif
483 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-slovene.gif
486 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-korean.gif
489 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-russian.gif
492 Latest Official Release
493 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-3.2.tar.gz
494 - source of version 3.2 (2010-03-14)
497 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-3.1.tar.gz
498 - source of version 3.1 (2010-01-17)
499 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-3.0.tar.gz
500 - source of version 3.0 (2008-05-05)
502 xvkbd is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
505 o untar the source in a directory, and move to the directory
507 o If you wish to use genuine Xaw insead of Xaw3d, edit Imakefile and
508 remove (or comment-out) `#define XAW3D'.
509 When you are installing xvkbd (for example) in very old systems,
510 you may also want to remove `#define XTEST' and `#define I18N' to
511 disable XTEST and internationalization facility respectively.
513 o Run xmkmf; make install install.man
516 How to Customize xvkbd
517 Some degree of customization of xvkbd is possible by setting resources.
518 Some resources are already described above, and resources to customiz-
519 ing keyboard layout are described below.
521 To set resources, you can:
523 o put them in your $HOME/.Xdefaults file, or
525 o load them via xrdb(1), or
527 o set the filename to the $XENVIRONMENT environment variable, or
529 o put them in application default directory as `XVkbd-suffix' and set
530 resource ``xvkbd.customization: -suffix'', or
532 o put them in application default directory as XVkbd.
534 Here, application default directory can be either of:
536 o directories specified with $XUSERFILESEACHPATH, $XAPPLRESDIR or
537 else $HOME environment variable
539 o system's application default directory specified with $XFILESEACH-
540 PATH environment variable, or else the directory specified when
541 compiling the X (e.g., /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults)
543 When the application default file is to be stored in the system's
544 application default directory, the file must contain ``#include "XVkbd-
545 common"'' near top of the file.
547 xvkbd is distributed with some application default files, and they will
548 be installed in the system's application default directory.
551 Size (and position) of xvkbd window can be set by `xvkbd.windowGeome-
552 try' resource. When making window small, you may need to choose the
555 xvkbd.windowGeometry: 220x90
559 You may also want to set:
561 xvkbd.modalKeytop: true
563 to display only the labels for the current shift state, instead of try-
564 ing to always display all of them in the small keytop.
566 See also XVkbd-small.ad in the xvkbd distribution.
568 Removing Unwanted Keys
569 Keys on xvkbd window can be removed by setting its width to 1.
571 To remove Compose key and make Shift key larger, you can write:
573 xvkbd*Multi_key.width: 1
574 xvkbd*Shift_R.width: 75
576 To remove right Alt and Meta key, you can write:
579 xvkbd*Meta_R.width: 1
581 Customizing Keyboard Layout
582 Layout of keys on the xvkbd window can be customized with following
586 list of keys available when neighter of Shift and AltGr are
590 list of keys available when Shift is selected
593 list of keys available when AltGr is selected
596 list of keys available when both AltGr and Shift are selected
599 list of labels displayed on the keys
601 xvkbd.NormalKeyLabels
602 list of labels displayed on the keys
603 when neither of Shift and AltGr are selected.
606 list of labels displayed on the keys
607 when Shift is selected
610 list of labels displayed on the keys
611 when AltGr is selected
613 xvkbd.ShiftAltgrKeyLabels
614 list of labels displayed on the keys
615 when both AltGr and Shift are selected
617 Four resources to set labels on the keys (xvkbd.NormalKeyLabels,
618 xvkbd.ShiftKeyLabels, xvkbd.AltgrKeyLabels and xvkbd.ShiftAltgrKeyLa-
619 bels) will be used instead of xvkbd.KeyLabels when xvkbd.modalKeytop
620 resoruce is set true.
622 In all of those resources, each keys are separated by spaces, and rows
623 of keys are terminated with ` \n\' (note that `\n' must have space
624 before it). Please refer XVkbd-german.ad and XVkbd-latin1.ad in the
625 xvkbd distribution for more about these resources.
627 XVkbd-german and XVkbd-latin1 will be installed in the system's appli-
628 cation default directory, and setting the resource ``xvkbd.customiza-
629 tion: -german'' will make xvkbd to use the German layout. For another
630 method to activate those settings, please refer "How to Customize
633 Assigning Text to Function Keys
634 Text can be assigned to each function keys (and, actually, to most
635 other keys). If text is assigned to the function key, clicking on the
636 key will send the assigned text instead of the function key itself.
