SimpleHotkeys

Python library for creating keyboard shortcuts based on pynput and keyboard library.

Usage

Simple

import simplehotkeys

number = 0
def do_something ():
  global number
  number+=1
  print("key press number", number)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey([simplehotkeys.pynput.keyboard.Key.ctrl_l, simplehotkeys.pynput.keyboard.Key.alt_l], do_something)
input()

Prints message every time you press left ctrl and left alt key.

key press number 1
key press number 2
key press number 3
key press number 4
key press number 5
key press number 6
key press number 7
...

More advanced

import simplehotkeys
import time

time.sleep(1)
print ("now press your desired hotkey")
keys = simplehotkeys.catch_hotkey()
print("\t", keys)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys, 
  lambda: print("single press"), 
  lambda: print("long press"), 
  lambda: print("too long press"), 
  lambda: print("double press")
  )

time.sleep(30)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys)
input("from now no keypresses are handled")

Inputs key combination and for 30 seconds react to its events, then removes all the callbacks.

now press your desired hotkey
         [<Key.caps_lock: <20>>]
single press
double press
long press
too long press
from now no keypresses are handled

Choosing whether to utilize pynput or keyboard

I ran into problems when using both libraries on Windows (keyboard misdetects numpad * as print screen; with pynput hotkeys stops working after some time) so i decided to implement both. The choice of pynput or keyboard depends on what is given as keys to simplehotkeys.add_hotkey method:

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(["print screen"], lambda: print("keyboard"))  # use keyboard backend since keyboard accepts bare strings

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey([pynput.keyboard.Key.print_screen], lambda: print("pynput"))  # use pynput backend

Instalation

Currently no option to install via pip.
Simply add the simplehotkeys.py to your project directory.

Library methods

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys_list, callback_on_press=None, callback_on_longpress=None, callback_on_toolongpress=None, callback_on_doublepress=None)

Sets up callbacks for given key combination. Note that there is little reaction delay that depends on what callbacks are set ( when only callback_on_press is set, the callback is called on keydown; when callback_on_longpress or callback_on_toolongpress is set, it waits for the key release; when callback_on_doublepress is set, waits for next keypress).
Calling this function for the second time with same key_list will remove the old callbacks.
To prevent blocking keypress detection, callbacks are always called as threads.

simplehotkeys.catch_hotkey(timeout=10)

Waits for key combination being pressed and returns it as list of keys. If no key is pressed within the timeout nothing is returned.

Todos

Use key strings list instead of list of pynput key objects.
Add hotkey handler that will return keypress duration, keypress number, ... (customizable mode)

mi4code/SimpleHotkeys