#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
KMonad: Guided tour
Welcome to the KMonad configuration tutorial. This document aims to explain:
1. The configuration syntax
2. The required information
3. All possible configuration options
This document should be a runnable configuration, so with some tweaks to the
`defcfg` block (see below) you should be able to try out all the examples
interactively.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basic syntax: comments and parentheses
KMonad's configuration language is styled on various lisps, like scheme or
Common Lisp. In a lisp, every statement is entered between '(' and ')'s. If
you are more used to Fortan style languages (python, ruby, C, Java, etc.), the
change is quite straightforward: the function name moves into the parentheses,
and you don't use commas to separate arguments. I.e.
This: my_function(a, 3, "Alakazam")
Becomes: (my_function a 3 "Alakazam")
The reason for this is because Lisp-style languages are very easy to parse and
write syntax-highlighters for.
We also provide standard Lisp syntax for comments:
- block comments between: #| and its reverse
- line comments following: ;;
Unlike standard lisp, a single ; does not denote a comment, but instead the
keycode for semicolon.
Also, as you might have noticed, whitespace is possible anywhere.
To check for syntax errors while editing, invoke kmonad with the -d option.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Necessary: the `defcfg` block
There are a few bits of information that are required to be present in a
KMonad configuration file. One of these is the existence of exactly 1 `defcfg`
statement. This statement is used to customize various configuration settings.
Many of these settings have default values, but a minimal definition must
include at least an 'input' field and an 'output' field. These describe how
KMonad captures its inputs and how it emits its outputs.
First, let's go over the optional, non-OS specific settings. Currently there is
only 2:
- fallthrough: `true` or `false`, defaults to `false`
KMonad catches input events and tries to match them to various handlers. If
it cannot match an event to any handler (for example, if it isn't included
in the `defsrc` block, or if it is, but the current keymap does not map any
buttons to it), then the event gets quietly ignored. If `fallthrough` is set
to `true`, any unhandled events simply get reemitted.
- allow-cmd: `true` or `false`, defaults to `false`
If this is set to `false`, any action that runs a shell-command will simply
log to `stdout` without ever running (log-level info). Don't ever enable
this on a configuration that you do not trust, because:
(cmd-button "rm -rf ~/*")
is a thing. For more information on the `cmd-button' function, see the
section on Command buttons below.
There are also some optional OS specific settings that we support:
- `cmp-seq': KEY, defaults to `RightAlt' (Linux X11 specific)
This sets your compose key for Unicode input. For more information, as well
as a workaround to also make this work on windows, see the section on
Compose-key sequences below.
- `cmp-seq-delay': NUMBER (in milliseconds)
This sets a delay between each pressed key in a compose-key sequence. Some
environments may have troubles recognizing the key sequence if it's pressed
too rapidly; if you experience any problems in this direction, you can try
setting this value to `5' or `10' and see if that helps.
Secondly, let's go over how to specify the `input` and `output` fields of a
`defcfg` block. This differs between OS'es, and so do the capabilities of
these interfaces.
-- Linux ------
In Linux we deal with input by performing an ioctl-grab on a specific
device-file. This allows us to hook KMonad on the input of exactly 1 keyboard,
and allows you to run multiple instances of KMonad for different keyboards. We
make an input using:
(device-file "/dev/input/by-id/my-keyboard-kbd")
NOTE: Any valid path to a device-file will work, but it is recommended to use
the 'by-id' directory, since these names will not change if you replug the
device.
