keyboard-switch

Simple, yet effective, script written in Python to change keyboard layout on Linux by using setxkbmap.

Why

Maybe my google-fu failed me. Maybe I didn't read enough of the IBus, fcitx, xkb-switch documentation. Maybe. But I spent enough time doing so without reaching a satisfying answer as to how to switch layouts using them while also switching mapping options and variants all at the same time. Neither of the mentioned three options allowed to do so AFAIK. So I decided to write this little script.

What it is

It's a script that you use to switch between registered layouts via CLI.

To register a layout, set yourself to it (via setxkbmap) and call kbswitch -a <name>, <name> being how you want your layout to be remembered as. keyboard-switch will store the layout's current model, layout, variant and option list under the name <name>. Next, anytime you will use this script to "switch" to this layout (e.g kbswitch -s <name>), it will call setxkbmap with the aforementioned registered options.

Usage

usage: kbswitch [-h] [-n] [-p] [-s NAME] [-S N] [-a NAME] [-r NAME] [-R N] [-o FROM TO] [-c] [-l] [-d] [--notify]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -a NAME, --add NAME   Add/Register current mapping with name NAME
  -n, --next            Next mapping
  -p, --previous        Previous mapping
  -s NAME, --set NAME   Set current mapping to NAME
  -S N, --set-number N  Set current mapping to NUMBER
  -r NAME, --remove NAME
                        Remove mapping with name NAME
  -R N, --remove-number N
                        Remove mapping with order N
  -o FROM TO, --order FROM TO
                        Reorder mapping at place FROM to place TO
  -c, --current         Print current layout
  -l, --list            Lists layouts in order
  -d, --details         Print layouts in order with details
  --notify              Prints change to notification window using libnotify

Example

Add layout

(Current layout is gb(extd))

$ kbswitch -a gb_qwerty  # register current layout with name `gb_qwerty`
$ kbswitch -l  # list
+  0 gb_qwerty

Changed layout to colemak

$ kbswitch -a gb_colemak  # register current layout with name `gb_colemak`
$ kbswitch -l  # list
+  0 gb_qwerty
   1 gb_colemak

Internally, the last mapping is still considered the current one because this program isn'tsynchronized to anything.

Switch layout

Using the last two registered layouts and starting under the gb QWERTY layout.

$ kbswitch -n  # next
$ kbswitch -l  # list
   0 gb_qwerty
+  1 gb_colemak

Voilà, switched ! We can also select a layout using it's name or ID:

$ kbswitch -l # initially
   0 gb_qwerty
+  1 gb_colemak
   2 fr_azerty
   3 fr_colemak
$ kbswitch -s fr_colemak  # select with name
$ kbswitch -l
   0 gb_qwerty
   1 gb_colemak
   2 fr_azerty
+  3 fr_colemak

Equivalently:

$ kbswitch -S 3 # select with position

Reorder

$ kbswitch -l  # initially
   0 gb_qwerty
   1 gb_colemak
   2 fr_azerty
+  3 fr_colemak
$ kbswitch -o 2 1  # reorder 2 -> 1 (put `fr_azerty` at place 1)
$ kbswitch -l  # result
   0 gb_qwerty
   1 fr_azerty
   2 gb_colemak
+  3 fr_colemak

Remove

$ kbswitch -l  # initially
   0 gb_qwerty
   1 fr_azerty
   2 gb_colemak
+  3 fr_colemak
$ kbswitch -r fr_azerty  # remove by name
$ kbswitch -l  # result
   0 gb_qwerty
   1 gb_colemak
+  2 fr_colemak

Equivalently:

$ kbswitch -R 2  # Remove by position

Print

• Names in order:

$ kbswitch -l  # list
+  0 gb_qwerty
   1 gb_colemak
   2 fr_colemak

• Current layout with options, variants, etc...:

$ kbswitch -c  # current
gb_qwerty
  model:        pc
  layout:       gb
  variant:      extd
  options:

• All registered layouts with the above informations:

$ kbswitch -d  # details
gb_qwerty
  model:        pc
  layout:       gb
  variant:      extd
  options:
gb_colemak
  model:        pc105
  layout:       gb(cmk_ed_us)
  variant:
  options:      misc:extend,lv5:caps_switch_lock,grp:shifts_toggle,compose:menu,misc:cmk_curl_dh
fr_colemak
  model:        pc105
  layout:       fr(cmk_ed_us)
  variant:
  options:      misc:extend,lv5:caps_switch_lock,grp:shifts_toggle,compose:menu,misc:cmk_curl_dh

Notification

If you want to have a notification of a layout switch via libnotify, you may add the argument --notify.

$ kbswitch -n --notify  # changes to next layout and sends a notification

Ideas on how to use

Set kbswitch -n --notify as a hotkey in your windows manager config.

e.g i3:

# Switch to next keyboard layout using mod + Space
bindsym $mod+space exec --no-startup-id kbswitch -n --notify

IBus

If you desperately need IBus, as I do because Telegram doesn't register dead keys and I type in french; in IBus's Preference > Advanced > Keyboard Layout, check Use system keyboard layout. You will be able to register dead keys with IBus while using the system keyboard set by setxkbmap.

Storage

All registered layouts are stored as JSON strings in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/keyboard-switch/, usually being ~/.config/keyboard-switch/, in the file mappings. The current mapping/layout is saved in the file current in the same directory.