XkbKeyNumGroups(3)

✨ NAME ✨

so this is XkbKeyNumGroups(3) from the XKB FUNCTIONS section, and it's literally the function that goes: XkbKeyNumGroups — Returns the number of groups of symbols bound to the key corresponding to keycode. no cap, that's the whole name-and-purpose situation, and it's lowkey iconic. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

okay so the signature is giving exactly this, bestie:

int XkbKeyNumGroups (XkbDescPtr xkb, KeyCode keycode);

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• xkb — Xkb description of interest
• keycode — keycode of interest

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so the group_info field of an XkbSymMapRec is an encoded value containing the number of groups of symbols bound to the key as well as the specification of the treatment of out-of-range groups. It is legal for a key to have zero groups, in which case it also has zero symbols and all events from that key yield NoSymbol. To obtain the number of groups of symbols bound to the key, use XkbKeyNumGroups. To change the number of groups bound to a key, use XkbChangeTypesOfKey. To obtain a mask that determines the treatment of out-of-range groups, use XkbKeyGroupInfo and XkbOutOfRangeGroupInfo. periodt. 💖

The keyboard controls contain a groups_wrap field specifying the handling of illegal groups on a global basis. That is, when the user performs an action causing the effective group to go out of the legal range, the groups_wrap field specifies how to normalize the effective keyboard group to a group that is legal for the keyboard as a whole, but there is no guarantee that the normalized group will be within the range of legal groups for any individual key. The per-key group_info field specifies how a key treats a legal effective group if the key does not have a type specified for the group of concern. For example, the Enter key usually has just one group defined. If the user performs an action causing the global keyboard group to change to Group2, the group_info field for the Enter key describes how to handle this situation. 🌈

Out-of-range groups for individual keys are mapped to a legal group using the same options as are used for the overall keyboard group. The particular type of mapping used is controlled by the bits set in the group_info flag, as shown in Table 1. 👑

💖 Table 1 group_info Range Normalization 💖

• Bits set in group_info: XkbRedirectIntoRange — Normalization method: XkbRedirectIntoRange
• Bits set in group_info: XkbClampIntoRange — Normalization method: XkbClampIntoRange
• Bits set in group_info: none of the above — Normalization method: XkbWrapIntoRange

The Xkb extension is composed of two parts: a server extension, and a client-side X library extension. This chapter discusses functions used to modify controls effecting the behavior of the server portion of the Xkb extension. X Library Controls discusses functions used to modify controls that affect only the behavior of the client portion of the extension; those controls are known as Library Controls. 🫶

Xkb contains control features that affect the entire keyboard, known as global keyboard controls. Some of the controls may be selectively enabled and disabled; these controls are known as the Boolean Controls. Boolean Controls can be turned on or off under program control and can also be automatically set to an on or off condition when a client program exits. The remaining controls, known as the Non-Boolean Controls, are always active. The XkbControlsRec structure describes the current state of most of the global controls and the attributes effecting the behavior of each of these Xkb features. This chapter describes the Xkb controls and how to manipulate them. ✨

There are two possible components for each of the Boolean Controls: attributes describing how the control should work, and a state describing whether the behavior as a whole is enabled or disabled. The attributes and state for most of these controls are held in the XkbControlsRec structure. 🎀

You can manipulate the Xkb controls individually, via convenience functions, or as a whole. To treat them as a group, modify an XkbControlsRec structure to describe all of the changes to be made, and then pass that structure and appropriate flags to an Xkb library function, or use a XkbControlsChangesRec to reduce network traffic. When using a convenience function to manipulate one control individually, you do not use an XkbControlsRec structure directly. lowkey efficient, highkey slay. 💅

The Xkb controls are grouped as shown in Table 2. 🌸

🌈 Table 2 Xkb Keyboard Controls 🌈

• Type of Control: Controls for enabling and disabling other controls
  • Control Name: EnabledControls — Boolean Control? No
  • Control Name: AutoReset — Boolean Control? No
• Type of Control: Control for bell behavior
  • Control Name: AudibleBell — Boolean Control? Boolean
• Type of Control: Controls for repeat key behavior
  • Control Name: PerKeyRepeat — Boolean Control? No
  • Control Name: RepeatKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: DetectableAutorepeat — Boolean Control? Boolean
• Type of Control: Controls for keyboard overlays
  • Control Name: Overlay1 — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: Overlay2 — Boolean Control? Boolean
• Type of Control: Controls for using the mouse from the keyboard
  • Control Name: MouseKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: MouseKeysAccel — Boolean Control? Boolean
• Type of Control: Controls for better keyboard access by physically impaired persons
  • Control Name: AccessXFeedback — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: AccessXKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: AccessXTimeout — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: BounceKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: SlowKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: StickyKeys — Boolean Control? Boolean
• Type of Control: Controls for general keyboard mapping
  • Control Name: GroupsWrap — Boolean Control? No
  • Control Name: IgnoreGroupLock — Boolean Control? Boolean
  • Control Name: IgnoreLockMods — Boolean Control? No
  • Control Name: InternalMods — Boolean Control? No

The individual categories and controls are described first, together with functions for manipulating them. 🦋

🌸 STRUCTURES 🌸

Okay bestie, this is the part where the page spills the struct tea ☕ — and we're keeping every little detail, no cap.