We deal with output by creating a 'uinput' device. This requires that the
'uinput' kernel module is loaded. The easiest way to ensure this is by calling
'sudo modprobe uinput'. We create a uinput device using:
(uinput-sink "name" "optional post-init command")
-- Windows ----
In Windows we do not get such fine-grained control. We use a low-level
keyboard hook to intercept all non-injected keyboard events. There is
currently an open issue to improve the C-bindings used to capture windows
keyevents, and if you have a better way to approach this issue, help is deeply
appreciated. You specify a windows input using:
(low-level-hook)
Similarly, the output in Windows lacks the fine-grained control. We use the
SendEvent API to emit key events directly to Windows. Since these are
'artificial' events we won't end up catching them again by the
`low-level-hook`. It is very likely that KMonad does not play well with other
programs that capture keyboard input like AHK. You specify windows output using:
(send-event-sink)
-- Mac OS -----
For Mac questions I suggest filing an issue and tagging @thoelze1, he wrote
the MacOS API. However, input using:
(iokit-name "optional product string")
By default this should grab all keyboards, however if a product string is
provided, KMonad will only capture those devices that match the provided
product string. If you would like to provide a product string, you can run
`make; ./list-keyboards' in c_src/mac to list the product strings of all
connected keyboards.
You initialize output on MacOS using:
(kext)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defcfg
;; For Linux
input (device-file "/dev/input/by-id/usb-04d9_daskeyboard-event-kbd")
output (uinput-sink "My KMonad output"
;; To understand the importance of the following line, see the section on
;; Compose-key sequences at the near-bottom of this file.
"/run/current-system/sw/bin/sleep 1 && /run/current-system/sw/bin/setxkbmap -option compose:ralt")
cmp-seq ralt ;; Set the compose key to `RightAlt'
cmp-seq-delay 5 ;; 5ms delay between each compose-key sequence press
;; For Windows
;; input (low-level-hook)
;; output (send-event-sink)
;; For MacOS
;; input (iokit-name "my-keyboard-product-string")
;; output (kext)
;; Comment this if you want unhandled events not to be emitted
fallthrough true
;; Set this to false to disable any command-execution in KMonad
allow-cmd true
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Necessary: the `defsrc` block
It is difficult to explain the `defsrc` block without immediately going into
`deflayer` blocks as well. Essentially, KMonad maps input-events to various
internal actions, many of which generate output events. The `defsrc` block
explains the layout on which we specify our `deflayer`s down the line.
It is important to realize that the `defsrc` block doesn't *necessarily* have
to coincide with your actual input keyboard. You can specify a full 100%
`defsrc` block, but only use a 40% keyboard. This will mean that every
`deflayer` you specify will also have to match your 100% `defsrc`, and that
your actual keyboard would be physically unable to trigger about 60% of your
keymap, but it would be perfectly valid syntax.
The dual of this (and more useful) is that it is also perfectly valid to only
specify that part of your keyboard in `defsrc` that you want to remap. If you
use a 100% keyboard, but don't want to remap the numpad at all you can simply
leave the numpad out of your `defsrc`, and it should work just fine. In that
particular case you probably want to set `fallthrough` to `true` in your
`defcfg` block though.
In the future we would like to provide support for multiple, named `defsrc`
blocks, so that it becomes easier to specify various layers for just the
numpad, for example, but at the moment any more or less than 1 `defsrc` block
will result in an error.
The layouting in the `defsrc` block is completely free, whitespace simply gets
ignored. We strive to provide a name for every keycode that is no longer than
4 characters, so we find that laying out your keymap in columns of 5 works out
quite nicely (although wider columns will allow for more informative aliases,
see below).
Most keycodes should be obvious. If you are unsure, check
'./src/KMonad/Keyboard/Keycode.hs'. Every Keycode has a name corresponding to
its Keycode name, but all lower-case and with the 'Key' prefix removed. There
are also various aliases for Keycodes starting around line 350. If you are
trying to bind a key and there is not a 4-letter alias, please file an issue,
or better yet, a pull-request, and it will be added promptly.
Also, you can consult './keymap/template/' for various input templates to use
directly or to look up keycodes by position. Here we use the input-template
for 'us_ansi_60.kbd'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defsrc
grv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = bspc
tab q w e r t y u i o p [ ] \
caps a s d f g h j k l ; ' ret
lsft z x c v b n m , . / rsft
lctl lmet lalt spc ralt rmet cmp rctl
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional : `defalias` statements
KMonad will let you specify some very specific, crazy buttons. These
definitions can get pretty long, though, and would make `deflayer` blocks
nearly impossible to read. Therefore we provide the ability to alias names to
these buttons, to keep the actual `deflayer` statements orderly.
