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  • I have a UK keyboard, so UK-English layout
  • Need to type Portuguese and German characters (e.g. á, ã, ä...)
  • Don't want to buy a new keyboard
  • Don't want to change keyboard layout (standard Ubuntu functionality)
  • Why not? Because I don't want to constantly "try to remember" where each key is; I most definitely don't want to print a layout map either!
  • I want to press 'A and get 'a when language is English or German and á when Portuguese; currently, to get á in Portuguese I need to press [A
  • This is possible/standard in Windows since 98 (to my knowledge)
  • I'm aware of the following question, but it didn't help me: How to use an input language different from the keyboard layout country and from the system language?
  • Why not? Because it suggests to change the keyboard layout, which is what I strictly want to avoid

So is it possible to achieve different outputs while maintaining the underlying keyboard layout (to match its physical layout)?

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Rodrigo
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    So you want to be able to use the same input but with different outputs during different settings, isn't that the same as different layouts? Just mod a layout in the way you want it.. – Alvar Jul 26 '13 at 10:33
  • @Alvar Sounds like a good idea; so how do you 'mod a layout' in Ubuntu 13.04? – Rodrigo Jul 26 '13 at 10:42
  • @Alvar: What I need/want is not the same as changing layouts. If I change the keyboard layout (straightforward change in Ubuntu 13.04), outputs do not correspond to the physical keys I press on the keyboard. Do you understand the point? – Rodrigo Jul 26 '13 at 11:05
  • What about this http://www.dotkam.com/2007/06/25/custom-keyboard-layout-in-ubuntu-or-just-linux-2/ ? – 0R10N Jul 26 '13 at 12:07
  • @0R10N: Thanks fro the help, but that sounds like a lot of manual work to get around this problem; I'm still looking for a simple solution... – Rodrigo Jul 26 '13 at 12:44
  • What you want is a normal us keyboard but one with a different mod for the a key to output another character. I would have 3 layouts, us-with-Portuguese-A normal US, and us-with-German characters added. so you have 3 basic us layouts, but change the characters you want for each language. – Alvar Jul 26 '13 at 13:23
  • Then simple add like a shortcut command to toggle the next layout, like F3. – Alvar Jul 26 '13 at 13:24
  • @Alvar: Excellent idea! It's what I've had in mind the whole time though... what you're suggesting is what one would normally do in Windows (see this pic in this question). Great! Now how do you do this in Linux? – Rodrigo Jul 26 '13 at 13:42
  • well tell you when I get home to my Ubuntu computer, can't remember right now... – Alvar Jul 26 '13 at 13:56
  • @Alvar: Aham... Alvar, have you been home yet? :) Sorry, this forum is not a place for jokes... but I'm desperate to find a solution to this, since I'm writing both a code and a paper with English, French, Portuguese and German words :o – Rodrigo Jul 30 '13 at 07:50
  • Solved! In the end both Alvar and the above mentioned question pointed at the right direction. The solution is really meant to be "layout changing" in Ubuntu... even though I still strongly disagree with such a label: the change is in behaviour of certain key combinations (input) to achieve desired characters (output), not in layout (physical arrangement). So, as Ubuntu wishes, changing the layout to English (UK, international with dead keys) solves the problem... and creates another: now I need to press " + space to get " ; at least now I can easily get á, ç, ã, ê, ü, etc... – Rodrigo Jul 30 '13 at 09:17
  • @RodrigodeOliveira Sorry I have a lot on my mind right now... I put your comment as an answer so other users can find it more easily. I think you can edit it if you want to improve it, it's a copy paste with one spell fix of behavior. Good luck on your paper btw. – Alvar Jul 30 '13 at 09:46
  • @Alvar Tnx! I'd be mostly glad to get a link for a quick tuto on how to edit key combinations in Ubuntu... (tnx for the UK>US spelling fix) – Rodrigo Jul 30 '13 at 13:26

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Solved! In the end both Alvar and the above mentioned question pointed at the right direction. The solution is really meant to be "layout changing" in Ubuntu... even though I still strongly disagree with such a label: the change is in behavior of certain key combinations (input) to achieve desired characters (output), not in layout (physical arrangement). So, as Ubuntu wishes, changing the layout to English (UK, international with dead keys) solves the problem... and creates another: now I need to press " + space to get " ; at least now I can easily get á, ç, ã, ê, ü, etc.

A direct quote from the comment on which Rodrigo de Oliveira posted his solution.

Alvar
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