XKBPOINTER

• xkbpointer - A pointing device emulator using a keyboard on X11.

Synopsis

• xkbpointer: normal (toggle) mode
• xkbpointer [-m keystring | --momentary keystring]: momentary mode

Overview

• This program allows you to move a pointer on the screen by using predefined keyboard keys.
• This pointer movement replicates the functionality of a physical mouse, touchpad or trackpoint.
• Keystrokes unrelated to cursor movement are processed normally.
• If you start it without any options, it will start in normal (toggle) mode.
  • Simultaneous operation with modifiers and other keys is also possible such as alt-left/rightdrag.
  • You can toggle it every time you run it using the command as below.
    • pkill xkbpointer && xset r || xkbpointer &
• If you start it with -m or --momentary option, it will start in momentary mode.
  • In this mode, the pointer can only be manipulated while the key is hold down that specified in the option keystring.
    • Example: xkbpointer -m Super_L (Windows key)
  • Unfortunately, simultaneous operation with modifier keys does not work very well.
    • This is because another program that detects the operation will detect that an unrelated key (keystring key) is being pressed at the same time.
    • If anyone comes up with a solution to this, please send a PR.

Depends

• X11
• Xlib
• XTEST extension
• C++20
• CMake
• GNU Make

Build

• git clone https://github.com/void-hoge/xkbpointer.git
• cd xkbpointer
• mkdir build
• cd build
• cmake ..
• make

Configurations

• The config file path is $HOME/.config/xkbpointer.conf.
• An example of config file is available in here.
• A single key can be used as each keybindings (modifier and combination keys are not available).

item	description	default
moveupper	keybind for move pointer upper	w
movelower	keybind for move pointer lower	s
moveleft	keybind for move pointer left	a
moveright	keybind for move pointer right	d
leftbutton	keybind for left button	j
middlebutton	keybind for middle button	k
rightbutton	keybind for right button	l
scrollup	keybind for scroll up	p
scrolldown	keybind for scroll down	n
quit	keybind for quit	q
framerate	frame rate of pointer position updates (frames per second)	60
scrollinterval	scroll key repeat interval	4
maxvelocity	maximum pointer velocity (pixels per frame)	100.0
acceleration	pointer acceleration (pixels per per frame)	1.0
initialvelocity	pointer initial velocity (pixels per frame)	1.0

Author

• Mugi Noda (void-hoge)

License

• GPLv3