Configure Caps Lock as AltGr and Arrows like in vim

Question

1. How do I globally map Caps Lock to AltGr?

I don't need CapsLock and rather would like to have an easy access AltGr Key there

2. I want to map all movement keys to vim-like positions

• AltGr+F = Backspace
• AltGr+H = LeftArr
• AltGr+J = DownArr
• AltGr+L = RightArr
• AltGr+K = UpArr
• AltGr+U = PgUp
• AltGr+D = PgDown
• AltGr+S = Enter
• AltGr+3 = Pos1
• AltGr+$ = End
• AltGr+X = Del

So I can easily walk through my code without moving the hand away from the 10-Finger-Position (like in vim editor)

I found this answer: How do I remap the caps lock key to the backspace key?
suggesting using

xmodmap -e "keycode [code] = [new key]"

see: http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/List_of_Keysyms_Recognised_by_Xmodmap

But I cannot figure out, how to add this to a combination of for example AltGr+J

Another start would be to set the "Alternative Character Key" in unity-control-center->Keyboard->Shortcuts->Typing as Caps Lock

Update:
I found some solutions (see below) but all of them don't work in all applications, I guess it is a global setting called "XFree 4" that is used by some apps.

1. How do I set the key bindings for XFree 4 also?

2. How do I make the changes upgrade-save?

Answer 1

1. add a new XKB partial file

sudo vi /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/altgr_vim

with this content:

partial keypad_keys
xkb_symbols "altgr-vim" {
  # replace Caps with AltGr
  key <CAPS> { [ ISO_Level3_Shift                ] };
  # Add vim cursor keys to be accessed with AltGr (and some useful keys to AltGr+Shift)
  key <AB02> { [ x, X, Delete, U203A             ] };
  key <AC01> { [ a, A, Escape, apostrophe        ] };
  key <AC02> { [ s, S, KP_Enter, braceleft       ] };
  key <AC03> { [ d, D, Next, braceright          ] };
  key <AC04> { [ f, F, BackSpace, dollar         ] };
  key <AC06> { [ h, H, Left, grave               ] };
  key <AC07> { [ j, J, Down, ampersand           ] };
  key <AC08> { [ k, K, Up, backslash             ] };
  key <AC09> { [ l, L, Right, multiply           ] };
  key <AD07> { [ u, U, Prior, infinity           ] };
  key <AE03> { [ 3, section, Home, threesuperior ] };
  key <AE04> { [ 4, dollar, End, foursuperior    ] };
};

2. include the partial in your language file

for example for german it is /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/de (where /de is your language) add this inside the first block (xkb_symbols "basic"):

include "altgr_vim(altgr-vim)"

Note: This part has to be repeated after every distribution update

3. reload the window session

Press ALT+F2, enter "r" to reload the gnome session or just log out and in again. Now the new key compositions will be available

4. solve some problems

1. Some applications don't accept the settings, for example: sublime which can be replaced by atom.

2. Some applications need extra settings, e.g. in yakuake the key-bindings are set to "XFree 4", if you set them to "Linux" or "Solaris", then the XKB settings works there also:

   

remaining problems:

1. some apps still don't accept those settings
2. after an upgrade, where the symbols file is updated, you have to repeat step 2

Answer 2

OK, I decided to adapt @rubo77’s answer to a easy to use, togglable option.

installer script:

#! /bin/bash
# Automatic sudo-ing followed by setting the option right away,
# so you can just run it as the normal user for convenience.
[[ "$UID" == 0 ]] || {
  sudo "$0"
  setxkbmap -option MyOptions:altgr_vim
  exit
}
Install actual symbols file (see below).
install -o root -g root -m 644 MyOptions /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/
Patch xkb config to add the symbols file as a config option.
echo -e "MyOptions:altgr_vim\t=\t+MyOptions(altgr_vim)" >> /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev
echo "MyOptions            My own options" >> /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst
echo "MyOptions:altgr_vim  Caps Lock as AltGr and Arrows like in vim" >> /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst
patch /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.xml <<EOF
@@ -7687,5 +7687,23 @@
         </configItem>
       </option>
     </group>

<group allowMultipleSelection="true">
 &lt;configItem&gt;


   &lt;name&gt;MyOptions&lt;/name&gt;


   &lt;description&gt;&lt;/description&gt;


 &lt;/configItem&gt;


 &lt;option&gt;


   &lt;configItem&gt;


     &lt;name&gt;MyOptions:altgr_vim&lt;/name&gt;


     &lt;description&gt;Caps Lock as AltGr and Arrows like in vim&lt;/description&gt;


   &lt;/configItem&gt;


 &lt;/option&gt;


</group>
</optionList>

</xkbConfigRegistry>
EOF

Ideally, this should be executed as a dpkg trigger, so it gets added each time xkb is updated, but I haven’t looked into that yet. If your distribution supports it, patching the package either beforehand or during installation (using a prepared patch) is an idea too.

MyOptions symbols file:

It’s the same as in @rubo77’s answer, so thank him for that!

