WSCONSCTL(8)

NAME
wsconsctl - get or set wscons state

SYNOPSIS
wsconsctl [-an]
wsconsctl [-n] [-f file] name ...
wsconsctl [-n] [-f file] name=value ...

DESCRIPTION
The wsconsctl command displays or sets various wscons system driver variables. If a list of variables is present on the command line, wsconsctl prints the current value of those variables for the specified device.

The options are as follows:

-a  Print all device variables and their current values. This is the default, if no parameters are given to wsconsctl.

-f file
    Specify an alternative control device.

-n  Suppress printing of the variable name in the output.

name=value
    Attempt to set the specified variable name to value. The value can be specified as either an absolute, by using the ‘=’ symbol, or as a relative value, by using the ‘+=’ or ‘-=’ symbols. See the EXAMPLES section for more details.

The wsconsctl utility can be used to view and modify aspects of the keyboard, display, and mouse using the standard, machine-independent workstation console device driver wscons(4).

The keyboard type can be modified, the keyboard bell's pitch, period, and duration can be modified, the typematic value can be changed, and the keyboard encoding can be modified to switch keys, should the user find a keyboard's default layout difficult to use.

Alternatively, the mapping can be modified or an entirely new mapping created for an unsupported keyboard layout. The current mapping can be printed with wsconsctl keyboard.map. The value for each keycode specifies the keysym that is output when each of Key, Shift + Key, AltGr + Key, or Shift + AltGr + Key is pressed.

There are also definitions relating to video control and cursor control, which are not applicable to all display types, and to text emulation and graphics (mapped) modes.

Use the kbd(8) utility to determine which keyboard encodings are available for your country.

A keyboard encoding can also be specified in /etc/kbdtype.

FILES
/dev/ttyC0
    display control device
/dev/wskbd0
    keyboard control device
/dev/wsmouse0
    mouse control device
/etc/kbdtype
    default keyboard mapping
/etc/wsconsctl.conf
    a list of parameters that get set at system startup time from rc(8)
/usr/include/dev/wscons/wsconsio.h
    keyboard/mouse/display definitions

EXAMPLES
Set a UK keyboard encoding:

    # wsconsctl keyboard.encoding=uk

Modify the current keyboard encoding so that, when the Caps Lock key is pressed, the same encoding sequence as Left Control is sent. For a full list of keysyms, and keycodes, refer to the /usr/include/dev/wscons/wsksymdef.h file.

    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L"

Assign the Right Alt key to be the group modifier (layout is changed while the key is pressed):

    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 184=Mode_switch"

Assign the Right Control key to be the lock for the group modifier. The effect of Mode_Lock and Mode_switch is not mutually exclusive, to be consistent with Caps Lock and Shift behaviour.

    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 157=Mode_Lock"

Set a US keyboard encoding, with the Caps Lock and Left Control keys swapped. The .swapctrlcaps encoding does not work for all national keyboard encodings. For most purposes, the ability to set the value returned by the Caps Lock key is enough - see the previous example for details.

    # wsconsctl keyboard.encoding=us.swapctrlcaps

Update the keyboard mapping so that the @ symbol is output when the key combination AltGr + L is pressed as well as a few other tweaks for a German Apple keyboard. Note that the 7 key defines behaviour for all key combinations.

    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 15 = l L at"
    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 34 = 5 percent bracketleft"
    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 35 = 6 ampersand bracketright"
    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 36 = 7 slash bar backslash"
    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 37 = 8 parenleft braceleft"
    # wsconsctl keyboard.map+="keycode 38 = 9 parenright braceright"

Set the bell pitch to be 1200:

    # wsconsctl keyboard.bell.pitch=1200

Add 200 to the current pitch of the bell:

    # wsconsctl keyboard.bell.pitch+=200

Set the display font to Gallant:

    # wsconsctl display.font=Gallant

SEE ALSO
pckbd(4), wscons(4), wsconsctl.conf(5), kbd(8), wsconscfg(8), wsfontload(8)

HISTORY
The wsconsctl command first appeared in NetBSD 1.4 and OpenBSD 2.8.