Bug 128704 - kxkb 3.5.3 doesn't know about ca(fr) as a layout option (used to be ca_enhanced)
Summary: kxkb 3.5.3 doesn't know about ca(fr) as a layout option (used to be ca_enhanced)
Status: RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Alias: None
Product: kxkb
Classification: Unmaintained
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Gentoo Packages Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Andriy Rysin
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2006-06-05 20:49 UTC by Eric Thibodeau
Modified: 2006-07-14 21:51 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
my succes in CA-fr layout (95.17 KB, image/png)
2006-06-18 01:45 UTC, Andriy Rysin
Details

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Description Eric Thibodeau 2006-06-05 20:49:16 UTC
Version:           Qt: 3.3.6
KDE: 3.5.3
KDE Keyboard Tool: 1.0 (using KDE KDE 3.5.3)
Installed from:    Gentoo Packages
Compiler:          i686-pc-linux-gnu-3.4.6 * 
OS:                Linux

To make things interesting, ca_enhanced is no longer in xorg-server 7.x, it is now called ca(fr). I tried manually adding it to:

I tried changing ca_enhanced to ca(fr) in:
/etc/X11/xkb/rules/xfree86.lst

and 

~/.kde/share/config/kxkbrc

with no success.

The command line call to:
etxkbmap -model pc104 -layout "ca(fr)"

Seems to work as expected.

Some reference:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Modular_Xorg#Keyboard_Mappings
Comment 1 Andriy Rysin 2006-06-18 01:45:56 UTC
Created attachment 16660 [details]
my succes in CA-fr layout

ok, let's get to details :)
here's my try screenshot of canadian french layout in xorg 7.1.0
I am not much a french speaker or even writer for that matters let alone
candian aspects :) but I could get some accented symbols out there and other
letters look fine for me - at least they resembled some french I was trying to
study some years ago :)

Please provide some more info on what exactly went wrong, screenshot of you
keyboard layout config or contents of your kxkbrc and what you're trying to
type.
Also I'd suggest returning xfree86.lst back to original one unless you really
know what you doing.
Comment 2 Eric Thibodeau 2006-06-18 19:56:19 UTC
Hello Andriy,

    Okay, I'll try to clarify the ca_enhanced as opposed to the ca with fr variant (which is not the same thing, so my original post about ca(fr) WON'T fix the issue as the original link or even (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg7#Setup_French_Canadian_.28old_ca_enhanced.29_layout) would want to claim.

    There are two layouts used in Canada for french keyboard. The first one (-layout ca -variant fr) will generate the accented characters on a single keypress, meaning that specific keys are assigned a specific character. I don't know who came up with this layout but I suspect that the person did no write French or had a very bad grammar since they seem to have dropped one important character: ù (` + u). I have yet to find how to generate this character with the ca(fr) layout.

    The second layout (traditionally ca_enhanced), was much more versatile since the generation of the _most_ accented character is the result of a sequence of two keypresses. For example:
à = (` + a)
ù = (` + u)
è = (` + e)
î = (^ + i)
...and so on. There is one exception to this which is the é. This is logical since this accent, in French, is only applicable to the letter "e".

<RANT>
    I've been pushing Linux as a valid desktop OS for many years now and this is one of the most frustrating elements I have to go through. It's happened 2 or 3 times in the past 3-4 years that ca_enhanced either "disappeared" or "was renamed to... and all downstream apps have to be hacked to recognize it".

    Some will dismiss this as a minor issue, but it is NOT. The keyboard is on of the primary interfaces to the computer and can become a very high source of frustrations for any user (from the total computer neophyte the most advanced power user, believe me, my patience wears thin when I am _forced_ to use a french keyboard and keep typing é in stead of / in a terminal...with all the implied command line corruptions).

    I know I'm being a utopist but it would be damned nice if the X(org) people would just STOP re-defining/re-naming/eliminating this keyboard layout since it has a _very_ negative impact on users and is throwing a dark shadow over the entire pro-Linux community. This type of problem will be used and abused of (with with some right IMHO) by the computer-illiterate MBAs when it comes to bashing on Linux as an inappropriate OS for Schools, Universities, Governments, etc...

    So, for the sake of the evolution and acceptance of the Linux/GNU in the wide community (well...I guess this only applies to Québec/Canada, insignificant, right?), STOP fscking around with the ca_enhanced keyboard layouts!
</RANT>

Okay, now that said, I am fully aware that this problem is not KDE's (kxkb) fault and is mostly in Xorg's field of activity. I would therefore appreciate some support and guidance as to where I should direct my comments so that _someone_ out there stops mangling our keyboards every odd revisions of X.

Thanks
PS: I am certain that this type of post has been put up quite a few times before (at each ca_enhanced mangling).
Comment 3 Eric Thibodeau 2006-06-18 20:34:51 UTC
The Xorg bug for this (finally found it) https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4411
Comment 4 Andriy Rysin 2006-06-19 04:23:47 UTC
well, that's an old story that Xorg problems appear in kxkb list, which is understandable as users don't care to know which part of code is it

another point of the story is that original design of xkb in X was quite ugly, guys at Xorg are trying to make things better but it takes a lot of effort and obviously break things :(

I am closing this as INVALID as it's Xorg bug.
See the link above from Eric.

Eric, thanks for providing the info!
Comment 5 Eric Thibodeau 2006-07-14 21:51:10 UTC
xkeyboard-config-0.8 now has the equivalent to ca_enhanced as stated above, it's ca with variant fr. Test it with a console by typing:
setxkbmap -model pc104 -layout ca -variant fr