637 When pointer is on a key where text is assigned, the text will be dis-
640 The setting will be read from a text file which contains text for each
645 s:F1 text for Shift-F1
646 c:F1 text for Control-F1
647 m:F1 text for Meta-F1
651 `s:', `c:', `m:' and `a:' before the keys name indicates four modifiers
652 (Shift, Control, Meta and Alt) respectively.
654 If the first character of the assigned string is `!', the string will
655 be used as command to be executed when the key is clicked. To assign
656 string starting with `!' or `\', put `\' before the string.
658 The file is $HOME/.xvkbd in default, and it can be changed by setting
659 the filename with xvkbd.keyFile resource.
661 For F1 to F12 with or without Shift modifier, it is possible to edit
662 the assigned string on a panel popped up via "Edit Function Keys..." in
665 Miscellaneous Informations
667 o On XFree86, resolution switch with Ctrl + Alt + Keypad-Plus and
668 Ctrl + Alt + Keypad-Minus may be simulated. However, Ctrl + Alt +
669 Backspace will not be simulated.
671 o Shift is used to decide key to be sent and it will not used to set
672 modifier bit when sending the event. You can use xev command to
673 check what is actually sent.
675 o If Alt or Meta is not defined as modifier, the key can't be used as
676 modifier. You can use `xmodmap -pm' to check how modifiers are
679 o Num Lock (and maybe other modifiers) on the physical keyboard may
680 not work correctly when xvkbd is in use.
682 Additional Informations
683 FAQ - Possible Problems and Solutions
684 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/faq.html
686 Making your own completion dictionary
687 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/make-dic.html
689 Hints to use xvkbd -text
690 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/xvkbd-text.html
692 Note about how to send key events
693 http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/events.html
696 Version 0.1 (2000-05-13)
698 - The first release, not announced anywhere.
700 Version 0.2 (2000-09-15)
702 - Compose key is added. In the environments where Compose key is
703 supported, some characters (mainly letters with accent symbol)
704 which can't be entered directly from keyboard can be entered
705 using dedicated key combinations.
707 - Make keyboard layout not to be disturbed when window size if
708 specified with -geometry option.
710 - Sample app-defaults file is added.
712 Version 0.3 (2000-10-05)
714 - -text option can now accept some modifiers (\S, \C, etc.) and any
717 - In addition to the window ID, -window option can now accept win-
720 - New -widget option to specify the widget to set the input focus.
722 Version 1.0 (2000-11-03)
724 - Keyboard layout can be now configured with resources. See "Cus-
725 tomizing Keyboard Layout" above, and XVkbd-german.ad in the dis-
728 - xvkbd can now send keys with Mode_switch (AltGr) modifier, which
729 enables those characters in the position to be entered.
731 - xvkbd now support AltGr key so that German (and some other) key-
732 board layout can be used. See XVkbd-german.ad in the distribu-
735 - XVkbd-german and XVkbd-latin1 are included in the distribution,
736 which modifies keyboard layout and put some non-ASCII keys on the
739 - CapsLock key is supported now.
741 Version 1.1 (2000-12-23)
743 - xvkbd can now use XTEST extension to simulate keyboard events.
744 It can still use XSendEvent(), as it was in the older release.
747 - Labels on keys can now be set independently for each of four
748 shift states, not shifted, Shift, AltGr and Shift-AltGr.
751 - -kterm option and xvkbd.kterm resource are removed.
753 Version 1.2 (2001-02-18)
755 - Focus button is now placed in the main keyboard, too, so that it
756 will be available also in compact mode. If you don't need it, it
757 can be removed by setting ``xvkbd*row5.Focus.width: 1''.
759 - Input focus set by Focus button can now be cleard by clicking
760 Focus button twice. Clicking Focus button with mouse button 3
761 will still clear the input focus, too.
763 - Text can now be assigned to function keys (and, actually, to most
766 - It is now possible to assign keys modified with Shift, Control,
767 Alt and Meta on the main keyboard, by putting `s:', `c:', `a:'
768 and `m:' before those keysym name when customizing the keyboard
771 - xvkbd now ignores SIGINT and SIGQUIT so that it will not termi-
774 Version 1.3 (2001-03-19)
776 - New app-defaults file for Swiss-German layout, XVkbd-swissger-
777 man.ad. (contributed from Marcel Portner)
779 - xvkbd now catches MappingNotify event and reload the new mapping.
780 This allows users to use xmodmap while xvkbd is running.
782 - NumLock key is supported now. (I'd removed Print, ScrLk and
783 Pause from keypad - somebody need them?)
785 Version 1.4 (2001-04-22)
787 - Auto-repeat didn't work when focus was set explicitly via Focus
788 button. It is now fixed.
