When I program I like to swap these keys:
Esc ↔ Tab
Ctrl ↔ CapsLock
In ~/.xmodmap, I have specified these re-mappings:
keycode 66 = Control_L keycode 37 = Caps_Lock keycode 23 = Escape keycode 9 = Tab
The Escape and Tab keys swaps, no problem, but instead of Caps_Lock and Control_L swapping, both those keys becomes Caps_Lock.
Whatever I try to do, the Control keys doesn’t get assigned to Caps_Lock (keycode 66). If I leave the keycode 66 =, the key is un-assigned, but when I assign Control_L or Control_R, it just doesn’t work. But, if I assign some other key, for example, keycode 66 = Tab, it gets assigned, no problem.
Its like xmodmap just doesn’t want Caps Lock and Control keys to be swapped. Really frustrating. Any help/pointers would be really helpful.
P.S: I am using Archlinux.
Answers:
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Method 1
The xmodmap(1) man page has an example for exactly this
! ! Swap Caps_Lock and Control_L ! remove Lock = Caps_Lock remove Control = Control_L keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_L
but if you want to finish doing it the way you started, I think you need to add at least the remove and add lines
remove Lock = Caps_Lock remove Control = Control_L keycode 37 = Caps_Lock keycode 66 = Control_L add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_L
I’m guessing that’s the case based on this paragraph
add MODIFIERNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
This adds all keys containing the given keysyms to the indi‐
cated modifier map. The keysym names are evaluated after all
input expressions are read to make it easy to write expressions
to swap keys (see the EXAMPLES section).
which makes it sound like modifier changes (shift, control, etc.) don’t get applied until you run that too.
(And logically the same with remove)
The keycode version has the advantage of being idempotent, meaning that the effect won’t change if xmodmap is run multiple times.
Method 2
Loosely related answer: I wanted to remap the caps lock key to left control, leaving the actual left control untouched.
The xmodmap man page also offers the solution:
keycode 66 = Control_L
clear Lock
add Control = Control_L
All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0