mapchan(M)

Syntax

mapchan [ [ -o ] [ -d ] ] [ channel ]

Description

mapchan translates codes sent by peripheral devices, such as terminals, to the internal character set used by the SCO OpenServer system. mapchan can also map codes in the internal character set to other codes, for output to peripheral devices (such as terminals, printers, console screen, etc.). Note that PC keyboard configuration is accomplished through the mapkey(M) utility.

mapchan has several uses: to map a channel (-a or -s); to unmap a channel (-n and optionally -a); or to display the map on a channel (optionally -o, -d, channels).

mapchan with no options displays the map on the user's channel. The map displayed is suitable as input for mapchan.

The options are:

-a

when used alone, sets all channels given in the default file (/etc/default/mapchan) with the specified map. When used with -n, it refers to all channels given in the default file. root can map or unmap all channels, other users can map only channels that they own. -a cannot be used with -d, -o, or -s.

-d

causes the mapping table currently in use on the given device, channel, to be displayed in decimal instead of the default hexadecimal. An ASCII version is displayed on standard output. This output is suitable as an input file to mapchan for another channel. Mapped values are displayed. Identical pairs are not output. -d cannot be used with -a, -f, -n, -o, or -s.

-f

causes the current channel or list of channels to be mapped with mapchan_file. -f cannot be used with -d, -n, -s, or -o.

-n

causes null mapping to be performed. All codes are input and output as received. Mapping is turned off for the user's channel or for other channels, if given. -a used with -n will turn mapping off on all channels given in the default file. This is the default mapping for all channels unless otherwise configured. -n cannot be used with -d, -f, -o, or -s.

-o

causes the mapping table currently in use on the given device, channel, to be displayed in octal instead of the default hexadecimal. An ASCII version is displayed on standard output. This output is suitable as an input file to mapchan for another port. Mapped values are displayed. Identical pairs are not output. -o cannot be used with -a, -d, -f, -n, or -s.

-s

sets the user's current channel with the mapchan_file given in the default file. -s can not be used with any other option.

The user must own the channel in order to map it. root can map any channel. Read or write permission is required to display the map on a channel.

Each tty device channel (display adapter and video monitor on computer, parallel port, serial port, etc.) can have a different map. When the operating system boots, mapping is turned off for all channels.

mapchan is usually invoked in the /etc/rc2 scripts. These scripts are executed when the system enters multi-user mode and sets up the default mapping for the system. Users can invoke mapchan when they log in by including a mapchan command line in their .profile or .login file. In addition, users can remap their channel at any time by invoking mapchan from the command line. Channels not listed in the default file are not automatically mapped. Channels are not changed on logout. Whatever mapping was in place for the last user remains in effect for the next user, unless they modify their .profile or .login file.

For example, the default file /etc/default/mapchan can contain:

   tty02		ibm
   tty1a
   tty2a		wy60.ger
   lp		ibm

The default directory containing channel files is /dev. Full pathnames may be used for channels or mapchan_files. If a channel has no entry, or the entry field is blank, no mapping is enabled on that channel. Additional channels added to the system, (for example, adding a serial or parallel port) are not automatically entered in the mapchan default file. If mapping is required, the system administrator must make the entries.

The format of the mapchan_files is documented in the mapchan(F) manual page.

Using a mapped channel

One-to-one mapped characters are displayed when the key is pressed, and the mapped value is passed to the kernel.

Certain keys are designated as dead keys in the mapchan file. Dead key sequences are two keystrokes that produce a single mapped value that is passed to the kernel. The dead key is usually a diacritical character, the second key is usually the letter being modified. For example, the sequence ´ e could be mapped to the ASCII value 0xE9, and display as é.

One key is designated as the compose key in the mapchan file. Compose key sequences are made up of three keystrokes that produce a single mapped value that is passed to the kernel. The compose key is usually a seldom-used character or <Ctrl>letter combination. The second key is usually the letter being modified. The third key may be another character being combined, or a diacritical character. For example, if ``@'' is the compose key, the sequence @ c O could be mapped to the ASCII value 0xA9, and display as ©.

Characters are not echoed to the screen during a dead or compose sequence. The mapped character is echoed and passed to the kernel once the sequence is correctly completed.

