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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Hi,

Is there a way to query & change the keyboard layout from the command-line?

Something analogus to the mouse theme:
xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Gtk/CursorThemeName -s "CURSOR_THEME_NAME"

Thanks

KBar

Member

Registered: 2021-11-05

Posts: 689

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

# to query:
xfconf-query -c keyboard-layout -p /Default/XkbLayout
# to set:
xfconf-query -c keyboard-layout -p /Default/XkbLayout -s us,ru,tr

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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Thanks

I have 2 layouts defined &
xfconf-query -c keyboard-layout -p /Default/XkbLayout

shows both regardless of the active layout .

How do I check which layout is active?.

Last edited by jt1122 (2022-09-25 11:34:54)

jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Bump.

Any suggestions?.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

setxkbmap LAYOUT

...and replace LAYOUT with the layout code you want to use.

And to query the current layout:

setxkbmap -query | grep layout | awk '{print $2}'

Last edited by ToZ (2022-09-26 14:33:40)

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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Thanks but

setxkbmap -query | grep layout | awk '{print $2}'

returns both layouts defined, not the one which is active.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

For me, I get:

$ setxkbmap hr
$ setxkbmap -query | grep layout | awk '{print $2}'
hr
$ setxkbmap us
$ setxkbmap -query | grep layout | awk '{print $2}'
us

The flag on the Keyboard Layouts plugin changes as I use setxkbmap.

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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Thanks, but you have only 1 layout defined at each point.

What happens if you define 2 layouts in settings->keyboard->layout ?

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but I do have 2 layouts defined.

$ xfconf-query -c keyboard-layout -p /Default/XkbLayout
us,hr

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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

OK, it seems like there's an issue:
- If the layout is switched with a keyboard shortcut (settings->keyboard->layout->change layout option) or with the layout panel app but w/o calling setxkbmap then both layouts are shown.

- Once the layout has been set with setxkbmap the keyboard shortcut and the panel layout plugin stop working & the query returns only the layout by setxkbmap.

Can u try this on your machine to confirm?. Thanks

Last edited by jt1122 (2022-09-26 18:21:24)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

And yes, I do see the same when I use that approach.. Good catch. It appears to be a bug.

Edit:

$ setxkbmap hr,us
$ setxkbmap us,hr

also works for me, and keeps in sync with the panel plugin.

Last edited by ToZ (2022-09-26 18:28:42)

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jt1122

Member

Registered: 2021-03-26

Posts: 245

Re: Query/change keyboard layout from the command-line

great, thanks.