Keyboard hook
 

Hello,
Is it possible implement a systemwide keyboard hook under Linux? (Suppose I want to invoke a function in my application upon pressing the key F1 (EVEN IF MY APPLICATION HAS LOST FOCUS)). Is this possible under Linux?. Please help

Thanks
Sudheer.

I'll assume that you're referring to programs running in XWindows.

Here's a possible solution using WindowMaker:

Edit the WindowMaker file (either by hand, or with wmakerconf or WPrefs) to add a new command to the root menu (that appears when you right click on the background). Here you can associate a file to execute (or do whatever with) with a keyboard shortcut. I just wrote a script that toggles my keyboard from the german layout to the US and vice versa and associated it with a key combination using this method. it works well, is executed in the background, and is independently of the focus.



I know that Sawmill also allows one to bind shortcuts if you're running gnome; however, I'm not sure if you can change more than just the window commands.



I hope this helps some. I suspect some of the other window managers may support something similar, although I haven't played around with them as much. Good luck!

Cheers!