Characters are always put through the input map, even when part of dead or compose sequences. The character is then checked for the internal value. The value may also be mapped on output. This should be kept in mind when preparing mapchan files.

The following conditions will cause an error during input:

• non-recognized (not defined in the mapchan_file) dead or compose sequence;

• restarting a compose sequence before completion by pressing the compose key in the middle of a dead or compose sequence. This is an error, but a new compose sequence is initiated.

In order to allow for character sequences sent to control the terminal (move the cursor, and so on) rather than to print characters on the screen, mapchan allows character sequences to be specified as special sequences which are not passed through the normal mapping procedure. Two sections may be specified, one for each of the input (keyboard) and output (screen) controls.

Creating mapchan files

Input section

The exception, when using IBM characters, is the entry for the section symbol, §. The keyboard map does not generate the 8-bit PC code (IBM 437) for this character. This is because it has the same code as <Ctrl>u which System V would treat as a command to clear the line. It is mapped into the code 0xb2. The new mapchan file needs to translate this back to the 8-bit PC code.

The input section will be:

   input
   0xb2 21   # restore the section symbol

Output section

The output section will be:

   output
   20      0x1b '[' '2' '0' 'g'        # paragraph sign
   21      0x1b '[' '2' '1' 'g'        # section sign
   155     0x1b '[' '1' '5' '5' 'g'    # cent sign

   output
   0xc0    'A'     # use A since no A grave available
   0xc4    0x8e    # A umlaut

Dead key section

   dead	0xb0    # declare the caret character
   'a'	0xe2    # character for a with caret
   'e'	0xea    # character for e with caret

Compose key section

   compose   0x1f    # compose key is ^_
   '_' '_'   0x1f    # output the compose key value
   '+' '+'   '#'     # two + characters generate a #

Control section

   CONTROL
   input
   ^A	1       # Function keys: ^A followed by one
                   character
   \E	1       # Function keys: Escape followed by one
                   character
   

   output
   \Ea	4       # cursor control: Escape a and 4 other
                   characters
   \EG	1       # set attributes: Escape G and one
   		character

Character sets

Several partial mapchan files are provided as examples. They must be modified for use with specific peripheral devices. Consult your hardware manual for the codes needed to display the desired characters. Two mapchan files are provided for use with the console device: /usr/lib/mapchan/ISO8859-1/ibm for systems with a standard PC character set ROM (IBM 437), and /usr/lib/mapchan/ISO8859-1/iso for systems with an optional ISO 8859-1 character set ROM.

Care should be taken that the stty(C) settings are correct for 8-bit terminals. The /etc/gettydefs file may require modification to allow logging in with the correct settings.

7-bit US ASCII (ANSI X3.4) should be used if no mapping is enabled on the channel.

See ``Terminal mapchan files'' and ``Printer mapchan files'' for more information.

Terminal mapchan files

ascii

Any 7-bit US ASCII terminal

ascii.spa

Any 7-bit ASCII device to approximate 8-bit Spanish

cons.850

Console-IBM PC Multilingual code page 850

cons.858

Console-IBM PC Multilingual code page 858

cons.bra

Console-PC Standard ROM (emulates Portuguese)

cons.grk

Console-PC Greek ROM

NOTE: This file does not conform to the ISO 8859-1 standard.

cons.ibm

Console-PC standard ROM

cons.iso

Console-ISO 8859-1 ROM

cons.iso15

Console-ISO 8859-15 ROM

cons.nor

Console-PC Nordic ROM

cons.por

Console-PC Portuguese ROM

cons.spa

Console-PC Spanish ROM

dec

DEC multinational character set

digi.abicomp

Portuguese Digibyte terminal in Abicomp mode

digi.brascii

Portuguese Digibyte terminal in Brascii mode

hp.ansi.7.bel

HP with Belgian ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.can

HP with Canadian English/French ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.dan

HP with Danish ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.fra

HP with French ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.fin

HP with Finnish ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.ger

HP with German ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.grd

HP with German (DIN) ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.ita

HP with Italian ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.ndl

HP with Dutch ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.nor

HP with Norwegian ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.por

HP with Portuguese ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.spa

HP with Spanish ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.swe

HP with Swedish ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.swi

HP with Swiss German/French ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.ukd

