i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

$mod+Shift+A works, Strg+Alt+a doesn't

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 13:53:12 +0000

I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd: $mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either.. can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by Adaephon for

I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works
$mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work
Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 08:47:26 +0000

Neither `Alt` nor `Strg` are valid modifiers. According to [the User's Guide](http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#keybindings), key bindings are to be defined like this: bindsym [--release] [Modifiers+]keysym command bindcode [--release] [Modifiers+]keycode command where `[Modifiers+]` is a list of modifiers separated and ended with `+`. Recognized modifiers are - `Mod1` (usually aka "Alt" or "Meta") - `Mod2` ("NumLock") - `Mod3` (unused on default QWERTY layout) - `Mod4` (aka "Super" or "Windows-Key") - `Mod5` (e.g. "Alt_Gr" on german QWERTZ layout) - `Shift` - `Control` - `Mode_Switch` Depending on the physical keyboard and keyboard layout you use, not every modifier is necessarily available or mapped to a key that your keyboard actually has. You can use `xmodmap -pm` to get a list of modifiers and the key symbols and codes they are mapped to. For the US layout ("QWERTY") it looks something like that: xmodmap: up to 4 keys per modifier, (keycodes in parentheses): shift Shift_L (0x32), Shift_R (0x3e) lock Caps_Lock (0x42) control Control_L (0x25), Control_R (0x69) mod1 Alt_L (0x40), Alt_R (0x6c), Meta_L (0xcd) mod2 Num_Lock (0x4d) mod3 mod4 Super_L (0x85), Super_R (0x86), Super_L (0xce), Hyper_L (0xcf) mod5 ISO_Level3_Shift (0x5c), Mode_switch (0xcb) As you can see, here the "Alt" keys (`Alt_L` and `Alt_R`) are mapped to the `mod1` modifier. So in order to utilize them in the *i3* configuration, you would write: bindsym Mod1+a exec flamethrowers bindsym Control+Mod1+a exec flamethrowers bindsym $mod+Control+Mod1+a exec flamethrowers **Note:** some combinations of modifiers may not work, depending on layout and possibly keyboard hardware.

Answer by Airblader for

I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works
$mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work
Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 14:36:22 +0000

That's because `Alt` isn't a valid keysym. Use `xev` to figure out the correct one. You can just start it, move the mouse over the window it opens, press the Alt key and look into the stdout to find the keysym. The output you are looking for looks something like this: KeyPress event, serial 32, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001, root 0x29f, subw 0x0, time 19956153, (126,563), root:(1095,627), state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False KeyRelease event, serial 32, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001, root 0x29f, subw 0x0, time 19956223, (126,563), root:(1095,627), state 0x1, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False

Comment by a_flamethrowing_duck for

That's because Alt isn't a valid keysym. Use xev to figure out the correct one. You can just start it, move the mouse over the window it opens, press the Alt key and look into the stdout to find the keysym. The output you are looking for looks something like this:

KeyPress event, serial 32, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001,
    root 0x29f, subw 0x0, time 19956153, (126,563), root:(1095,627),
    state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 32, synthetic NO, window 0x2c00001,
    root 0x29f, subw 0x0, time 19956223, (126,563), root:(1095,627),
    state 0x1, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 15:03:30 +0000

Thanks for the explanation! I've tried this and came to the conclusion that the following command should work `bindsym Control_L+Alt_L+a exec "keepass2 --auto-type"`.. I've reloaded i3's config but it doesn't seem to work for me. What am I missing?

Answer by oberon for

I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works
$mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work
Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 14:53:37 +0000

Easier: $mod+Mod1+a :)

i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

$mod+Shift+A works, Strg+Alt+a doesn't

Answer by Adaephon for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by Airblader for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by oberon for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

$mod+Shift+A works, Strg+Alt+a doesn't

Answer by Adaephon for I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd: $mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either.. can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by Airblader for I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd: $mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either.. can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by oberon for I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd: $mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either.. can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by Adaephon for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by Airblader for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!

Answer by oberon for
I've tried several bindsym's to have a programm exec'd:

`$mod+Shift+A exec flamethrowers ..works $mod+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work Strg+Alt+a exec flamethrowers ..doesnt work either..`

can someone explain this to me, thank you!