A `defalias` can contain any number of aliases, and it can refer backwards or
forwards to layers without issue. The only sequencing that needs to be kept in
mind is that a `defalias` cannot refer forward to another `defalias` that is
not yet defined.
Here we define a few aliases, but we will define more later. Notice that we
try to only use 3 letter names for aliases. If that is not enough to be clear,
consider widening all columns to 6 or 7 characters (or be content with a messy
config).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
num (layer-toggle numbers) ;; Bind num to a button that switches to a layer
kil C-A-del ;; Bind kil to a button that Ctrl-Alt-deletes
)
#| NOTE: The above code could just as easily have been written as:
(defalias num (layer-toggle numbers))
(defalias kil C-A-del)
|#
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Necessary: at least 1 `deflayer` block
As explained in the `defsrc` section, a `deflayer` will define a button for
each corresponding entry in the `defsrc` definition. A `deflayer` statement
consists of the `deflayer` keyword, followed by the name used to identify this
layer, followed by N 'statements-that-evaluate-to-a-button', where N is
exactly how many entries are defined in the `defsrc` statement.
It is also important to mention that the 'keymap' in KMonad is modelled as a
stack of layers (just like in QMK). When an event is registered we look in the
top-most layer for a handler. If we don't find one we try the next layer, and
then the next.
Exactly what 'evaluates-to-a-button' will be expanded on in more detail below.
There are very many different specialist buttons in KMonad that we will touch
upon. However, for now, these 4 are a good place to begin:
1. Any keycode evaluates to a button that, on press, emits the press of that
keycode, and on release, emits the release of that keycode. Just a 'normal'
button. The exception is '\', which gets used as an escape character. Use
'\\' instead. Other characters that need to be escaped to match the literal
character are '(', ')', and '_'.
2. An @-prefixed name evaluates to an alias lookup. We named two buttons in
the `defalias` block above, we could now refer to these buttons using
`@num` and `@kil`. This is also why we only use alias-names no longer than
3 characters in this tutorial. Also, note that we are already referencing
some aliases that have not yet been defined, this is not an issue.
3. The '_' character evaluates to transparent. I.e. no handler for that
key-event in this layer, causing this event to be handed down the layer
stack to perhaps be handled by the next layer.
4. The 'XX' character evaluates to blocked. I.e. no action bound to that
key-event in this layer, but do actually catch event, preventing any
underlying layer from handling it.
Finally, it is important to note that the *first* `deflayer` statement in a
KMonad config will be the layer that is active when KMonad starts up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(deflayer qwerty
grv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = bspc
tab q w e r t y u i o p [ ] \
caps a s d f g h j k l ; ' ret
lsft z x c v b n m , . / rsft
lctl @num lalt spc ralt rmet @sym @tst
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: as many layers as you please
We had already defined `num` as referring to a `(layer-toggle numbers)`. We
will get into layer-manipulation soon, but first, let's just create a second
layer that overlays a numpad under our right-hand.
To easily specify layers it is highly recommended to create an empty
`deflayer` statement as a comment at the top of your config, so you can simply
copy-paste this template. There are also various empty layer templates
available in the './keymap/template' directory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(deflayer numbers
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ XX / 7 8 9 - _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ XX * 4 5 6 + _ _
_ _ \( \) . XX 0 1 2 3 _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: modded buttons
Let's start by exploring the various special buttons that are supported by
KMonad by looking at 'modded' buttons, that is to say, buttons that activate
some kind of 'mod', then perform some button, and finally release that 'mod'
again.
We have already seen an example of this style of button, our `kil` button is
one such button. Let's look at it in more detail:
C-A-del
This looks like a simple declarative statement, but it's helpful to realize
that is simply syntactic sugar around 2 function calls. This statement is
equivalent to:
(around ctl (around alt del))
This highlights a core design principle in KMonad: we try to provide very
simple buttons, and then we provide rules and functions for combining them
into new buttons. Although note: still very much a work in progress.
