Help with setting arrow layer (ijkl) triggered by caps working together with ctrl (triggered by a) and shift (triggered by s)

[bluckholl]

First thank you for this great project!
I discover it lately and I'm trying to create text editing layouts -

motivation: I'm editing code with
arrows + ctrl (e.g. jump cursor to next word each right arrow press)
arrows + shift (e.g. select another character each right arrow press)
arrows + ctrl + shift (e.g. select next word each right arrow press)

and wanting to do this without moving my fingers out of standard letters hands position.
so I thought of the below configuration (caps --> arrows ijkl layout; a --> ctrl layout ; s --> shift layout),
which doesn't work correctly:
arrows layout is fine,
arrows following by ctrl layout is fine also (caps + a + ijkl working great as arrows + ctrl )
but

1. arrows following by shift layout not working correctly (only up( i ) is working: caps + s + i => doing shift up arrow ; all other jkl
   not working)
2. arrows following by ctrl AND shift (caps + a + s) => doesn't change to "shift-ctrl" layer (caps => arrow layout changed ; now a => "ctrl" layout changed ; now s => expected to switch to "shift-ctrl" layout but it stays on "ctrl" layout)

Here's my configuration,
I hope someone can assist me
Thank you

(defcfg
  #|
  This configuration will process all keys pressed inside of kanata, even if
  they are not mapped in defsrc. This is so that certain actions can activate
  at the right time for certain input sequences. By default, unmapped keys are
  not processed through kanata due to a Windows issue related to AltGr. If you
  use AltGr in your keyboard, you will likely want to follow the simple.kbd
  file while unmapping lctl and ralt from defsrc.
  |#
  process-unmapped-keys yes
)

(defsrc
  caps grv  y   u   i     o
      a  s      h   j    k    l	;
		       n     m
  lsft rsft
)

(deflayer default
  @cap @grv    _   _    _   _
     @actrl  @sshift _   _    _    _   _
			   _    _
  _    _
)

(deflayer arrows
  _    _   pgup   home  up   end
      @actrl  @sshift      pgdn   left down rght enter
			del    bspc
  _    _
)



(deflayer shift
  _    @grv   pgup   home  (macro S-up)   end
      @sc _     pgdn   (macro S-left) (macro S-down) (macro S-rght) enter
			del    bspc
  _    _
)


(deflayer ctrl
  _    @grv   pgup   home  C-up   end
      _  @sc    pgdn   C-left C-down C-rght enter
			del    bspc
  _    _
)


(deflayer shift-ctrl
  _    _   pgup   home  S-C-up   end
      _  _      pgdn   S-C-left S-C-down S-C-rght enter
			del    bspc
  _    _
)

(defalias
  cap (tap-hold-press 200 200 caps (layer-toggle arrows))
  grv (tap-hold-press 200 200 caps (layer-toggle shift-ctrl))
  
  sshift (tap-hold-release 200 200 s (layer-toggle shift))
  actrl (tap-hold-release 200 200 a (layer-toggle ctrl))
  sc (tap-hold-release 200 200 s (layer-toggle shift-ctrl))
)

[gerhard-h]

getting rid of the modifier-layers would make stuff much easier

sshift (tap-hold-release 200 200 s lsft)
  actrl (tap-hold-release 200 200 a lctl)
  sc (tap-hold-release 200 200 s (multi lsft lctl)

[bluckholl]

Thank for your help!

I tried that,
caps + s (shift) + ijkl=> working fine
caps + a (ctrl) + l (right) => working fine ; but with caps + a (ctrl) + j (left) it doesn't work
caps + a + s + i (up) / k (down) => working fine (ctrl alt up/down invoked) ; but caps + a + s + j (left) / l (right) ==> doesn't work

any clue why?
*note that I want to reach ctrl alt by a s combo - not by separate @sc as key

(defcfg
  #|
  This configuration will process all keys pressed inside of kanata, even if
  they are not mapped in defsrc. This is so that certain actions can activate
  at the right time for certain input sequences. By default, unmapped keys are
  not processed through kanata due to a Windows issue related to AltGr. If you
  use AltGr in your keyboard, you will likely want to follow the simple.kbd
  file while unmapping lctl and ralt from defsrc.
  |#
  process-unmapped-keys yes
)

(defsrc
  caps grv  y   u   i     o
      a  s      h   j    k    l	;
		       n     m
  lsft rsft
)

(deflayer default
  @cap @sc    _   _    _   _
     @actrl  @sshift _   _    _    _   _
			   _    _
  _    _
)

(deflayer arrows
  _    _   pgup   home  up   end
      @actrl  @sshift      pgdn   left down rght enter
			del    bspc
  _    _
)


(defalias
  cap (tap-hold-press 200 200 caps (layer-toggle arrows))
    
  sshift (tap-hold-release 200 200 s lsft)
  actrl (tap-hold-release 200 200 a ctl)
  sc (tap-hold-release 200 200 s (multi lsft lctl))

)

[rszyma]

The config looks OK. It might be an issue with your keyboard, something called "key ghosting": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_rollover#Key_jamming_and_ghosting

[rszyma]

You can test if this is the case by going to some online keyboard tester e.g. https://keyboard-test.space and with kanata not running, try pressing the problematic combination of keys at the same and see if they register.

[bluckholl]

Indeed that was "key ghosting"..
I wasn't aware of it.. At least this voodoo have explanation :)
I tried with different keyboard (microsoft instead of Logitech) and it working like a charm now!
Thank you both 🙏