[Kde-accessibility] Mouse emulation on/off

[Bill Haneman]

Hi Chris:

On reading your message again, and confirming some things here, I am 
confused.  On Windows XP, NumLock alone doesn't activate MouseKeys.  The 
default on Windows is the SAME as what you reported for KDE - Left Alt, 
Left Shift, NumLock, to turn MouseKeys on.

So there is some misunderstanding going on here.  The Linux/XKB behavior 
with respect to turning MouseKeys on and off is the SAME.

What seems to be different may be the way MouseKeys works, once enabled, 
when NumLock is then turned off; this part may be controlled by your XKB 
keyboard map.  On _my_ system, when I turn MouseKeys on, if I turn 
NumLock off, the number pad functions as "normal" arrow keys.  When 
NumLock is on (and MouseKeys is still on), then I get mouse movement 
instead of numbers.  This appears to be exactly the same as WIndow XP, 
and the behavior you are requesting.

However, realize that you are comparing apples to oranges - since the 
applications your friend is using under Linux are not the same binaries 
as under Windows, the issue you are experiencing may be 
applications-based.  Can you confirm which X keysyms the application in 
question is listening to?  Is it possible that the application is broken 
and is listening for keycodes rather than keysyms, as it should?

regards

Bill


rampsonc at comcast.net wrote:

>Thanks Bill. I appreciate your response. It was, however inadequate. As with ALL things Open Source, I googled and read and googled and read and now I know FAR MORE than I ever wanted to know about XKB! Your simple explanation below belies the complexity in implementation. 
>
>The simple xmodmap command does not work with XK_Pointer_Enablekeys. You need to DIVE DEEP in XKB and modify a keyboard layout - but with no useful examples, it is difficult.
>
>I NEED a step-by-step for modifying the Shift+Alt+NumLock combo into JUST using the NumLock key. Since I have 17 years of experience in *NIX, I will have NO problem following directions. Thanks to all in advance.
>
>-Hi Chris:
>
>-The key sequence associated with MouseKeys isn't determined by KDE.  
>-MouseKeys is a feature provided by the XKB X Server extension.  A fair 
>-bit of thought went into the "usual" choice of keybinding used.
>
>-The exact key sequence used is actually determined by the xkb keyboard 
>-map that you're using.  There is a special X KeySym, 
>-XK_Pointer_EnableKeys.  The "de facto standard" for this according to 
>-the XKB documentation is Shift+Alt+NumLock.  It shouldn't matter whether 
>-the shift and alt keys are the left or right=hand ones, as long as they 
>-generate the correct keysyms (possibly your right Alt key is mapped to 
>-something other than 'Alt' ?).
>
>-You probably can imagine why making NumLock alone provide MouseKeys is 
>-not a good default choice for all users, and thus why it isn't defined 
>-in that way in the standard XKB keymaps.  It is possible to 
>-hack^H^H^H^Hmodify your keymap so that the XKB_Pointer_EnableKeys maps 
>-to some other physical keycode sequence.  Alternatively, you can write a 
>-utility to programmatically turn on the XKB MouseKeys Control (see 
>-section 10.5.1 of the XKB manual - google for XKBlib.pdf).
>
>-regards
>
>-Bill
>
>
>-chris wrote
>
>  
>
>>I am a systems admin and am trying to convert my handicapped friend from Windoze to \
>>Linux. In using KDE, he has found some Access features lacking. 
>>The story is thus - In Windoze, you can turn the mouse keys on by using the Num \
>>Lock key. In KDE you need to use Left-Shift, Left-Alt, Num Lock. This is \
>>unacceptable for the following reason; 
>>When playing games (using VMWare workstation 5 and Windoze XP), he needs to switch \
>>between mouse keys and keypad in real time. Key pads are used for movement of game \
>>pieces (in this case Ultima Online), and he may need to move in a hurry!  
>>He is a quadrapelegic, and has use of ONLY his right hand - so the left side of his \
>>keyboard is not very accessible. 
>>Q: How can I get the KDE Mouse emulation to work EXACTLY like the Windoze mouse \
>>keys i.e. JUST using the Num Lock key? 
>>Thanks everyone!
>>
>>--
>>Chris Rampson
>>    
>>
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