Provided by: libmotif-dev_2.3.4-5ubuntu0.1_amd64 
NAME
VirtualBindings — Bindings for virtual mouse and key events "VirtualBindings" "default bindings"
"VirtualBindings"
DESCRIPTION
The Motif reference pages describe key translations in terms of virtual bindings, based on those
described in the Motif Style Guide.
Bindings for osf Keysyms
Keysym strings that begin with <osf> are not part of the X server's keyboard mapping. Instead, these
keysyms are produced on the client side at run time. They are interpreted by the routine XmTranslateKey,
and are used by the translation manager when the server delivers an actual key event. For each
application, a mapping is maintained between <osf> keysyms and keysyms that correspond to actual keys.
This mapping is based on information obtained at application startup from one of the following sources,
listed in order of precedence:
• The XmNdefaultVirtualBindings resource from Display.
• A property on the root window, which can be set by mwm on startup, or by the xmbind client, or on
prior startup of a Motif application.
• The file .motifbind in the user's home directory.
• A set of bindings based on the vendor string and optionally the vendor release of the X server.
Motif searches for these bindings in the following steps:
0. If the file xmbind.alias exists in the user's home directory, Motif searches this file for a
pathname associated with the vendor string or with the vendor string and vendor release. If
it finds such a pathname and if that file exists, Motif loads the bindings contained in that
file.
1. If it has found no bindings, Motif next looks for the file xmbind.alias in the directory
specified by the environment variable XMBINDDIR, if XMBINDDIR is set, or in the directory
/usr/lib/Xm/bindings if XMBINDDIR is not set. If this file exists Motif searches it for a
pathname associated with the vendor string or with the vendor string and vendor release. If
it finds such a pathname and if that file exists, Motif loads the bindings contained in that
file.
2. If it still has found no bindings, Motif loads a set of hard-coded fallback bindings.
The xmbind.alias file contains zero or more lines of the following form:
"vendor_string[ vendor_release]" bindings_file
where vendor_string is the X server vendor name as returned by the X client xdpyinfo or the Xlib function
XServerVendor, and must appear in double quotes. If vendor_release is included, it is the X server
vendor release number as returned by the X client xdpyinfo or the Xlib function XVendorRelease, and must
also be contained within the double quotes separated by one space from vendor_string. The vendor_release
argument is provided to allow support of changes in keyboard hardware from a vendor, assuming that the
vendor increments the release number to flag such changes. Alternatively, the vendor may simply use a
unique vendor string for each different keyboard.
The bindings_file argument is the pathname of the file containing the bindings themselves. It can be a
relative or absolute pathname. If it it is a relative pathname, it is relative to the location of the
xmbind.alias file.
Comment lines in the xmbind.alias file begin with ! (exclamation point).
The bindings found in either the .motifbind file or the vendor mapping are placed in a property on the
root window. This property is used to determine the bindings for subsequent Motif applications.
On startup mwm attempts to load the file .motifbind in the user's home directory. If this is
unsuccessful, it loads the vendor bindings as described previously. It places the bindings it loads in a
property on the root window for use by subsequent Motif applications.
The xmbind function loads bindings from a file if that file is specified on the command line. If no file
is specified on the command line, it attempts to load the file .motifbind in the user's home directory.
If this fails, it loads the vendor bindings as described previously. It places the bindings it loads in
a property on the root window for use by subsequent Motif applications.
The format of the specification for mapping <osf> keysyms to actual keysyms is similar to that of a
specification for an event translation. (See below) The syntax is specified (and below) here in EBNF
notation using the following conventions:
[a] Means either nothing or a
{a} Means zero or more occurrences of a
(a|b) Means either a or b.
Terminals are enclosed in double quotation marks.
The syntax of an <osf> keysym binding specification is as follows:
binding_spec = {line "\n"} [line]
line = virtual_keysym ":" list_of_key_event
list_of_key_event= key_event { "," key_event}
key_event = {modifier_name} "<Key>" actual_keysym
virtual_keysym = keysym
actual_keysym = keysym
keysym = A valid X11 keysym name that is
mapped by XStringToKeysym
As with event translations, more specific event descriptions must precede less specific descriptions.
For example, an event description for a key with a modifier must precede a description for the same key
without the same modifier.
Following is an example of a specification for the defaultVirtualBindings resource in a resource file:
*defaultVirtualBindings: \
osfBackSpace: <Key>BackSpace \n\
osfInsert: <Key>InsertChar \n\
osfDelete: <Key>DeleteChar \n\
...
osfLeft: <Key>left, Ctrl<Key>H
The format of a .motifbind file or of a file containing vendor bindings is the same, except that the
binding specification for each keysym is placed on a separate line. The previous example specification
appears as follows in a .motifbind or vendor bindings file:
osfBackSpace: <Key>BackSpace
osfInsert: <Key>InsertChar
osfDelete: <Key>DeleteChar
...
osfLeft: <Key>left, Ctrl<Key>H
The following table lists the fixed fallback default bindings for <osf> keysyms.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
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RELATED
xmbind(1)
VirtualBindings(3)