How do i make key bindings in GNOME?

snwright · 02-23-2004, 09:08 PM

I've read all the relevant posts that I could find, but still none answer my particulars...
i just bought a Logitech Elite keyboard with all the fancy shit. I've gotten my system to recognize keystrokes on all my keys, but can't figure out how to make them mean anything. it should be simple stuff: starting xmms, skipping songs, using aumix or other volume control, opening/manipulating mozilla, etc.
i'm using fedora core 1, and i'm relatively new (although have been through a caldera release and know a bit of csh & java... ) at the whole thing. not too scared to mess up, tho. looking for help.
thanks.
spencer

rmanocha · 02-23-2004, 09:14 PM

i dotn know if you have any particular reason for using Gnome but you can use FluxBox or OpenBox for keybindings.I use openbox and even with a standard 104 key keyboard i can set up so many option for launching apps...i could not even think of doing something like this under KDE(well you can...but you cannot pass a command to a running app under KDE).
so if you do decide to shift to openbox then let me know and i think i can be of help to you.
their websites are:
www.fluxbox.org
www.openbox.org

snwright · 02-24-2004, 02:16 PM

rmanocha:
okay, okay... one of the forums that i read dealt with keybindings in fluxbox, and it seemed pretty straightforward, so i got myself a copy. unfortunately, it doesn't quite have the ease of use that i found gnome or kde to have (or, that is, in the few minutes i played with it it didn't just "come to me..."). i messed around for a little, and having disregarded my initial interest in it (keybindings), switched my machine back into gnome and looked in other directions. maybe i just need to mess around in fluxbox more (i understand openbox is even more minimalistic... is this true?) to really get the feel of it. i'll do so, and set up the keybindings to see if the method i read worked. meanwhile, what approach would you reccomend with openbox, both for associating keybindings and for getting more used to it?
thanks,
spencer

rmanocha · 02-24-2004, 03:22 PM

well personally i have never used Fluxbox so i cannot say how easy or not easy it is to use.
However openbox is truly minimalistic(and i mean light by saying minimalistic).IT does not eat up too much of memory...not much of CPU and it is really a breeze to configure.To check out the configuration options you can go to openbox's website....they have some really good instructions there.
i can post a couple of keybindings i defined over and above the ones defined by defualt:

Code:

<keybind key="C-space">
        <action name="Execute"><execute>mozilla</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-4">
        <action name="Execute"><execute>gaim</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-3">
          <action name="Execute"><execute>gkrellm</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-1">
        <action name="Execute"><execute>xmms -t</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-2">
          <action name="Execute"><execute>xmms -f</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-Super_L-z">
        <action name="Exit"></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="S-Caps_Lock">
        <action name="Restart"></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-5">
        <action name="Execute"><execute>apollon</execute></action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="C-Super_R">
        <action name="Execute"><execute>~/bin/eterm</execute></action>
  </keybind>
</keyboard>

as you can see...i have defined some binds for xmms,gkrellm,gaim,apollon,eterm,mozilla.I have also defined some binds for switching desktops etc.
I agree that it will take some getting used to but once you have done that....you will find it super easy and nice to use.
let me know if you have any questions.A good program to use when defining keybindings is xev.IT gives you the name of the whichever key you press.For example the windows key on my dell 104 key keyboard is defined as Super_R/L.I used xev to discover that.

snwright · 02-24-2004, 08:13 PM

ok... where does that code go, if i am to implement it?

snwright · 02-24-2004, 08:46 PM

ok even simpler, i think:
i downloaded the openbox tarball, extracted it, ran .configure, and apparently i don't have a c compiler. i've run into this problem before, and i think i got stuck at trying to install gcc, which ended up requiring ANOTHER c compiler previously installed. how do i do this? which compiler is the easiest to use/set up? i probably won't be compiling any code for myself for a while, so i don't really care what it is. any suggestions?
thanks a lot,
spencer

rmanocha · 02-24-2004, 09:05 PM

well i dont know much about fedora core1 but in my experienec Red Hat does place its programs etc. in places other than where they should be(that is the standard employed by other distros).
I would guess that that you should have some gcc RPM's and it is really pretty unlikely that your distro is running without a C compiler.
anyways...i would look for a rpm for GCC and try to install that...or leave a message in the Red Hat/FC1 forums to get an answer.

rmanocha · 02-24-2004, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by snwright
ok... where does that code go, if i am to implement it?

As i said...read the docs...they tell you exactly where everything is.
the particular file you have to include these bidings in is ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml
as you can see this file is a xml file so it is pretty easy to write up.
again....read the DOCS...they rock...and they will answer your question much better than i will ever be able to.
However let me know if you still have some questions and i will try to answer them as they come along.

rmanocha · 02-24-2004, 09:11 PM

http://icculus.org/openbox/docs.php
this is the docs page for openbox
enjoy