Try that ctrl-f1 thing, and read the section about the mapper in the readme.
You shouldn't modify mapper.txt directly.

Thanks for your help. Actually, I should have said that I've used only the keymapper (ctrl+f1) utility in my attempts to map my joystick buttons to keystroke events. I've used a text editor only to inspect the results in mapper.txt (not for editing the file).

The problem remains, though, that I have not succeeded.

It may be that this joystick does not lend itself well to mapping. For one thing, the keymapper utility interprets joystick button#7 as button#2 (i.e. when i press button#7, keymapper records button#2). There are many duplicates like that for my joystick; it has 12 physical buttons, but keymapper records only 4 distinct buttons. Likewise, it has an 8-position hat, but keymapper records only 4 positions. Again, it's a Logitech "Extreme 3D Pro" joystick

Or maybe I'm doing something else wrong.😖

Here's what I'm doing now to test:
In Windows 98SE, StartButton>Run>command
At the MS-DOS prompt, cd c:\progra~1\DosBox-0.71 followed by dosbox
At the DOSBox prompt, ctrl+f1 then click the picture of the , (comma) key, then the Add button, then move the joystick hat to the left (9-o'clock) position. Then I click Save, followed by Exit (from the keymapper utility).
Back at the DOSBox prompt, I type the word exit to close DOSBox in order to be sure that the updated mapper.txt file gets used.
Back at the MS-DOS prompt, I type again dosbox
Once again at the DOSBox prompt, I type mount e c:\progra~1\wc\wc1[\b] then e: then wc.exe

Once in Wing Commander, I go to the little training simulator and try my key mapping, but it doesn't have any effect. The , (comma) key does have its normal effect (which is "roll left").

So then I quit Wing Commander and quit DOSBox and scratch my head... and appeal to this forum for help!

Thanks for same. 😀

Or maybe I'm doing something else wrong.

Well it's called button wrapping, that's configurable in dosbox.conf.

For the comma remapping: maybe try dosbox 0.70 if it works there.

Yes!

I changed my Joystick type from 4-axis to auto, and now mapping works. I love it! (I should have known to leave the default well enough alone, eh?)

Also, I turned off Button wrapping, and now all my joystick buttons and axes are available for programming.

This is still within v 0.71

I can now roll my ship in Wing Commander by twisting the joystick, and do other functions that were once available only on the keyboard. In the heat of a dogfight battle, this can be a big difference!

The only thing that doesn't seem to work is the hat, but this I can live with.

Hail to the DOSBox people!!!! Not only can I play my old game, but it's even BETTER than it was back in the day!

DOSBox RULES!