Bash – xmodmap key bindings reset when I open a new tab in the shell

bashbashrcrangervimxmodmap

When I open a shell in ranger with shift-s, open vim and then open a shell with :sh or open a new shell tab with ctrl-shift-t, my xmodmap keybindings (swapped caps lock and escape keys) are reset. This is what the terminal spits out:

xmodmap:  please release the following keys within 2 seconds:
    t (keysym 0x74, keycode 28)
    Shift_R (keysym 0xffe2, keycode 62)

My keybindings are very important to me as I am an active vim user currently working with Typescript (I need quick access to the shell to compile my code). I set my keybindings with xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap (the .Xmodmap file contains my xmodmap commands) and I added that command to my .bashrc.

For some more context I am using Ubuntu 16.4 and I recently created a ranger configuration file (~/.config/ranger/rifle.conf) to add support for the .ts file extension. I not an expert ranger or bash user, but both are very important for my workflow. Help would be greatly appreciated.

edit: this problem is solved when I remove xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap from my .bashrc, but now I have no way of having my xmodmap keybindings enabled on startup. Adding @reboot xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap to my crontab file does not work (maybe I should post a separate question for that, but I'll leave this question here for future reference).

Best Answer

Don't run xmodmap in .bashrc.

It belongs in ~/.xinitrc so your window manager will run it once upon startup. The same keybindings will continue to be available when you open your 2nd or 3rd shell tab.

Your .bashrc commands run in several contexts, including an ssh login session that may lack a $DISPLAY, so that init script is usually not the right place for X11 commands.

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(This answer is about xmodmap only. I'm sure it's possible to do this with XKB, I just don't know how.)

Modifiers and keysyms are assigned independently. But you get strange effects if you don't set them consistently. I think all you're missing is the add command to assign a modifier to Meta_L, though you may also need to clear and reassign the modifier keys. You may replace Mod1 and Mod2 by Mod3, Mod4 and Mod5: they are interchangeable, just make sure you don't use one for two different purposes.

clear Mod1
clear Mod2
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keysym Caps_Lock = Alt_L
keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
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add Mod2 = Meta_L Meta_R

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Zsh doesn't support anything but internal registers, and bash doesn't support register at all as far as I know. By and large, shells support vi commands, not vim commands.

In zsh, here's a proof-of-concept for accessing the X selection from command mode. For real use you'd want to elaborate on these techniques. I use the xsel program, you can use xclip instead; see How to copy from one vim instance to another using registers. You'll find the features I used in the zle manual.

vi-append-x-selection () { RBUFFER=$(xsel -o -p </dev/null)$RBUFFER; }
zle -N vi-append-x-selection
bindkey -a '^X' vi-append-x-selection
vi-yank-x-selection () { print -rn -- $CUTBUFFER | xsel -i -p; }
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The function vi-append-x-selection inserts the current X selection after the cursor (similar to p or P). The function vi-yank-x-selection copies the last killed or yanked text to the X selection. zle -N declares the functions as zle widgets (i.e. edition commands). bindkey -a sets bindings for vi command mode.

Best Answer

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keyboard x11 xmodmap xkb – Assign Another Modifier to Alt Key for X11

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