💖 The KeySymMapRec situation

The KeySymMapRec structure is defined as follows:

           #define XkbNumKbdGroups             4
           #define XkbMaxKbdGroup              (XkbNumKbdGroups-1)

           typedef struct {                    /* map to keysyms for a single keycode */
               unsigned char       kt_index[XkbNumKbdGroups];  /* key type index for each group */
               unsigned char       group_info; /* # of groups and out of range group handling */
               unsigned char       width;      /* max # of shift levels for key */
               unsigned short      offset;     /* index to keysym table in syms array */
           } XkbSymMapRec, *XkbSymMapPtr;

So real quick, because this is important: XkbNumKbdGroups is 4, and XkbMaxKbdGroup is (XkbNumKbdGroups-1). Iconic constants, literally. ✨

The struct is a map to keysyms for a single keycode — that's the comment, and we're not hiding it. Inside, kt_index is an array of XkbNumKbdGroups slots, holding the key type index for each group. group_info carries the number of groups and the out-of-range group handling. width is the max number of shift levels for the key. And offset is the index to the keysym table in the syms array. Slay, that's the whole vibe. 💅

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🎀 The XkbControlsRec situation

The XkbControlsRec structure is defined as follows:

           #define XkbMaxLegalKeyCode     255
           #define XkbPerKeyBitArraySize  ((XkbMaxLegalKeyCode+1)/8)

           typedef struct {
               unsigned char   mk_dflt_btn;      /* default button for keyboard driven mouse */
               unsigned char   num_groups;       /* number of keyboard groups */
               unsigned char   groups_wrap;      /* how to wrap out-of-bounds groups */
               XkbModsRec      internal;         /* defines server internal modifiers */
               XkbModsRec      ignore_lock;      /* modifiers to ignore when checking for grab */
               unsigned int    enabled_ctrls;    /* 1 bit => corresponding boolean control enabled */
               unsigned short  repeat_delay;     /* ms delay until first repeat */
               unsigned short  repeat_interval;  /* ms delay between repeats */
               unsigned short  slow_keys_delay;  /* ms minimum time key must be down to be ok */
               unsigned short  debounce_delay;   /* ms delay before key reactivated */
               unsigned short  mk_delay;         /* ms delay to second mouse motion event */
               unsigned short  mk_interval;      /* ms delay between repeat mouse events */
               unsigned short  mk_time_to_max;   /* # intervals until constant mouse move */
               unsigned short  mk_max_speed;     /* multiplier for maximum mouse speed */
               short           mk_curve;         /* determines mouse move curve type */
               unsigned short  ax_options;       /* 1 bit => Access X option enabled */
               unsigned short  ax_timeout;       /* seconds until Access X disabled */
               unsigned short  axt_opts_mask;    /* 1 bit => options to reset on Access X timeout */
               unsigned short  axt_opts_values;  /* 1 bit => turn option on, 0=> off */
               unsigned int    axt_ctrls_mask;   /* which bits in enabled_ctrls to modify */
               unsigned int    axt_ctrls_values; /* values for new bits in enabled_ctrls */
               unsigned char   per_key_repeat[XkbPerKeyBitArraySize];  /* per key auto repeat */
            } XkbControlsRec, *XkbControlsPtr;

And then — bestie, I'm not making this up — the page literally hits you with the exact same XkbControlsRec definition again. Same #defines, same fields, same everything. The only tiny difference is that the second copy's enabled_ctrls comment says booleancontrol with no space. We are preserving it exactly, because facts are sacred and I do not fix manpage lore. 💀✨

Here's that second copy, faithfully:

           #define XkbMaxLegalKeyCode     255
           #define XkbPerKeyBitArraySize  ((XkbMaxLegalKeyCode+1)/8)

           typedef struct {
               unsigned char   mk_dflt_btn;      /* default button for keyboard driven mouse */
               unsigned char   num_groups;       /* number of keyboard groups */
               unsigned char   groups_wrap;      /* how to wrap out-of-bounds groups */
               XkbModsRec      internal;         /* defines server internal modifiers */
               XkbModsRec      ignore_lock;      /* modifiers to ignore when checking for grab */
               unsigned int    enabled_ctrls;    /* 1 bit => corresponding booleancontrol enabled */
               unsigned short  repeat_delay;     /* ms delay until first repeat */
               unsigned short  repeat_interval;  /* ms delay between repeats */
               unsigned short  slow_keys_delay;  /* ms minimum time key must be down to be ok */
               unsigned short  debounce_delay;   /* ms delay before key reactivated */
               unsigned short  mk_delay;         /* ms delay to second mouse motion event */
               unsigned short  mk_interval;      /* ms delay between repeat mouse events */
               unsigned short  mk_time_to_max;   /* # intervals until constant mouse move */
               unsigned short  mk_max_speed;     /* multiplier for maximum mouse speed */
               short           mk_curve;         /* determines mouse move curve type */
               unsigned short  ax_options;       /* 1 bit => Access X option enabled */
               unsigned short  ax_timeout;       /* seconds until Access X disabled */
               unsigned short  axt_opts_mask;    /* 1 bit => options to reset on Access X timeout */
               unsigned short  axt_opts_values;  /* 1 bit => turn option on, 0=> off */
               unsigned int    axt_ctrls_mask;   /* which bits in enabled_ctrls to modify */
               unsigned int    axt_ctrls_values; /* values for new bits in enabled_ctrls */
               unsigned char   per_key_repeat[XkbPerKeyBitArraySize];  /* per key auto repeat */
            } XkbControlsRec, *XkbControlsPtr;

Like… the way that this page said "once more with feeling" 😭 but honestly? We respect the commitment. 🫶

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🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

• XkbChangeTypesOfKey(3)
• XkbKeyGroupInfo(3)
• XkbOutOfRangeGroupInfo.(3) — yes, the third one really has that dot before (3); I'm not fixing it, bestie, that's canon 💅

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That's the whole page, bestie. Mwah 💖 — signed, sealed, and delivered from X Version 11, libX11 1.8.14, on the XkbKeyNumGroups(3) page. Periodt. 🎀