So, looking at this statement:
(around foo bar)
Here, `around` is a function that takes two buttons and creates a new button.
This new button will, on a press, first press foo, then press bar, and on a
release first release bar, and then foo. Once created, this new button can be
passed to anything in KMonad that expects a button.
We have already seen other examples of modded buttons, \(, \), *, and +. There
are no Keycodes for these buttons in KMonad, but they are buttons. They simply
evaluate to `(around lsft x)`. All shifted numbers have their corresponding
characters, the same is true for all capitals, and < > : ~ " | { } \_ + and ?.
To wrap up 'modded-buttons', let's look back at C-A-del. We have 8 variants:
C- : (around lctl X)
A- : (around lalt X)
M- : (around lmet X)
S- : (around lsft X)
Then RC-, RA-, RM-, and RS- behave exactly the same, except using the
right-modifier.
These can be combined however you please:
C-A-M-S-x ;; Perfectly valid
C-% ;; Perfectly valid: same as C-S-5
C-RC-RA-A-M-S-RS-m ;; Sure, but why would you?
Also, note that although we provide special syntax for certain modifiers,
these buttons are in no way 'special' in KMonad. There is no concept of 'modifier'.
(around a (around b c)) ;; Perfectly valid
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
;; Something useful
cpy C-c
pst C-v
cut C-x
;; Something silly
md1 (around a (around b c)) ;; abc
md2 (around a (around lsft b)) ;; aB
md3 C-A-M-S-l
md4 (around % b) ;; BEWARE: %B, not %b, do you see why?
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: sticky keys
KMonad also support so called "sticky keys". These are keys that will
behave as if they were pressed after just tapping them. This behaviour
wears off after the next button is pressed, which makes them ideal for
things like a quick control or shift. For example, tapping a sticky and
then pressing `abc' will result in `Abc'.
You can create these keys with the `sticky-key' keyword:
(defalias
slc (sticky-key 500 lctl))
The number after `sticky-key' is the timeout you want, in milliseconds. If
a key is tapped and that time has passed, it won't act like it's pressed
down when we receive the next keypress.
It is also possible to combine sticky keys. For example, to
get a sticky shift+control you can do
(defalias
ssc (around
(sticky-key 500 lsft)
(sticky-key 500 lctl)))
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
;; Let's make both shift keys sticky
(defalias
sl (sticky-key 300 lsft)
sr (sticky-key 300 rsft))
;; Now we define the 'tst' button as opening and closing a bunch of layers at
;; the same time. If you understand why this works, you're starting to grok
;; KMonad.
;;
;; Explanation: we define a bunch of testing-layers with buttons to illustrate
;; the various options in KMonad. Each of these layers makes sure to have its
;; buttons not overlap with the buttons from the other layers, and specifies all
;; its other buttons as transparent. When we use the nested `around` statement,
;; whenever we push the button linked to '@tst' (check `qwerty` layer, we bind
;; it to `rctl`), any button we press when holding `rctl` will be pressed in the
;; context of those 4 layers overlayed on the stack. When we release `rctl`, all
;; these layers will be popped again.
(defalias tst (around (layer-toggle macro-test)
(around (layer-toggle layer-test)
(around (layer-toggle around-next-test)
(around (layer-toggle command-test)
(layer-toggle modded-test))))))
(deflayer modded-test
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ @md4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ @md1 @md2 @md3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ @cut @cpy @pst _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: tap-macros
Let's look at a button we haven't seen yet, tap-macros.
`tap-macro` is a function that takes an arbitrary number of buttons and
returns a new button. When this new button is pressed it rapidly taps all its
stored buttons in quick succesion except for its last button, which it only
presses. This last button gets released when the `tap-macro` gets released.
There are two ways to define a `tap-macro`, using the `tap-macro` function
directly, or through the #() syntactic sugar. Both evaluate to exactly the
same button.
