path: root/man/evdev.man

.\" shorthand for double quote that works everywhere.
.ds q \N'34'
.TH EVDEV __drivermansuffix__ __vendorversion__
.SH NAME
evdev \- Generic Linux input driver
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B "Section \*qInputDevice\*q"
.BI "  Identifier \*q" devname \*q
.B  "  Driver \*qevdev\*q"
.BI "  Option \*qDevice\*q   \*q" devpath \*q
\ \ ...
.B EndSection
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B evdev 
is an __xservername__ input driver for Linux's generic event devices.  It
therefore supports all input devices that the kernel knows about, including
most mice and keyboards.
.PP
The 
.B evdev
driver can serve as both a pointer and a keyboard input device, and may be
used as both the core keyboard and the core pointer.  Multiple input devices
are supported by multiple instances of this driver.
.PP
.SH SUPPORTED HARDWARE
In general, any input device that the kernel has a driver for can be accessed
through the 
.B evdev
driver.  See the Linux kernel documentation for a complete list.
.PP
.SH CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Please refer to __xconfigfile__(__filemansuffix__) for general configuration
details and for options that can be used with all input drivers.  This
section only covers configuration details specific to this driver.
.PP
.SH BASIC CONFIGURATIONS
Most users of this driver will probably be quite happy with the following for
all keyboards and mice:
.PP
.nf
.B "Section \*qInputDevice\*q"
.BI "  Identifier \*q" keyboard \*q
.B  "  Driver \*qevdev\*q"
.BI  "  Option \*qDevice\*q  \*q" "/dev/input/by-path/..." \*q
\ \ ...
.B EndSection
.fi
.PP
.SH ADVANCED OPTIONS
.SS DEVICE SPECIFICATION
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qPath\*q \*q" string \*q
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qDevice\*q \*q" string \*q
Specifies the device node through which the device can be accessed.
You might want to use the more persistent symlinks provided in /dev/input/by-id
or /dev/input/by-path.
.fi
This parameter is mandatory.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qMode\*q \*q" mode \*q
This selects the default mode for the device.
.fi
Valid values are \*qabsolute\*q and \*qrelative\*q.
.fi
This can be set at run time per actual device with the xinput utility.
.PP
.SS RELATIVE AXIS CONFIGURATION
The relative axis portion of this driver handle all reported relative axes.
.fi
The axes are named X, Y, Z, RX, RY, RZ, HWHEEL, DIAL, WHEEL, MISC, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14, and 15.
.fi
The axes are reported to X as valuators, with the default mapping of axes
to valuators being the first axes found to the first valuator, the second
found to the second valuator, and so on, so that if you have axes X, Y,
HWHEEL, and WHEEL, you would have X=0, Y=1, HWHEEL=2, WHEEL=3.
.fi
If the driver is reporting core events, valuators 0 and 1 are always mapped
to x and y coordinates, respectively.
.fi
The following driver 
.B Options
control the relative axis portion of the driver:
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qRel" "%s" "MapTo\*q \*q" string \*q
This remaps the axis specified by
.I "%s"
to
.IR string .
See Section
.B "AXIS MAPPING"
for valid values.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qRel" "%s" "Options\*q \*q" "string" \*q
This sets some options for the relative axis specified by
.IR %s .
Valid value
is \*qinvert\*q.
.fi
<documentation needed>
.PP
.SS ABSOLUTE AXIS CONFIGURATION
The absolute axis portion of this driver handles all reported absolute axes.
.fi
The axes are named X, Y, Z, RX, RY, RZ, THROTTLE, RUDDER, WHEEL, GAS, BRAKE,
<11\-15>, HAT0X, HAT0Y, HAT1X, HAT1Y, HAT2X, HAT2Y, HAT3X, HAT3Y, PRESSURE,
TILT_X, TILT_Y, TOOL_WIDTH, VOLUME, <29\-39>, MISC, <41\-62>.
.fi
The axes are reported to X as valuators, with the default mapping of axes
to valuators being the first axes found to the first valuator, the second
found to the second valuator, and so on, so that if you have axes X, Y,
TILT_X, and TILT_Y, you would have X=0, Y=1, TILT_X=2, TILT_Y=3.
.fi
If the driver is reporting core events, valuators 0 and 1 are always mapped
to x and y coordinates, respectively.
.fi
The following driver 
.B Options
control the absolute axis portion of the driver:
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qAbs" "%s" "MapTo\*q \*q" string \*q
This remaps the axis specified by
.I "%s"
to
.IR string .
See Section
.B "AXIS MAPPING"
for valid values.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qAbs" "%s" "Options\*q \*q" string \*q
This sets some options for the absolute axis specified by
.IR "%s" .
.fi
Valid values are \*qinvert\*q, \*quse_touch\*q, \*qmode_auto\*q,
\*qmode_rel\*q.
.fi
<documentation needed>
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qAbsoluteTouch\*q \*q" string \*q
<documentation needed>
.fi
Default: DIGI_Touch
.PP
.SS AXIS MAPPING
The following axis mappings are recognized:
.TP 7
.BI "\*qRelAxis " <axis> \*q
Map the axis to the specified 
.I <axis>
in relative mode. This can be either a number or a name.
.TP 7
.BI "\*qAbsAxis " "<axis> <min> <max>" \*q
Maps the axis to the specified
.I <axis>
in absolute mode. This can be either a number or a name.
.TP 7
.BI "\*qButton " "<button>" \*q
Maps the button to the button specified with
.IR <button> .
This can be either a button number or a name.
.TP 7
.BI "\*qButtons " "<button+> <button->" \*q
Maps the positive axis to the button specified with
.I <button+>
and the negative axis to the button specified with 
.IR <button-> .
These can be either button numbers or names.
.PP
.SS BUTTON CONFIGURATION
At the moment, the button portion of this driver only handles buttons
reported as mouse buttons, that is from BTN_MOUSE to BTN_JOYSTICK \- 1.
.fi
At this time there are no configuration options for buttons.
.SS KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION
The keyboard portion of this driver handles all keys reported and requires 
XKB support.
.fi
The following driver 
.B Options
control the relative axis portion of the driver:
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXkbRules\*q \*q" rules \*q
specifies which XKB rules file to use for interpreting the
.BR XkbModel ,
.BR XkbLayout ,
.BR XkbVariant ,
and
.B XkbOptions
settings.  Default: \*qxorg\*q for most platforms, but \*qxfree98\*q for the
Japanese PC-98 platforms.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXkbModel\*q \*q" modelname \*q
specifies the XKB keyboard model name.  Default: \*qevdev\*q.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXkbLayout\*q \*q" layoutname \*q
specifies the XKB keyboard layout name.  This is usually the country or
language type of the keyboard.  Default: \*qus\*q.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXkbVariant\*q \*q" variants \*q
specifies the XKB keyboard variant components.  These can be used to
enhance the keyboard layout details.  Default: not set.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXkbOptions\*q \*q" options \*q
specifies the XKB keyboard option components.  These can be used to
enhance the keyboard behaviour.  Default: not set.

.PP
.SH AUTHORS
Zephaniah E. Hull.
.fi
Kristian H\(/ogsberg.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
__xservername__(__appmansuffix__), __xconfigfile__(__filemansuffix__), xorgconfig(__appmansuffix__), Xserver(__appmansuffix__), X(__miscmansuffix__).