Keymapper

Keyboard shortcuts for the fxtec pro1 - SailfishOS

Getting Started

This works kind of like the sym button on the n900, where you have an instigator and then a trigger. The holder is the instigator. Once you click it(pressing the physical button) it registers that key to a file called /home/nemo/.config/keymapper/key.log, the next button you use is the command trigger, as in, what actually runs whatever you give it.

Update

If you've already installed keymapper and want to update. Download the latest version and overwrite the install dir. Don't delete anything.

Then,

make update

You'll need to specify the input device by name.

keymapper -s /dev/input/event3 #FXTEC Keyboard

Installation

pkcon install gcc make libconfig

After downloading keymapper

#as nemo, not root
$ cd keymapper
$ ls
makefile src
$ make
$ make install

It will ask for your root password, this is needed to soft link the executable to /usr/local/bin/

How to

Start by running the listener

$ keymapper -l /dev/input/event3
#OR
$ keymapper -l /dev/input/by-path/platform-c17a000.i2c-event-kbd

Start typing using your fxtec keyboard, the output should be something like this

CODE --> 20
TYPE --> 1
VALUE --> 1
---------

Note, it only supports key event types EV_KEY.

Now that you know what the key codes are, navigate to /home/nemo/.config/keymapper/keymap.config

The config format is as follows:

// Not recommended to run keymapper as root,
name = "Fxtec Pro 1 Keymap shortcuts";
keymap = {
        something_to_remeber = {
                proc = notification header can be blank using "";
                holder = the first button you press;
                trigger = the second button you press;
                cmd = a command;
        };
        another_thing = {
                proc = notification header, can be blank using "";
                holder = the first button you press;
                trigger = the second button you press;
                cmd = a command;
        };
};

You can add as many as you like...just keep in mind the following

This is not the best approach to shortcuts
when you run ./keymapper -s devname, it needs to run indefinitely
The shortcuts will be active even if the device is locked.

The default config has echo this works as the command for FX + backspace

// Not recommended to run keymapper as root,

name = "Fxtec Pro 1 Keymap shortcuts";
keymap = {
        testing = {
                proc = "I am a notification";
                holder = 125;
                trigger = 14;
                cmd = "echo this works";
        };
};

Where 125 is the FX button and 14 is backspace

A demo can be found here: https://twitter.com/m4d_d3v/status/1266329270227333120?s=20

Final Thoughts

I do acknowledge that this is not an ideal way to achieve keyboard shortcuts, it has it's flaws and could damage your phone. Especially if you mess up the command; it takes regular system commands and could be used as root...red flag.

Another issue is the logic of the process. listen for input --> take first accepted input --> log it to a file --> wait for the second accepted input --> execute command. The logic is flawed. A better way to do it is by simply listening for the first two consecutive and accepted inputs or by using a key combination method, as in listening for the sum of two codes...moved to todo.

Todo

change makefile
Refactoring
Use key combination methods rather than instigator and trigger
Implement notifications in Glib or pure C
Add Type EV_ABS, codes X, Y, and Pressure for touchscreen - could be an interesting avenue to explore.