# Caps Lock as AltGr and Arrows like in vim
xkb_symbols "altgr_vim" {
replace Caps with AltGr
key <CAPS> { [ ISO_Level3_Shift            ] };
Add vim cursor keys to be accessed with AltGr
key <AB02> { [ x, X, Delete, Delete        ] };
  key <AC02> { [ s, S, KP_Enter, KP_Enter    ] };
  key <AC03> { [ d, D, Next, Next            ] };
  key <AC04> { [ f, F, BackSpace, BackSpace  ] };
  key <AC06> { [ h, H , Left, Left           ] };
  key <AC07> { [ j, J, Down, Down            ] };
  key <AC08> { [ k, K, Up, Up                ] };
  key <AC09> { [ l, L, Right, Right          ] };
  key <AD07> { [ u, U, Prior, Prior          ] };
  key <AE03> { [ 3, section, Home, Home      ] };
  key <AE04> { [ 4, dollar, End, End         ] };
};

Put both files into a directory, make sure the installer is executable with chmod +x installer, run installer, and enter your password.

Now you can launch your favorite keyboard settings tool and enjoy observing it being listed in the options for keyboard layouts!

Answer 3

in order to get AltGr+h, j,k,l or any other key without any application like Autokey to peform ←↓↑→ you can customize your keyboard layout found in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/. At the moment I use the german layout "de". So first of all I would:

1- copy the standard layout

cp /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/de /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/de.bak

2- open your layout with your text editor of preference (here: gedit)

sudo gedit /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/de 

there you gonna see something like:

key <AD03>  { [         e,          E,     EuroSign,     EuroSign ] };
key <AD06>  { [         z,          Z,    leftarrow,          yen ] };
key <AD11>  { [udiaeresis, Udiaeresis, dead_diaeresis, dead_abovering ] };
....
....
key <AD12>  { [      plus,   asterisk,   dead_tilde,  macron ]  };
key <AC02>  { [               s,               S,          ssharp,          U017F ] }; 
key <AC06>  { [               h,               H,            Left,             Left ]   }; 
key <AC07>  { [               j,               J,            Down,             Down ]   }; 
key <AC08>  { [               k,               K,              Up,               Up ]   }; 
key <AC09>  { [               l,               L,           Right,            Right ]   }; 
....
....
key <AB10>  { [     minus, underscore,               endash,     emdash ] };
key <LSGT>  { [     less,     greater,                  bar,     NoSymbol   ] };

As you can see, AB, AC, AD, AE represents the row, and the number represents its position on the keyboard (there are some special keys, like the less/greater key, which can be remapped to other keys as well..

There you will not find all the keyboard, just the ones that is diferent that the layout the keyboard is based on. The german one is based on "latin(type4)" as you can see on the beggining of the file:

include "latin(type4)"

Then you just need to change according to your needs. It works like:

key { [ key, key+shift, key+AltGr, key+Shift+AltGr ] };

(its also possible the add 5th level modifiers, or more)

if you want to check the changes without restart; (changing "de" for your layout... here is a list with possible layouts )

 setxkbmap -layout de

The arrows are labelled just like "Left, Right, Down, Up", as expeceted. Here is a good list of possible values.

here is a example of my custom layout. (but not in use at the moment)

Then, you would need to remap Capslock and AltGr, or did it work already following the question you posted??

If you also want to keep a "normal" german layout, you can do the changes to another layout you dont normally use, (or change the "german no dead keys" which you can find further down at the same "de" file...)

Source: link to a very comprehensive explanation of xbk and custom layouts.
link to a similar question with a good answer.

Answer 4

To remap CapsLock to AltGr use

xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = ISO_Level3_Shift"

(source: https://superuser.com/a/138757/160420)

To map the arrow keys to AltGr + h,j,k and l, use xmodmap -pke to find the right settings:

xmodmap -pke|egrep "f F|j J|k K|h H|l L|o O|u U|d D|dollar|BackSpace"

and change the fifth value to the new keys and add this all in a bash script:

# xrandr needs the desktop to be fully loaded. add a delay, to be able to add it to Startup Applications:
sleep 15
# change BackSpace into AltGr
xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = ISO_Level3_Shift"
# set BackSpace on AltGr + F
xmodmap -e "keycode 41 = f F f F BackSpace BackSpace dstroke ordfeminine f F dstroke ordfeminine"
# create arrow keys at h,j,k,l
xmodmap -e "keycode  43 = h H h H Left Left"
xmodmap -e "keycode  44 = j J j J Down Down"
xmodmap -e "keycode  45 = k K k K Up Up"
xmodmap -e "keycode  46 = l L l L Right Right"
xmodmap -e "keycode  30 = u U u U Prior Prior"
xmodmap -e "keycode  40 = d D d D Next Next"
xmodmap -e "keycode  12 = 3 section 3 numbersign Home Home"
xmodmap -e "keycode  13 = 4 dollar 4 dollar End End"
xmodmap -e "keycode  53 = x X x X Delete Delete"

(source: https://askubuntu.com/a/466315/34298)

Put that bash script in your Startup Applications (Choose Dash > Startup Applications > Add, and add the command.)

Note: strangely in gnome-terminal this works fine, but in yakuake it works for BackSpace on AltGr+F but it sets AltGr+h,j,k and l to D,B,A and C unless you set the Key Binding to "Linux" instead of "(Default) XFree 4", and in sublime-text it doesn't work at all