Is there an easier way to make mappings with modifiers?

[rosshadden]

Here is an example from my sxhkd config:

# screenshots
Print
	~/bin/screenshot select
alt + Print
	~/bin/screenshot window
shift + Print
	~/bin/screenshot screen
control + shift + Print
	~/bin/screenshot full

And here is me doing (nearly) the same thing in kanata:

(defalias
	xss (fork
		(fork
			(fork
				(cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot select")
				(cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot full")
				(lctl rctl)
			)
			(cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot window")
			(lalt ralt)
		)
		(cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot screen")
		(lsft rsft)
	)
)

It's not exactly the same because I made an intentional change when porting to kanata, but the difference is just changing where one of the forks goes.

Here's another example which I haven't ported yet, but you probably get the idea:

# notifications
super + backslash
	dunstctl close
super + control + backslash
	dunstctl close-all
super + shift + backslash
	dunstctl history-pop
super + alt + backslash
	dunstctl context

Is there an easier way to do this kind of thing in Kanata? I have a lot of these blocks and it's weird using a bunch of forks. Is it just something that will always be painful in Kanata because it doesn't really play into the chording/layer idea? Or is there perhaps a featureset we could add that might alleviate the pain?

[rszyma]

Is there an easier way to do this kind of thing in Kanata?

Another approach but with use of layers:

(defsrc
  esc  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    0    -    =    bspc prsc
  tab  q    w    e    r    t    y    u    i    o    p    [    ]    \    del
  caps a    s    d    f    g    h    j    k    l    ;    '    ret       pgup
  lsft z    x    c    v    b    n    m    ,    .    /    rsft      up   pgdn
  lctl lmet lalt               spc             ralt      rctl left down rght
)

(deflayer base
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _
  @sft _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _    _
  @ctl _    _                  _               _         _    _    _    _
)

(defalias
    ctl (multi lctl (layer-while-held control))
    sft (multi lsft (layer-while-held shift))
    cs (layer-while-held control+shift)

    sss (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot select")
    ssf (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot full")
    ssw (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot window")
)

(deflayer control
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _
  @cs  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _    _
  _    _    _                  _               _         _    _    _    _
)

(deflayer shift
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    @sss
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _    _
  @cs  _    _                  _               _         _    _    _    _
)

(deflayer alt
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    @ssw
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _    _
  _    _    _                  _               _         _    _    _    _
)

(deflayer control+shift
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    @ssf
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _         _    _
  _    _    _                  _               _         _    _    _    _
)

;; ... and so on. add layer for every modifier combination you want

For a large amount of similar remappings I think this could be overall cleaner.

[jtroo]

This would be my first approach as well, if I were replicating the exact workflow.

If I were to suggest alternate approaches though, maybe playing with sequences or input chords with keys closer to the home row could be a more convenient/ergonomic workflow.

[rosshadden]

What if we were to add a fork variant that accepted an arbitrary number of branches?
Think of fork as if and multi-fork (or whatever) as a switch.

(fork-multi-or-whatever
  (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot select")
  (lctl rctl) (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot full")
  (lalt ralt) (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot window")
  (lsft rsft) (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot screen")
)

Maybe some token should be used for the first branch too, like a _ or XX or some other nil kind of placeholder, to make all arguments pairs for parsing reasons.

Or fork itself could be changed to accept more pair arguments.

(fork
  (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot select")
  (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot full") (lctl rctl)
  (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot window") (lalt ralt)
  (cmd nu -c "~/bin/screenshot screen") (lsft rsft)
)

I don't like this as much personally because I like the modifiers better coming before the branch, akin to a switch/case/match statement. But it would work while maintaining backwards compatibility with the existing fork.

[jtroo]

Rather than trying to repurpose/rebrand fork for this, maybe we could add a new switch-case/select type of action (name not too important). The way this would work is
different enough from how today's fork works. The keys in fork are checked with boolean "or", whereas for your case you want boolean "and".

If you want to try your hand at implementing this, the keyberon action.rs file and do_action in layout.rs would be good places to start looking. The way it parses in the config should be guided by what makes sense in the underlying keyberon mechanism I think.

A thought I had is that listing out all the combinations of potential left and right mods could be painful. A consideration is to make mod keys allow both. Or allow full boolean logic in this new action.

[rosshadden]

I want boolean OR, just like fork.

(fork-multi
  a
  (lctl rctl) b
  (lsft rsft) c
  (lmet rmet) d
  (lalt ralt) e
)

To me this is just a fork with extra branches. If no modifiers, press a. If left ctrl OR right ctrl, press b. If any shift key, press c, etc.

My 2nd example above would be exactly a fork with extra branches, same syntax and all, but I think it looks goofy with the modifiers after the action.

[jtroo]

# screenshots
Print
	~/bin/screenshot select
alt + Print
	~/bin/screenshot window
shift + Print
	~/bin/screenshot screen
control + shift + Print
	~/bin/screenshot full

When I look at the very first example, this looks like a natural switch case with boolean and comparisons.

For some imaginary syntax of how it could be done in Kanata,

(select
  (lctl lsft) (cmd <cmd 3>)
  (lsft) (cmd <cmd 2>)
  (lalt) (cmd <cmd 1>)
  () (cmd <cmd 0>)
)

Of course I could be mistaken, but this seems to fit more naturally with the original use case.

[rosshadden]

I would rather the mod list be OR just like fork. I mentioned in the initial post that I didn't port that example 1:1 as-is because I didn't like the ergonomics of holding ctrl+shift, and I made it just ctrl instead. If it's not an OR like fork, I don't know how you would say "any shift key" for example.
Sorry for the confusion, I should have just changed my example to not have ctrl+shift instead of copy/pasting directly.

Edit: I just remembered fake keys are a thing, so I guess you could support the OR behavior that fork does by specifying a bunch of fake keys?

[rosshadden]

A thought I had is that listing out all the combinations of potential left and right mods could be painful. A consideration is to make mod keys allow both. Or allow full boolean logic in this new action.

I totally didn't read that at all! 😱 Yeah it sounds like you are thinking of everything. Your select proposal sounds perfect and like it covers all bases.