Re: Spanish Keyboard Layout in GNOME

["Michael M." <nixlists writemoore net>]

Jose Alburquerque wrote:
> Hi everyone!  I'm new to this list but I need to ask (what I hope is!) 
> a simple question.  Presently I'm running a RedHat Enterprise Linux 
> (RHEL) "clone" called CentOS 4.3 (the version corresponds to the same 
> version as RedHat's product).  When I installed the OS, I installed 
> with the GNOME Desktop option.
>
> I am so proud of how far GNOME has come!  (I've been using RedHat 
> since 4.3, though I had to dual boot with Windows for some time due to 
> lack of word processing apps, etc.)  I now use Linux (and have been 
> using it) exclusively without needing Windows at all!  My system is 
> very stable and I have no problems with its functionality.  When 
> system boots, gdm takes over display and auto logs in (after a few 
> seconds) a "general" user (though I have an account of my own).
>
> What I'm having problems with is with the "Keyboard Indicator" 
> applet:  I need to use a keyboard that has accents (for Spanish work) 
> and I added the applet to a panel to be able to change to the 
> appropriate keyboard.  I managed to add a Spanish layout from the 
> list.  I can even switch to the layout and the "dead keys" work.  But 
> when I type the letter after the dead key, it appears unaccented.  The 
> keyboard layout (in the applet list) is called "Spanish Sun dead keys".
>
> What's really strange is that the keyboard layout called "U.S. English 
> International (with dead keys)" does provide letters with accents 
> (using the appropriate dead keys).  Can anyone tell me how I might get 
> a Spanish keyboard layout that works (I'm kinda used to using the 
> actual "Spanish" layout in a "Spanish" keyboard)?  Anyone has any 
> ideas/explanations?  Thanks so much.
You might need to make a change in your xorg.conf (or XFree86.config, 
whichever xserver CentOS uses).  There's a section in the file to define 
your keyboard layout.  I think the Gnome setting is supposed to override 
the setting in the configuration file, at least on a per-user basis, but 
I'm not sure.  You might possibly need to define multiple layouts in 
your config in order for Gnome to be able to switch between them.

These things are often, to some degree, distribution-specific, if only 
because there are a few different versions of Gnome and of the xserver 
out there now, and it might be impossible to say if one magic 
combination of factors will work for all of them.  Gnome 2.12 might be 
different from Gnome 2.14, and Xorg 6.8, 6.9 and 7.0 could all be 
different, in terms of what you need to do to get your keyboard options 
working the way you want.  Things have changed a lot with Xorg 7.0, 
which has a modular layout.  You might have better luck if you asked in 
a CentOS forum, and were specific about which versions of Gnome and of 
the xserver you're using.

Good luck!

--
Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." --S. Jackson