Specifications

2 Add the xkeymap.keycode.code property and set it to the v-scan code.
code must be a decimal number and the v-scan code must be a C-syntax hexadecimal number, such as
0x001.
In this example, the properties swap left Ctrl and Caps Lock.
xkeymap.keycode.64 = "0x01d # X Caps_Lock -> VM left ctrl"
xkeymap.keycode.37 = "0x03a # X Control_L -> VM caps lock"
Configure How Keysyms Are Mapped
When key code mapping cannot be used or is disabled, Player maps keysyms to v-scan codes. If a language-
specific keyboard does not appear to be supported by Player, you might need to set a property that tells
Player which keysym table to use.
Player determines which table to use by examining the current X keymap. However, its decision-making
process can sometimes fail. In addition, each mapping is fixed and might not be completely correct for any
given keyboard and X key code-to-keysym mapping. For example, if a user uses xmodmap to swap Ctrl and
Caps Lock by, the keys are swapped in the virtual machine when using a remote server (keysym mapping),
but are unswapped when using a local server (key code mapping). To correct this situation, you must remap
the keys in Player.
To configure how keysyms are mapped, you add one or more properties to the virtual machine
configuration (.vmx) file or to ~/.vmware/config.
Prerequisites
n
To change the mapping of a few keys, determine the keysym name for each key. To find a keysym
name, use the xev or xmodmap -pk command. The X header file /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h also has a
complete list of keysyms. The name of a keysym is the same as its C constant, but without the XK_
prefix.
n
To use a different keysym table, determine which mapping table to use. The tables are located in the
xkeymap directory in the Player installation directory, which is usually /usr/lib/vmware. The table you
must use depends on the keyboard layout. The normal distribution includes tables for PC keyboards for
the United States and a number of European countries and languages. For most of these, both the 101-
key (or 102-key) and the 104-key (or 105-key) variants are available.
If none of the mapping tables is completely correct, find one that works best, copy it to a new location,
and change the individual keysym mappings.
n
Familiarize yourself with the v-scan codes. See “V-Scan Code Table,” on page 100.
n
Power off the virtual machine and exit Player.
Procedure
n
To disable X key code mapping to map keysyms rather than key codes to v-scan codes, add the
xkeymap.nokeycodeMap property and set it to TRUE.
For example: xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = "TRUE"
n
If Player has a table in the xkeymap directory for your keyboard but cannot detect it, add the
xkeymap.language property and set it to one of the tables in the xkeymap directory.
For example: xkeymap.language = "keyboard_type"
If the failure to detect the keyboard means that the table is not completely correct for you, you might
need to create a modified table and use the xkeymap.fileName property instead.
Chapter 6 Configuring and Managing Devices
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