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Qukeys.md

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Kaleidoscope-Qukeys

Concept

This Kaleidoscope plugin allows you to overload keys on your keyboard so that they produce one keycode (i.e. symbol) when tapped, and a different keycode -- most likely a modifier (e.g. shift or alt) -- when held.

Setup

  • Include the header file:
#include <Kaleidoscope-Qukeys.h>
  • Use the plugin in the KALEIDOSCOPE_INIT_PLUGINS macro:
KALEIDOSCOPE_INIT_PLUGINS(Qukeys);

  • Define some Qukeys of the format Qukey(layer, row, col, alt_keycode) (layers, rows and columns are all zero-indexed, rows are top to bottom and columns are left to right):

  • For the Keyboardio Model 01, key coordinates refer to this header file.

QUKEYS(
  //                  l, r, c, alt_keycode
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 2, 1, Key_LeftGui),      // A/cmd
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 2, 2, Key_LeftAlt),      // S/alt
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 2, 3, Key_LeftControl),  // D/ctrl
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 2, 4, Key_LeftShift),    // F/shift
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 1, 14, Key_LeftShift),   // P/shift
  kaleidoscope::plugin::Qukey(0, 3, 15, Key_LeftShift)    // Minus/shift
)

Qukeys will work best if it's the first plugin in the INIT() list, because when typing overlap occurs, it will (temporarily) mask keys and block them from being processed by other plugins. If those other plugins handle the keypress events first, it may not work as expected. It doesn't need to be first, but if it's INIT()'d after another plugin that handles typing events, especially one that sends extra keyboard HID reports, it is more likely to generate errors and out-of-order events.

Configuration

.setTimeout(time_limit)

Sets the time length in milliseconds which determines if a key has been tapped or held.

Defaults to 250.

.setReleaseDelay(release_delay)

Sets the time length in milliseconds to artificially delay the release of the Qukey.

This is to accommodate users who are in the habit of releasing modifiers and the keys they modify (almost) simultaneously, since the Qukey may be detected as released slightly before the other key, which would not trigger the desired alternate keycode.

It is best to keep this a very small value such as 20 to avoid over-extending the modifier to further keystrokes.

Defaults to 0.

.activate()

.deactivate()

.toggle()

activate/deactivate Qukeys

DualUse key definitions

In addition to normal Qukeys described above, Kaleidoscope-Qukeys also treats DualUse keys in the keymap as Qukeys. This makes Qukeys a drop-in replacement for the DualUse plugin, without the need to edit the keymap.

The plugin provides a number of macros one can use in keymap definitions:

CTL_T(key)

A key that acts as the left Control when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied.

ALT_T(key)

A key that acts as the left Alt when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied.

SFT_T(key)

A key that acts as the left Shift when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied.

GUI_T(key)

A key that acts as the left GUI when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied.

MT(mod, key)

A key that acts as mod when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied. The mod argument can be any of the modifiers, left or right alike.

LT(layer, key)

A key that momentarily switches to layer when held, or used in conjunction with other keys, but as key when tapped in isolation. The key argument must be a plain old key, and can't have any modifiers or anything else applied.

Design & Implementation

When a Qukey is pressed, it doesn't immediately add a corresponding keycode to the HID report; it adds that key to a queue, and waits until one of three things happens:

  1. a time limit is reached

  2. the Qukey is released

  3. a subsequently-pressed key is released

Until one of those conditions is met, all subsequent keypresses are simply added to the queue, and no new reports are sent to the host. Once a condition is met, the Qukey is flushed from the queue, and so are any subsequent keypresses (up to, but not including, the next Qukey that is still pressed).

Basically, if you hold the Qukey, then press and release some other key, you'll get the alternate keycode (probably a modifier) for the Qukey, even if you don't wait for a timeout. If you're typing quickly, and there's some overlap between two keypresses, you won't get the alternate keycode, and the keys will be reported in the order that they were pressed -- as long as the keys are released in the same order they were pressed.

The time limit is mainly there so that a Qukey can be used as a modifier (in its alternate state) with a second input device (e.g. a mouse). It can be quite short (200ms is probably short enough) -- as long as your "taps" while typing are shorter than the time limit, you won't get any unintended alternate keycodes.

Further reading

The example can help to learn how to use this plugin.