I lost my shortcuts

IMHO it is better not to edit the global Inkscape shortcuts file but to add one with custom shortcuts in '~/.config/inkscape/keys' (Inkscape 0.47) or '~/.inkscape/keys' (Inkscape 0.46) with the same file name 'default.xml' (they will override the system shortcuts).

From the manual:
«You can also add shortcuts to a keys/defaults.xml in your Inkscape preferences directory. These will override any shortcuts defined in the system-wide defaults.xml file. See the comments in the default file for more details. »
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Customize-Files.html#Customize-Files-Shortcuts>

To restore the one you deleted or changed, you could download the original file from the source code repository
<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Einkscape.dev/inkscape/RELEASE_0_47_BRANCH/download/head%3A/default.xml-20091128124040-aej0x7yhxng1m6ly-6952/default.xml>
and replace the broken one in '/usr/share/inkscape/keys'.

OTOH I don't understand why the files in '/usr/share/inkscape' were not replaced when re-installing Inkscape. What OS are you using and how do you install Inkscape?

Note: above download link is for Inkscape 0.47

If your distribution still installs 0.46, you can get the 'keys/default.xml' file from here:
<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Einkscape.dev/inkscape/RELEASE_0_46_BRANCH/download/head%3A/default.xml-20091128124040-aej0x7yhxng1m6ly-6947/default.xml>

suv,

Thank you for your quick response.
I downloaded the fresh default for my version, .47
I saved it to my desktop and tried to drop it into the right directory in Inkscape, no luck.
I do not have the right permissions to do this.

I'm a little gun shy to mess with the permissions again, but I'll start reading up on it again.

Before I started messing with the default.xml I made a copy to my desktop and renamed it default_old.xml.
So, I still have my original default.xml if needed.
I, of course, cannot drop this into the directory without proper permissions.

Trying to switch away from XP with mixed success.
I'm running Ubuntu 9.10 and just got updated this morning.
I installed Inkscape via the Synaptic Package Manager.

I am impressed with Inkscape and am trying to see if it will work for a replacement to CorelDraw.
I'm a technical illustrator and use CD all day long and it works just fine.
The feel of Inkscape is very smooth and It would be neat to use a program that does not have so much overhead.

Thanks again for your help.

John - I'm not on Ubuntu myself (using OS X here), so I can't really help with the file permissions beyond some general hints:

° chmod 777 for a directory makes it writeable for 'world' i.e. for everyone - best to change that back to what is was after you restored the keys/default.xml file
° with 'ls -l /usr/share/inkscape' you can see the original permissions of the other inkscape directories there - e.g. extensions, palettes, templates - and then use chmod again (most likely 'sudo chmod 755 '/usr/share/inkscape/keys' - i.e. group members and world have the right to read and execute (means enter) the directory, but are not allowed to remove or rename files inside - or 'sudo chmod 775 '/usr/share/inkscape/keys')
° restoring the file itself does also depend on the file permissions, not only the directory permissions. To make a file editable you generally would use a command like 'sudo chmod 666 file_name' (setting read and write permissions for owner, group and world). Resetting default permissions could be achieved by 'sudo chmod 644 file_name' or 'sudo chmod 664 file_name' if the admin group has write permissions as well.

I hope you find some documentation that helps you to sort out that issue, else maybe one of the Ubuntu users (JazzyNico? Oleg?) can help or know an easier way - could be that Ubuntu offers some admin tools that are easier to use than the bare command line 'chmod' or that allow to force an installation to override any locally changed files?

Thanks for the tips.
It looks like I have some more learning to do.
I get grumpy when I have to learn new things.
So why the heck am I fooling around with linux?
Hmmm.

How do you know so much about changing permissions etc. when you're on a mac?
Interesting, I thought mac heads didn't like to get their hands dirty.
My opinion is changing.

I'll take a few days and bone up on permissions.

Thanks again.

Good morning Suv,

Good news, I found out how to get the 'default.xml' to work again.

I dropped the original 'default.xml' that I had copied to my hard drive into this directory:
/home/computername/.config/inkscape/keys

The keyboard shortcuts work as they should.
There are no restrictions with file permissions.
This must be where I would put my custom .xml file.
I'll keep a copy of the old one there with a different name.

I noticed that Inkscape has several shortcut .xml files available.
How would I get them to become active?
I expect I could copy and drop them into the directory above.
When I feel adventuresome I'll mess around with that.

Thanks so much for your help.

Back to tinkering ...

You can use the other shortcut files (e.g. one of those that are emulating the shortcuts of other vector applications to ease migration of AI or CorelDraw users to Inkscape) by copying them to '~/.config/inkscape/keys' and renaming one of them to 'default.xml' (after you have first renamed/moved the currently used 'default.xml' to - I don't know - 'default-previous.xml').

re Mac-Users: personally I appreciate that both worlds (the underlying Unix/BSD system) and a nice GUI don't 'exclude' each other and open the door to many (ported) software from unix or linux platforms (like Inkscape). But maybe I am not the typical Mac User then ;-)

~suv

I think you are a highly irregular Mac User.
I appreciate your attitude and insights.