Typing glyphs: Difference between revisions

[[Geoff Streeter]] authored a paper, [https://www.dyalog.com/uploads/conference/dyalog10/presentations/P19_Streeter_Keyboards.pdf Supporting APL keyboards on Linux], which was presented at the [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Dyalog_user_meeting#Dyalog_.2710 Dyalog '10] user meeting. In this paper, Geoff details how APL keyboards can be supported in [[wikipedia:X_Window_System|X11]] using <code>xkb</code>, the [https://www.x.org/wiki/XKB/ X Keyboard Extension].

The simplest way to set up an APL keyboard on Linux is with the following <code>setxkbmap</code> command. Enter the following in your terminal emulator of choice:

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* <code>-layout us,apl</code> assigns <code>us</code> ([[wikipedia:American_English|U.S. English]]) to be the primary layout, whereas <code>apl</code> is secondary

* <code>-option grp:switch</code> assigns <kbd>Right Alt</kbd> to switch to the secondary <code>apl</code> layout when it is pressed, otherwise <code>us</code> is used

* <code>-variant ,dyalog</code> assigns the [[Dyalog APL]] variant to the <code>apl</code> layout which contains modifiations unique to the Dyalog language ('''Note the preceding comma''')

A full list of keys that can be used to switch layouts is included in <code>/usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst</code> under the <code>option</code> category.

Prepend an <code>@</code> to the <code>setxkbmap</code> command from above, like shown:

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and add it as a line in your user's LXDE <code>auostart</code> file, located at:

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For Lubuntu versions up to and including 18.04 (before the LXQt split), the location of <code>autostart</code> is <code>~/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart</code>.

From your LXQt panel, navigate to ''Preferences'' → ''LXQt Settings'' → ''Session Settings''; alternatively, enter <code>lxqt-config-session</code> in your terminal emulator. You will be greeted with the following window:

Select the <code>LXQt Autostart</code> dropdown (it will be highlighted as shown above) and click the <code>Add</code> button to display the following pop-up window:

Name it whatever you want, and enter a <code>setxkbmap</code> command that suits your taste. Shown above is the same command as detailed [[Typing glyphs#setxkbmap| in the setxkbmap section]].

The above GUI approach merely creates a <code>.desktop</code> file in the user's <code>~/.config/autostart</code>. Create your own file in the <code>autostart</code> directory whose contents are as follows, to replicate the functionality achieved through the GUI:

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