/mousetrap

Simple library for handling keyboard shortcuts in Javascript

Primary LanguageJavaScriptApache License 2.0Apache-2.0

This repository

This repository was created in January 2016 to merge pull requests and fix some of the long standing bugs with mousetrap.js

@ccampbell did a great job with mousetrap but there are some outstanding bugs that need to be fixed and sadly he is no longer maintaining the original repo.

Towards that end this repo accepts pull requests and requests to be added as a maintainer.

For the time being the policy should be not to add any new features, I'll only be fixing issues (including missing keys).

I would hope at some stage to merge this repo back into the original. In the meantime please post any new issues here.

Mousetrap

Mousetrap is a simple library for handling keyboard shortcuts in Javascript.

It is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

It is around 2kb minified and gzipped and 4.5kb minified, has no external dependencies, and has been tested in the following browsers:

  • Internet Explorer 6+
  • Safari
  • Firefox
  • Chrome

It has support for keypress, keydown, and keyup events on specific keys, keyboard combinations, or key sequences.

If you would like to donate to help support Mousetrap development use Gittip.

Getting started

  1. Include mousetrap on your page before the closing </body> tag

    <script src="/path/to/mousetrap.min.js"></script>
  2. Add some keyboard events to listen for

    <script>
        // single keys
        Mousetrap.bind('4', function() { console.log('4'); });
        Mousetrap.bind("?", function() { console.log('show shortcuts!'); });
        Mousetrap.bind('esc', function() { console.log('escape'); }, 'keyup');
    
        // combinations
        Mousetrap.bind('command+shift+k', function() { console.log('command shift k'); });
    
        // map multiple combinations to the same callback
        Mousetrap.bind(['command+k', 'ctrl+k'], function() {
            console.log('command k or control k');
    
            // return false to prevent default browser behavior
            // and stop event from bubbling
            return false;
        });
    
        // gmail style sequences
        Mousetrap.bind('g i', function() { console.log('go to inbox'); });
        Mousetrap.bind('* a', function() { console.log('select all'); });
    
        // konami code!
        Mousetrap.bind('up up down down left right left right b a enter', function() {
            console.log('konami code');
        });
    </script>

Why Mousetrap?

There are a number of other similar libraries out there so what makes this one different?

  • There are no external dependencies, no framework is required
  • You are not limited to keydown events (You can specify keypress, keydown, or keyup or let Mousetrap choose for you).
  • You can bind key events directly to special keys such as ? or * without having to specify shift+/ or shift+8 which are not consistent across all keyboards
  • It works with international keyboard layouts
  • You can bind Gmail like key sequences in addition to regular keys and key combinations
  • You can programatically trigger key events with the trigger() method
  • It works with the numeric keypad on your keyboard
  • The code is well documented/commented

Tests

Unit tests run via mocha.

Running in browser

Download the repo and go to tests/mousetrap.html in your browser.

Running with Grunt and PhantomJS

  1. Install grunt-cli

    npm install -g grunt-cli
  2. Install npm packages

    cd /path/to/repo
    npm install
  3. Run tests

    grunt mocha

Documentation

Full documentation can be found at https://craig.is/killing/mice