790 - When required keysym was not defined in the keymap table, xvkbd
791 will now add it on-the-fly. This means that we don't have to add
794 - Keypad panel can now be popped up from the main keyboard as a
797 - Sun function keys is now supported. It can be popped up from the
798 main keyboard as a separate window.
800 - Manual page is now available.
802 Version 1.5 (2001-10-08)
804 - Key events can now be sent to windows on a remote display (i.e.
805 windows on other X servers) - use "Connect to Remote Display..."
806 in the main menu to connect to remote display.
808 - Shift, Control, Alt and Meta can now be locked - use "Lock
809 Shift?" and "Lock Control, Alt and Meta?" in the main menu.
810 Those initial settings can be set by xvkbd.shiftLock and
811 xvkbd.modifiersLock resource.
813 - If the first keysym for a key is an alphabet and the second
814 keysym is NoSymbol, it is now interpreted as if the first keysym
815 is lowercase alphabet and the second keysym is uppercase alpha-
816 bet. Keymap may be defined in this way in some systems including
817 Solaris, and older xvkbd may not work correctly in such situa-
820 Version 1.6 (2001-11-10)
822 - New `-file' option to send characters in the specified file.
825 - New entry `Use XTEST Extension?' is added to the main menu,
826 mainly to indicate the availability of the XTEST extension.
828 - xvkbd would crash when the window explicitly focused via Focus
829 button becomes was destroyed. This problem is now fixed.
831 Version 2.0 (2001-12-09)
833 - Keyboard layout (default, German, French, etc.) can now be
834 changed after xvkbd is invoked.
836 - Show/hide of the keypad and funcion keys on the main window can
837 now be toggled from the main menu.
839 - New app-defaults file for French layout, XVkbd-french.ad. (con-
840 tributed from Jean-Pierre Demailly)
842 Version 2.1 (2002-01-27)
844 - When height of the xvkbd window is smaller than
845 XVkbd.modalThreshold, xvkbd will now automatically switch the
846 keytop as if -modal option was specified.
848 - \[keysym] in -text option would send wrong keys - this problem is
851 - Target distclean in the Imakefile is renamed to avoid the possi-
852 ble confusion on some systems.
854 - Word completion is now supported.
856 Version 2.2 (2002-03-17)
858 - String assigned to function keys can now be edited on a panel
859 popped up via "Edit Function Keys..." in the main menu.
861 - When ``-'' was specified as the filename parameter for -file
862 option, xvkbd will now read its standard input (stdin) to get the
865 - In the previous release, less-portable setenv() function was used
866 instead of putenv() function, may cause compilation error on some
867 systems including Solaris.
869 Version 2.3 (2002-04-05)
871 - New "Dead Keys" panel added. Which can be used to enter Latin
872 characters with accent symbol in double stroke.
874 - More localized keyboard layout: Belgian, Danish, French, German,
875 Icelandic, Italian, Japanese (JIS-X-6004), Norwegian, Portuguese,
876 Spanish, Swedish, Swiss/German, United Kingdom and Latin-1.
878 - -keypad option would crash previous version of xvkbd - this prob-
881 Version 2.4 (2002-10-02)
883 - Command can now be assigned to function keys so that clicking on
884 the function key will execute the command instead of sending the
887 - Assigned string for F1 to F12 with Shift modifier can now be
888 edited on a panel popped up via "Edit Function Keys..." in the
891 Version 2.5 (2002-10-12)
893 - Quick Modifier feature added - now, it is possible to enter char-
894 acters with modifiers by pressing a key and then move the
895 pointer. (suggested by Niklas Rokaeus)
897 - ``Lock AltGr?'' entry is added in the main menu.
899 - Status of ``Lock Shift?'', ``Lock AltGr'', ``Lock Control, Alt
900 and Meta?'' will be recorded in $HOME/.xvkbd file and it will be
901 read when xvkbd is invoked next time.
903 Version 2.5a (2003-06-25)
905 - ``Fitaly'' layout is now supported - may be useful for PDAs.
907 Version 2.6 (2004-05-04)
909 - Code to adding keysyms which were not found in the keymap table
910 is revised. xvkbd now avoid to add keysyms in the shifted posi-
911 tion of keys which already have a keysym defined in the non-
912 shifted position, and entries in the keymap table which is modi-
913 fied keys will be redefined rather than redefining the entire
914 keymap table. This change is to avoid possible problem (AltGr
915 key could be effectively disabled) which may caused in some sys-
916 tems where XGetKeyboardMapping() can produce incorrect map when
917 keys have more then two keysyms.
