Re: [h-e-w] Is anyone using both meta and alt on w32 or linux builds?

[E. Caudex]

> On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 02:40, E. Caudex <address@hidden> wrote:
>> I am having a geek hack enthusiast cobble together an Emacs keyboard for
>> me and I want to be able to use more keychords, including both alt and
>> meta keys with separate scan codes. Leaving aside the question of
>> whether anyone thinks this might be useful, will it even be possible on
>> Gnu/Linux and/or w32 builds of ver. 24?
> 
> EmacsW32 does this. (See EmacsWiki.)
> 
> This can use the windows key (on w32) as Emacs META. However there are
> some problems. Windows do not allow all key bindings to the Windows
> key to be changed.
> 
> Another alternative would perhaps be to use CapsLock as Emacs META.
> (At the moment I can't remember if I actually implemented this or
> not... ;-)
> 


Thanks, Lennart. My 23.3 vanilla Emacs (not EmacsW32) shows:

w32-alt-is-meta is a variable defined in `C source code'.
Its value is t

Documentation:
Non-nil if the Alt key is to be considered the same as the META key.
When nil, Emacs will translate the Alt key to the ALT modifier, not to META.


Now I have in .emacs:

(setq w32-pass-lwindow-to-system nil
      w32-pass-rwindow-to-system nil
      w32-pass-apps-to-system    nil
      w32-lwindow-modifier       'super   ;; Left Windows
      w32-rwindow-modifier       'super   ;; Right Windows
      w32-apps-modifier          'hyper)  ;; App-Menu (key to right of
;; Right Windows)

which gives me one (right) hyper key but no meta key.


w32-alt-is-meta must have been set automatically when the w32 port was
built because it's not in my .emacs. The Sun diamond keys (meta) are
called under the ms specification left and right GUI keys but of course
windows keyboard makers don't have to supply them. I want shift, ctrl,
meta, super, hyper, and alt, each and all to be able to combine with a
final key in all (legal) combinations. What I need to know is what scan
code (make and break) should be emitted when the physical meta key is
pressed on my proposed keyboard so that it will work at least with
Gnu/Linux Emacs build. I know about keyboard re-mappers (Keytweak, etc.)
but what I want are two physical, labeled keys each (right and left,
symetrically positioned) of all modifier keys. I suppose that my
questions are really more about hardware than Emacs but I thought
someone here might know for example if xev is reporting a scancode for
meta when the alt key is pressed under Gnu/Linux.

Ed