(tap-macro K M o n a d)
#(K M o n a d)
If you are going to use a `tap-macro` to perform a sequence of actions inside
some program you probably want to include short pauses between inputs to give
the program time to register all the key-presses. Therefore we also provide
the 'pause' function, which simply pauses processing for a certain amount of
milliseconds. Pauses can be created like this:
(pause 20)
P20
You can also pause between each key stroke by specifying the `:delay' keyword,
as well as a time in ms, at the end of a `tap-macro':
(tap-macro K M o n a d :delay 5)
#(K M o n a d :delay 5)
The above would be equivalent to e.g.
(tap-macro K P5 M P5 o P5 n P5 a P5 d)
The `tap-macro-release` is like `tap-macro`, except that it
waits to press the last button when the `tap-macro-release`
gets released. It might be useful when combined with a
footswitch that sends keybooard scan codes.
(tap-macro-release i K M o n a d esc)
WARNING: DO NOT STORE YOUR PASSWORDS IN PLAIN TEXT OR IN YOUR KEYBOARD
I know it might be tempting to store your password as a macro, but there are 2
huge risks:
1. You accidentally leak your config and expose your password
2. Anyone who knows about the button can get clear-text representation of your
password with any text editor, shell, or text-input field.
Support for triggering shell commands directly from KMonad is described in the
command buttons section below.
This concludes this public service announcement.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
mc1 #(K M o n a d)
mc2 #(C-c P50 A-tab P50 C-v) ;; Careful, this might do something
mc3 #(P200 h P150 4 P100 > < P50 > < P20 0 r z 1 ! 1 ! !)
mc4 (tap-macro a (pause 50) @md2 (pause 50) c)
mc5 (tap-macro-release esc esc esc)
mc6 #(@mc3 spc @mc3 spc @mc3)
)
(deflayer macro-test
_ @mc1 @mc2 @mc3 @mc4 @mc5 @mc6 _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: layer manipulation
You have already seen the basics of layer-manipulation. The `layer-toggle`
button. This button adds a layer to the top of KMonad's layer stack when
pressed, and removes it again when released. There are a number of other ways
to manipulate the layer stack, some safer than others. Let's go through all of
them from safest to least safe:
`layer-toggle` works as described before, 2 things to note:
1. If you are confused or worried about pressing a key, changing layers, and
then releasing a key and this causing issues: don't be. KMonad handles
presses and releases in very different ways. Presses get passed directly to
the stacked keymap as previously described. When a KMonad button has its
press-action triggered, it then registers a callback that will catch its
own release before we ever touch the keymap. This guarantees that the
button triggered by the press of X *will be* the button whose release is
triggered by the release of X (the release of X might trigger other things
as well, but that is besides the point.)
2. If `layer-toggle` can only ever add and then necessarily remove 1 layer
from the stack, then it will never cause a permanent change, and is
perfectly safe.
`layer-delay`, once pressed, temporarily switches to some layer for some
milliseconds. Just like `layer-toggle` this will never permanently mess-up the
layer stack. This button was initially implemented to provide some
'leader-key' style behavior. Although I think in the future better solutions
will be available. For now this will temporarily add a layer to the top of the
stack:
(layer-delay 500 my-layer)
`layer-next`, once pressed, primes KMonad to handle the next press from some
arbitrary layer. This aims to fill the same usecase as `layer-delay`: the
beginnings of 'leader-key' style behavior. I think this whole button will get
deleted soon, because the more general `around-next` now exists (see below)
and this is nothing more than:
(around-next (layer-toggle layer-name))
Until then though, use `layer-next` like this:
(layer-next layer-name)
`layer-switch`: change the base-layer of KMonad. As described at the top of
this document, the first `deflayer` statement is the layer that is active when
KMonad starts. Since `layer-toggle` can only ever add on and remove from the
top of that, it can never change the base-layer. The following button will
unregister the bottom-most layer of the keymap, and replace it with another
layer.
(layer-switch my-layer)
This is where things start getting potentially dangerous (i.e. get KMonad into
an unusuable state until a restart has occured). It is perfectly possible to
switch into a layer that you can never get out of. Or worse, you could
theoretically have a layer full of only `XX`s and switch into that, rendering
your keyboard unuseable until you somehow manage to kill KMonad (without using
your keyboard).