919 - If Mode_switch is not defined in the modifier table but
920 ISO_Level3_Shift is defined, xvkbd now attempt to add Mode_switch
921 as the same modifier with ISO_Level3_Shift.
923 - Korean layout is now supported. Although Hangul characters will
924 be displayed on the keys, xvkbd will simply generate alphabet
925 characters when those keys are clicked. It is intented to be
926 used with "ami" or similar Hangul input program.
928 - URL of the xvkbd main page is now changes to http://home-
929 page3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/.
931 Version 2.7 (2005-05-05)
933 - Yet another Japanese keyboard layout, JIS X 6002, is now sup-
936 - It is now possible to minimize (iconify) the main window even if
937 no window manager is in use. This feature can be activated by
938 -minimizable option or xvkbd.minimizable resource.
940 - Experimental code to keep the xvkbd window always on the top of
941 the display. This feature can be activated by -always-on-top
942 option, xvkbd.alwaysOnTop resource or the "Always on Top?" entry
943 in the main menu. Care should be taken as this feature can cause
944 problem in some situations.
946 - -text option now support combinations of modifiers and a special
947 key. For example, -text '\C\A\d' can be used for Control-Alt-
948 Delete key combination.
950 - New options: -secure option (xvkbd.secure resource) which dis-
951 ables invocation of external commands, -nonexitable option
952 (xvkbd.nonexitable resource) which inhibits termination of the
953 program, and -xdm option which is equivalent to -secure -nonex-
954 itable and maybe useful when run xvkbd from a display manager.
956 Version 2.7a (2005-05-07)
958 - Fixed a problem that xvkbd could cause segmentation fault on
961 Version 2.8 (2006-09-10)
963 - ISO_Level3_Shift is now to be prefered over Mode_switch so that
964 AltGr can be used on relatively new systems where we must use
965 ISO_Level3_Shift instead of Mode_switch.
967 - Reference to the target bitmap is changed from
968 /usr/X11R6/include/X11/bitmaps/target to
969 /usr/include/X11/bitmaps/target.
971 - New options: -no-back-pointer, -no-sync, -modifiers.
973 Version 2.9 (2008-03-30)
975 - Russian (Cyrillic) keyboard layout supported. (thanks, Victor)
979 - \D special sequence in -text can be used to put a delay in spe-
982 - -text can now simulate mouse operation via \x, \y and \m special
985 Version 3.0 (2008-05-05)
987 - New Property panel.
989 - New automatic click feature.
991 - Key-click sounds when key is pressed.
993 Version 3.1 (2010-01-17)
995 - Changed the default setting for automatic click to OFF, which was
996 set ON in the previous release in error and caused confusion.
998 - The keypad is now customizable, too (see XVkbd-strip.ad for the
1001 - Up to 25x25 keys can now be supported both for the main keyboard
1004 - Able to open the keypad panel when startup, by setting
1005 `xvkbd.keypad: false' and `xvkbd.keypadOnly: true'.
1007 - Fixed errors in some keyboard layout files (Korean, Slovene, UK).
1009 - A new sample layout file XVkbd-strip.ad.
1011 Version 3.2 (2010-03-14)
1013 - New option `Behave as Toolbar Window?' on the Property panel,
1014 which may make xvkbd works better with some kind of window man-
1016 such as Matchbox window manager. (Thanks, Patrick)
1018 - `Always on Top' will work rather better with window managers
1019 which support extended window manager hint _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE.
1021 - -window option can now find window which have title match with
1022 the specified string.
1024 - -window option now accept wildcard characters
1027 - Word completion dictionary file to be used with `Word Comple-
1029 can now be specified on the Property panel.
1031 - Only the words which have two or more characters will be appeared
1032 in the word completion list.
1034 - New -version option to display version information.
1037 xvkbd was written by Tom Sato, and it is distributed under the terms of
1038 the GNU General Public License Version 2 or any later version.
1040 Please send any feedback (such as bug reports, requests or comments) to
1041 Tom Sato <VEF00200@nifty.ne.jp>.
1043 The latest version of this software and more information about it may
1044 be available at http://homepage3.nifty.com/tsato/xvkbd/. Release of
1045 the new version will be announced on the Freshmeat (http://fresh-
1046 meat.net), and you can probably receive the announce via e-mail if you
1049 Tommaso Cucinotta <firstname.lastname@gmail.com> contributed the
1050 -no_root and -instance command-line options.