xfce4-xkb-plugin - multiple keyboard layout management
About
Written by Alexander Iliev, this plugin allows you to setup and use multiple (currently up to 4 due to X11 protocol limitation) keyboard layouts.
You can choose the keyboard model, what key combination to use to switch between the layouts, the actual keyboard layouts, the way in which the current layout is being displayed (country flag image or text) and the layout policy, which is whether to store the layout globally (for all windows), per application or per window.
If a certain flag is missing, the plugin will fallback to displaying the layout as text.
The plugin detects any change in the layout configuration (e.g. setxkbmap invocations) and reconfigures itself to use the new settings.
NOTE: Lots of code was borrowed from the XfKC project by Gauvain Pocentek.
Usage
- Right-click on the added plugin, select Properties to open the plugin's properties window.
- Right-click on the added plugin, select Settings to open the Xfce keyboard settings window.
Once the plugin is added to a panel, it displays the current keyboard layout configuration.
The Properties window allows configuration of the plugin's appearance, as well as whether the plugin manages the layout globally (one common layout for all windows), per application or per window.
Selecting Settings opens xfce4-keyboard-settings where overall desktop keyboard settings can be set. The keyboard layouts, keyboard model and layout change shortcut key can be configured from the settings window. A default layout is selected through the list of the configured layouts and this layout is used for all new windows.
If more than three layouts are configured, then, when clicked, the plugin pops-up a menu with the available layouts. If there are two layouts configured, then the layout is changed right away with a click on the plugin.
If for some language more than one variant is configured, then a little black circle with thin white outline is added to the bottom right corner of the flag image for the second variant, or if the display type of the plugin is set to “text”, then a little dot is shown after the language text (as a subscript). Two of those circles/dots are added for the third variant for the same language and three for the fourth /though I doubt someone uses more than two variants of the same language at all :)/.
The plugin handles runtime layout configuration changes and configures it's settings accordingly.
Limitations
Currently the plugin cannot handle well most of the XKB options. Actually it will overwrite all but the first group: option found in the running configuration. This will change in future versions.
Screenshots
Below you fill find screenshots of the Xkb Plugin Panel Indicator and the Xkb Plugin Properties dialog. As the Settings menu item is simply a launcher for xfce4-keyboard-settings, which is where you can set system-wide keyboard layouts and settings, please see the Keyboard section of xfce4-settings for screenshots and further documentation of the Settings dialog window.
| Xkb Plugin Panel Indicator and Dropdown Selection Menu |
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| Xkb Plugin Layout Properties Dialog Window |
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Latest Release
- xfce4-xkb-plugin 0.8.5 released (2024/12/29 19:53)
- Download current release (older versions of this component are also available here)
Dependencies
- libgtk+ >= 2.6.0
- libxfce4panel >= 4.8.0
- libxfce4util >= 4.8.0
- libxfce4ui >= 4.8.0
- libxklavier >= 5.0
- librsvg >= 2.18
- libwnck >= 2.12
Source Code Repository
Reporting Bugs
- Reporting Bugs – List of currently open bugs and instructions on how to submit new bug reports