However, when handled well, `layer-switch` is very useful, letting you switch
between 'modes' for your keyboard. I have a tiny keyboard with a weird keymap,
but I switch into a simple 'qwerty' keymap shifted 1 button to the right for
gaming. Just make sure that any 'mode' you switch into has a button that
allows you to switch back out of the 'mode' (or content yourself restarting
KMonad somehow).
`layer-add` and `layer-rem`. This is where you can very quickly cause yourself
a big headache. Originally I didn't expose these operations, but someone
wanted to use them, and I am not one to deny someone else a chainsaw. As the
names might give away:
(layer-add name) ;; Add a layer to the top of the stack
(layer-rem name) ;; Remove a layer by name (noop if no such layer)
To use `layer-add` and `layer-rem` well, you should take a moment to think
about how to create a layout that will prevent you from getting into
situations where you enter a key-configuration you cannot get out of again.
These two operations together, however, are very useful for activating a
permanent overlay for a while. This technique is illustrated in the tap-hold
overlay a bit further down.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
yah (layer-toggle asking-for-trouble) ;; Completely safe
nah (layer-add asking-for-trouble) ;; Completely unsafe
ld1 (layer-delay 500 numbers) ;; One way to get a leader-key
ld2 (layer-next numbers) ;; Another way to get a leader key
;; NOTE, this is safe because both `qwerty` and `colemak` contain the `@tst`
;; button which will get us to the `layer-test` layer, which itself contains
;; both `@qwe` and `@col`.
qwe (layer-switch qwerty) ;; Set qwerty as the base layer
col (layer-switch colemak) ;; Set colemak as the base layer
)
(deflayer layer-test
@qwe _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @add _ @nah
@col _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @yah
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @ld1 @ld2 _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
;; Exactly like qwerty, but with the letters switched around
(deflayer colemak
grv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = bspc
tab q w f p g j l u y ; [ ] \
@xcp a r s t d h n e i o ' ret
@sl z x c v b k m , . / @sr
lctl @num lalt spc ralt rmet @sym @tst
)
(defalias lol #(: - D))
;; Contrived example
(deflayer asking-for-trouble
@lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol
@lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol
@lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol
@lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol
@lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol @lol
)
;; One way to safely use layer-add and layer-rem: the button bound to layer-add
;; is the same button bound to layer-rem in the layer that `add` adds to the
;; stack. I.e., it becomes impossible to add or remove multiple copies of a
;; layer.
(defalias
add (layer-add multi-overlay) ;; multi-overlay is defined in the next
rem (layer-rem multi-overlay) ;; section below this
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: Multi-use buttons
Perhaps one of the most useful features of KMonad, where a lot of work has
gone into, but also an area with many buttons that are ever so slightly
different. The naming and structuring of these buttons might change sometime
soon, but for now, this is what there is.
For the next section being able to talk about examples is going to be handy,
so consider the following scenario and mini-language that will be the same
between scenarios.
- We have some button `foo` that will be different between scenarios
- `foo` is bound to 'Esc' on the input keyboard
- the letters a s d f are bound to themselves
- Px signifies the press of button x on the keyboard
- Rx signifies the release of said button
- Tx signifies the sequential and near instantaneous press and release of x
- 100 signifies 100ms pass
So for example:
Tesc Ta:
tap of 'Esc' (triggering `foo`), tap of 'a' triggering `a`
Pesc 100 Ta Tb Resc:
press of 'Esc', 100ms pause, tap of 'a', tap of 'b', release of 'Esc'
The `tap-next` button takes 2 buttons, one for tapping, one for holding, and
combines them into a single button. When pressed, if the next event is its own
release, we tap the 'tapping' button. In all other cases we first press the
'holding' button then we handle the event. Then when the `tap-next` gets
released, we release the 'holding' button.