HP with UK English ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.7.usa

HP with US English ANSI keyboard

hp.ansi.8

HP with 8-bit DEC multinational character set

hp.ascii.7.bel

HP with Belgian ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.can

HP with Canadian English/French ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.dan

HP with Danish ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.esp

HP with European Spanish ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.fra

HP with French ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.fin

HP with Finnish ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.ger

HP with German ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.ita

HP with Italian ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.lsp

HP with Latin Spanish ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.ndl

HP with Dutch ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.nor

HP with Norwegian ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.swe

HP with Swedish ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.swi

HP with Swiss German/French ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.ukd

HP with UK English ASCII keyboard

hp.ascii.7.usa

HP with US English ASCII keyboard

hp.roman.8

HP with 8-bit ROMAN character set

ibm

Any device with a standard PC character set (IBM 437)

ibm.spa

Any device with an IBM character set to approximate 8-bit Spanish

iso

Any device with an ISO 8859-1 character set

qvt.fra

Qume QVT101 with French keyboard

qvt.ger

Qume QVT101 with German keyboard

tvi.fra

TVI924 with French keyboard

tvi.ger

TVI924 with German keyboard

tvi.nor

TVI924 with Norwegian/Danish keyboard

tvi.por

TVI924 with Portuguese keyboard

tvi.spa

TVI924 with Spanish keyboard

tvi.swe

TVI924 with Swedish/Finnish keyboard

tvi.ukd

TVI924 with UK keyboard

tvi.usa

TVI924 with US ASCII keyboard

tispc.abicomp

Sigma TisPC Portuguese 8-bit ANSI keyboard

wy60.fra.ans

Wyse60 French NRC with ANSI keyboard

wy60.fra.asc

Wyse60 French NRC with ASCII keyboard

w60.ibmfra.ans

Wyse60 French 8-bit ANSI keyboard

w60.ibmfra.asc

Wyse60 French 8-bit ASCII keyboard

wy60.ger

Wyse60 German keyboard (ANSI or ASCII)

wy60.ibm.ger

Wyse60 German 8-bit keyboard (ANSI or ASCII)

wy60.spa

Wyse60 Spanish 8-bit ANSI keyboard

wy60.lat.asc

Wyse60 Latin American Spanish ASCII keyboard

wy60.spa.asc

Wyse60 Spanish ASCII keyboard

wy60.spa.sk

Wyse60 with Spanish keyboard

wx200.iso

Siemens WX200 8-bit ANSI keyboard

nrc.

qvt.

nrc.

nrc.can

Canadian 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.chw

Swiss 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.fra

French 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.ger

German 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.ita

Italian 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.nor

Norwegian 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.spa

Spanish 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.swe

Swedish 7-bit NRC terminals

nrc.ukd

UK English 7-bit NRC terminals

Printer mapchan files

The following mapchan files in /usr/lib/mapchan/ISO8859-1 are supplied for use with specific printers:

hp.roman8

Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printer ROMAN-8 set

ibm

Any printer using the IBM PC character set

Diagnostics

• More than one compose key.

• Characters mapped to more than one value.

• Syntax errors in the byte values.

• Missing input or output keywords.

• Dead or compose keys also occurring in the input section.

• Extra information on a line.

• Mapping a character to null.

• Starting an output control sequence with a character that is already mapped.

Warning

Media transported between machines with different internal code set mappings may not be portable as no mapping is performed on block devices, such as tape and floppy drives. However, you can use trchan(M) with an appropriate mapchan file to ``translate'' from one internal character set to another.

Do not set ISTRIP (see stty(C)) when using mapchan. This option causes the eighth bit to be stripped before mapping occurs.

Limitations

Printers can be mapped, output only, and can either be sent 8-bit codes or one-to-many character strings using mapchan. Line printer spooler interface scripts can be used (setuid root) to change the output map on the printer when different maps are required (as in changing print wheels to display a different character set). See lp(C) and lpadmin(ADM) for information on installing and administering interface scripts.

Not all terminals or printers can display all the characters that can be represented using this utility. Refer to the device's hardware manual for information on the capabilities of the peripheral device.

Files

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See also

Standards conformance