XkbSetNames(3)

💅 XkbSetNames 💅

okay so bestie, this is the XkbSetNames(3) page from the XKB FUNCTIONS manual, and it is literally about changing the symbolic names in the server. it’s giving keyboard lore, no cap. 🦋

🌸 NAME 🌸

XkbSetNames — change the symbolic names in the server. that’s the whole name vibe, periodt. 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

       Bool XkbSetNames (Display *dpy, unsigned int which, unsigned int
              first_type, unsigned int num_types, XkbDescPtr xkb);

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dpy — connection to the X server. yes bestie, the whole connection. 🔌
• which — mask of names or map components to be changed.
• first_type — first type whose name is to be changed.
• num_types — number of types for which names are to be changed.
• xkb — keyboard description from which names are to be taken. it’s the source of truth, okay? 👑

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

To change the symbolic names in the server, first modify a local copy of the keyboard description, then either use XkbSetNames or — to save network traffic — use an XkbNameChangesRec structure (the page mashes it into XkbNameChangesRecstructure, iconic formatting chaos, iykyk) and call XkbChangeNames to download the changes to the server. XkbSetNames and XkbChangeNames can generate BadAlloc, BadAtom, BadLength, BadMatch, and BadImplementation errors. 😭

Use XkbSetNames to change many names at the same time. For each bit set in which, XkbSetNames takes the corresponding value (or values in the case of arrays) from the keyboard description xkb and sends it to the server. 💅

The first_type and num_types arguments are used only if XkbKeyTypeNamesMask or XkbKTLevelNamesMask is set in which and specify a subset of the types for which the corresponding names are to be changed. If either or both of these mask bits are set but the specified types are illegal, XkbSetNames returns False and does not update any of the names specified in which. The specified types are illegal if xkb does not include a map component or if first_type and num_types specify types that are not defined in the keyboard description. 🫶

🧚 STRUCTURES 🧚

The XkbNameChangesRec allows applications to identify small modifications to the symbolic names and effectively reduces the amount of traffic sent to the server:

           typedef struct _XkbNameChanges {
               unsigned int   changed;          /* name components that have changed */
               unsigned char  first_type;       /* first key type with a new name */
               unsigned char  num_types;        /* number of types with new names */
               unsigned char  first_lvl;        /* first key type with new level names */
               unsigned char  num_lvls;         /* number of key types with new level names */
               unsigned char  num_aliases;      /* if key aliases changed, total number of key aliases */
               unsigned char  num_rg;           /* if radio groups changed, total number of radio groups */
               unsigned char  first_key;        /* first key with a new name */
               unsigned char  num_keys;         /* number of keys with new names */
               unsigned short changed_vmods;    /* mask of virtual modifiers for which names have changed */
               unsigned long  changed_indicators; /* mask of indicators for which names were changed */
               unsigned char  changed_groups;     /* mask of groups for which names were changed */
           } XkbNameChangesRec, *XkbNameChangesPtr

The changed field specifies the name components that have changed and is the bitwise inclusive OR of the valid names mask bits defined in Table 1. The rest of the fields in the structure specify the ranges that have changed for the various kinds of symbolic names, as shown in Table 2. 💫

Xkb provides several functions that work with symbolic names. Each of these functions uses a mask to specify individual fields of the structures described above. These masks and their relationships to the fields in a keyboard description are shown in Table 1. ✨

🦋 Table 1 Symbolic Names Masks 🦋

mask bit / value / keyboard component / field:

• XkbKeycodesNameMask — value (1<<0); keyboard component Xkb->names; field keycodes.
• XkbGeometryNameMask — value (1<<1); keyboard component Xkb->names; field geometry.
• XkbSymbolsNameMask — value (1<<2); keyboard component Xkb->names; field symbols.
• XkbPhysSymbolsNameMask — value (1<<3); keyboard component Xkb->names; field phys_symbols.
• XkbTypesNameMask — value (1<<4); keyboard component Xkb->names; field type.
• XkbCompatNameMask — value (1<<5); keyboard component Xkb->names; field compat.
• XkbKeyTypeNamesMask — value (1<<6); keyboard component Xkb->map; field type[*].name.
• XkbKTLevelNamesMask — value (1<<7); keyboard component Xkb->map; field type[*].lvl_names[*].
• XkbIndicatorNamesMask — value (1<<8); keyboard component Xkb->names; field indicators[*].
• XkbKeyNamesMask — value (1<<9); keyboard component Xkb->names; field keys[*], num_keys.
• XkbKeyAliasesMask — value (1<<10); keyboard component Xkb->names; field key_aliases[*], num_key_aliases.
• XkbVirtualModNamesMask — value (1<<11); keyboard component Xkb->names; field vmods[*].
• XkbGroupNamesMask — value (1<<12); keyboard component Xkb->names; field groups[*].
• XkbRGNamesMask — value (1<<13); keyboard component Xkb->names; field radio_groups[*], num_rg.
• XkbComponentNamesMask — value (0x3f); keyboard component Xkb->names; field keycodes, geometry, symbols, physical symbols, types, and compatibility map.
• XkbAllNamesMask — value (0x3fff); keyboard component Xkb->names; field all name components.

🌈 Table 2 XkbNameChanges Fields 🌈

mask / fields / component / field:

• XkbKeyTypeNamesMask — fields first_type, num_types; component Xkb->map; field type[*].name.
• XkbKTLevelNamesMask — fields first_lvl, num_lvls; component Xkb->map; field type[*].lvl_names[*].
• XkbKeyAliasesMask — fields num_aliases; component Xkb->names; field key_aliases[*].
• XkbRGNamesMask — fields num_rg; component Xkb->names; field radio_groups[*].
• XkbKeyNamesMask — fields first_key, num_keys; component Xkb->names; field keys[*].
• XkbVirtualModNamesMask — fields changed_vmods; component Xkb->names; field vmods[*].
• XkbIndicatorNamesMask — fields changed_indicators; component Xkb->names; field indicators[*].
• XkbGroupNamesMask — fields changed_groups; component Xkb->names; field groups[*].

💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

• BadAlloc — Unable to allocate storage. 😭
• BadAtom — A name is neither a valid Atom or None.
• BadImplementation — Invalid reply from server. 💀
• BadLength — The length of a request is shorter or longer than that required to minimally contain the arguments.
• BadMatch — A compatible version of Xkb was not available in the server or an argument has correct type and range, but is otherwise invalid.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

XkbChangeNames(3) — that’s the one, bestie. go read it after this. 🫶

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okay that’s the whole page! footer source/version energy: X Version 11, libX11 1.8.14, and the XkbSetNames(3) tag. the supplied footer does not show a date, so we are not inventing one — no fake date, periodt. 💖🎀