So, using our mini-language, we set foo to:
(tap-next x lsft)
Then:
Tesc -> x
Tesc Ta -> xa
Pesc Ta Resc -> A
Pesc Ta Tr Resc -> AR
The `tap-hold` button is very similar to `tap-next` (a theme, trust me). The
difference lies in how the decision is made whether to tap or hold. A
`tap-hold` waits for a particular timeout, if the `tap-hold` is released
anywhere before that moment we execute a tap immediately. If the timeout
occurs and the `tap-hold` is still held, we switch to holding mode.
The additional feature of a `tap-hold` is that it pauses event-processing
until it makes its decision and then rolls back processing when the decision
has been made.
So, again with the mini-language, we set foo to:
(tap-hold 200 x lsft) ;; Like tap-next, but with a 200ms timeout
Then:
Tesc -> x
Tesc Ta -> xa
Pesc 300 a -> A (the moment you press a)
Pesc a 300 -> A (after 200 ms)
Pesc a 100 Resc -> xa (both happening immediately on Resc)
The `tap-hold-next` button is a combination of the previous 2. Essentially,
think of it as a `tap-next` button, but it also switches to held after a
period of time. This is useful, because if you have a (tap-next ret ctl) for
example, and you press it thinking you want to press C-v, but then you change
your mind, you now cannot release the button without triggering a 'ret', that
you then have to backspace. With the `tap-hold-next` button, you simply
outwait the delay, and you're good. I see no benefit of `tap-next` over
`tap-hold-next` with a decent timeout value.
You can use the `:timeout-button` keyword to specify a button other than the
hold button which should be held when the timeout expires. For example, we
can construct a button which types one x when tapped, multiple x's when held,
and yet still acts as shift when another button is pressed before the timeout
expires. So, using the minilanguage and foo as:
(tap-hold-next 200 x lsft :timeout-button x)
Then:
Tesc -> Tx
Pesc 100 a -> A (the moment you press a)
Pesc 5000 Resc -> xxxxxxx (some number of auto-repeated x's)
Note that KMonad does not itself auto-repeat the key. In this last example,
KMonad emits 200 Px 4800 Rx, and the operating system's auto-repeat feature,
if any, emits multiple x's because it sees that the x key is held for 4800 ms.
The `tap-next-release` is like `tap-next`, except it decides whether to tap or
hold based on the next release of a key that was *not* pressed before us. This
also performs rollback like `tap-hold`. So, using the minilanguage and foo as:
(tap-next-release x lsft)
Then:
Tesc Ta -> xa
Pa Pesc Ra Resc -> ax (because 'a' was already pressed when we started, so
foo decides it is tapping)
Pesc Ta Resc -> A (because a was pressed *and* released after we started,
so foo decides it is holding)
These increasingly stranger buttons are, I think, coming from the stubborn
drive of some of my more eccentric (and I mean that in the most positive way)
users to make typing with modifiers on the home-row more comfortable.
Especially layouts that encourage a lot of rolling motions are nicer to use
with the `release` style buttons.
The `tap-hold-next-release` (notice a trend?) is just like `tap-next-release`,
but it comes with an additional timeout that, just like `tap-hold-next` will
jump into holding-mode after a timeout.
I honestly think that `tap-hold-next-release`, although it seems the most
complicated, probably is the most comfortable to use. But I've put all of them
in a testing layer down below, so give them a go and see what is nice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
xtn (tap-next x lsft) ;; Shift that does 'x' on tap
xth (tap-hold 400 x lsft) ;; Long delay for easier testing
thn (tap-hold-next 400 x lsft)
tnr (tap-next-release x lsft)
tnh (tap-hold-next-release 2000 x lsft)
;; Used it the colemak layer
xcp (tap-hold-next 400 esc ctl)
)
;; Some of the buttons used here are defined in the next section
(deflayer multi-overlay
@mt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @rem _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
@thn _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
@xtn _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @xth
@tnr _ _ _ _ _ _ @tnh
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: Multi-tap
Besides the tap-hold style buttons there is another multi-use button (with.
only 1 variant, at the moment). The `multi-tap`.
A `multi-tap` codes for different buttons depending on how often it is tapped.
It is defined by a series of delays and buttons, followed by a last button
without delay. As long as you tap the `multi-tap` within the delay specified,
it will jump to the next button. Once the delay is exceeded the selected
button is pressed. If the last button in the list is reached, it is
immediately pressed. When another key is pressed down while we're tapping,
`multi-tap' also immediately exits and taps the current button.
Note that you can actually hold the button, so in the below example, going:
tap-tap-hold (wait 300ms) will get you a pressed c, until you release again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
mt (multi-tap 300 a 300 b 300 c 300 d e))
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: Around-next
The `around-next` function creates a button that primes KMonad to perform the
next button-press inside some context. This could be the context of 'having
Shift pressed' or 'being inside some layer' or, less usefully, 'having d
pressed'. It is a more general and powerful version of `layer-next`.
There is also an `around-next-timeout` button that does the same thing as
`around-next`, except that if some other button press is not detected within
some timeout, some other button is tapped. This can be used to create a
leader-key that simply times out (by passing a non-button), or a key that can
still function as a normal key, but also as a leader key when used slowly.
I think expansion of this button-style is probably the future of leader-key,
hydra-style functionality support in KMonad.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
ns (around-next sft) ;; Shift the next press
nnm (around-next @num) ;; Perform next press in numbers layer
ntm (around-next-timeout 500 sft XX)
)
(deflayer around-next-test
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
@ns _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
@nnm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
@ntm _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: Compose-key sequences
Compose-key sequences are series of button-presses that your operating system
will interpret as the insertion of a special character, like accented
characters, or various special-languages. In that sense, they are just
syntactic sugar for keyboard macros.
To get this to work on Linux you will need to set your compose-key with a tool
like `setxkbmap', as well as tell kmonad that information. See the `defcfg'
block at the top of this file for a working example. Note that you need to
wait ever so slightly for the keyboard to register with linux before the
command gets executed, that's why the `sleep 1`. Also, note that all the
`/run/current-system' stuff is because the author uses NixOS. Just find a
shell-command that will:
1. Sleep a moment
2. Set the compose-key to your desired key
Please be aware that what `setxkbmap' calls the `menu' key is not actually the
`menu' key! If you want to use the often suggested
setxkbmap -option compose:menu
you will have to set your compose key within kmonad to `compose' and not
`menu'.
After this, this should work out of the box under Linux. Windows does not
recognize the same compose-key sequences, but WinCompose will make most of the
sequences line up with KMonad: http://wincompose.info/
This has not in any way been tested on Mac.
In addition to hard-coded symbols, we also provide 'uncompleted' macros. Since
a compose-key sequence is literally just a series of keystrokes, we can omit
the last one, and enter the sequence for 'add an umlaut' and let the user then
press some letter to add this umlaut to. These are created using the `+"`
syntax.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
sym (layer-toggle symbols)
)
(deflayer symbols
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ ä é © _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ +' +~ +` +^ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ +" +, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _)
#| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optional: Command buttons
Currently we also provide the ability to launch arbitrary shell-commands from
inside kmonad. These commands are simply handed off to the command-shell
without any further checking or waiting.
NOTE: currently only tested on Linux, but should work on any platform, as long
as the command is valid for that platform.
The `cmd-button' function takes two arguments, the second one of which is
optional. These represent the commands to be executed on pressing and
releasing the button respectively.
BEWARE: never run anyone's configuration without looking at it. You wouldn't
want to push:
(cmd-button "rm -rf ~/*") ;; Delete all this user's data
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |#
(defalias
dat (cmd-button "date >> /tmp/kmonad_example.txt") ;; Append date to tmpfile
pth (cmd-button "echo $PATH > /tmp/kmonad_path.txt") ;; Write out PATH
;; `dat' on press and `pth' on release
bth (cmd-button "date >> /tmp/kmonad_example.txt"
"echo $PATH > /tmp/kmonad_path.txt")
)
(deflayer command-test
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @dat @pth _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
)
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