Module: XDo::Keyboard

Defined in:
lib/xdo/keyboard.rb

Overview

A namespace encabsulating methods to simulate keyboard input. You can send input to special windows, use the w_id parameter of many methods for that purpose. NOTE: xdotool seams to reject the --window option even if you try to run it directly. This command fails (where 60817411 is a window id): 

xdotool key --window 60817411 a

So don’t be surprised if it does not work with this library. Hopefully this will be fixed, so I leave this in.

Constant Summary collapse

SPECIAL_CHARS =

Special escape chars. The list is fairly uncomplete, so feel free to add chars not noted. Use the program xev to determine how a sequence is escaped and map the char to the escape sequence.

{
  "\n" => "Return", 
  " " => "space", 
  "?" => "shift+question", 
  "!" => "shift+exclam", 
  "," => "comma", 
  "." => "period", 
  ";" => "shift+semicolon", 
  ":" => "shift+colon", 
  '"' => "shift+2", 
  "§" => "shift+3", 
  "$" => "shift+4", 
  "%" => "shift+5", 
  "&" => "shift+6", 
  "/" => "shift+7", 
  "(" => "shift+8", 
  ")" => "shift+9", 
  "=" => "shift+0", 
  "´" => "dead_acute+dead_acute", 
  "`" => "shift+dead_grave+shift+dead_grave", 
  "^" => "dead_circumflex+dead_circumflex", 
  "°" => "shift+degree", 
  "+" => "plus", 
  "*" => "shift+asterisk", 
  "#" => "numbersign", 
  "'" => "shift+apostrophe", 
  "-" => "minus", 
  "_" => "shift+underscore", 
  "<" => "less", 
  ">" => "shift+greater", 
  "\t" => "Tab", 
  "\b" => "BackSpace", 
  "ä" => "adiaeresis", 
  "Ä" => "shift+adiaeresis", 
  "ö" => "odiaeresis", 
  "Ö" => "shift+odiaeresis", 
  "ü" => "udiaeresis", 
  "Ü" => "shift+udiaeresis", 
  "ß" => "ssharp", 
  "¹" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+1", 
  "²" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+2", 
  "³" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+3", 
  "¼" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+4", 
  "½" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+5", 
  "¬" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+6", 
  "{" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+7", 
  "[" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+8", 
  "]" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+9", 
  "}" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+0", 
  "\\" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+backslash", 
  "@" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+at", 
  "€" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+EuroSign", 
  "~" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+dead_tilde+IS_Level3_Shift+dead_tilde+Left+BackSpace", #xdotool seems to have a bug here, so I need to delete the extra plus sign. 
  "|" => "ISO_Level3_Shift+bar"
}

Class Method Summary collapse

Class Method Details

.char(c, w_id = nil) ⇒ Object Also known as: key

Simulate a single char directly via the key function of xdotool. c is a single char like “a” or a combination like “shift+a”.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 213

def char(c, w_id = nil)
  `#{XDOTOOL} key #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : ""}#{c}`
end

.delete(right = false) ⇒ Object

Deletes a char. If right is true, del_char uses the DEL key for deletion, otherwise the BackSpace key.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 230

def delete(right = false)
  Keyboard.simulate(right ? "\b" : "{DEL}")
end

.key_down(key, w_id = nil) ⇒ Object

Holds a key down. Please call #key_up after a call to this method.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 219

def  key_down(key, w_id = nil)
  `#{XDOTOOL} keydown #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : "" }#{check_for_special_key(key)}`
end

.key_up(key, w_id = nil) ⇒ Object

Releases a key hold down by #key_down.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 224

def key_up(key, w_id = nil)
  `#{XDOTOOL} keyup #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : "" }#{check_for_special_key(key)}`
end

.method_missing(sym, *args, &block) ⇒ Object

Allows you to things like this: 

XDo::Keyboard.ctrl_c

The string will be capitalized and every _ will be replaced by a + and then passed into #char. You can’t use this way to send whitespace or _ characters.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 238

def method_missing(sym, *args, &block)
  super if args.size > 1 or block
  char(sym.to_s.capitalize.gsub("_", "+"), args[0])
end

.simulate(str, raw = false, w_id = nil) ⇒ Object

Types a character sequence. You can use the escape sequence … to send special keystrokes, a full list of supported keystrokes is printed out by: 

puts (XDo::Keyboard.constants - [:SPECIAL_CHARS])

This method recognizes many special chars like ? and ä, even if you disable the escape syntax .. via setting the raw parameter to true (that’s the only way to send the { and } chars). It’s a bit slower than the #type method.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 162

def simulate(str, raw = false, w_id = nil)
  if raw
    commands = []
    str.each_char do |char|
      commands << "#{XDOTOOL} key #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : ""}#{check_for_special_key(char)}"
    end
    
    commands.each do |cmd|
      out = `#{cmd}`
    end
    return nil
  else
    raise(XDo::XError, "Invalid number of open and close braces!") unless str.scan(/{/).size == str.scan(/}/).size
    tokens = []
    if str =~ /{/
      str.scan(/(.*?){(\w+)}/){|normal, escape| tokens << normal << escape}
      #Wenn noch Text  übrig ist, diesen noch dranhängen. 
      tokens << $' unless $'.empty?
    else
      #Keine Escape-Sequenz drin, also ist eine Spezialbehandlung überflüssig. 
      #Rekursiver Aufruf von simulate, aber als reiner Text. 
      simulate(str, true, w_id)
      return
    end
    commands = []
    tokens.each_with_index do |token, index|
      #Jeder zweite Token muss eine Escape-Sequenz sein; selbst wenn der 
      #String mit einer Escape-Sequenz anfängt, wird der Reguläre Ausdruck 
      #einen Leerstring extrahieren. 
      if index.odd? #Ein Array fängt bei Null an, das zweite Element ist Eins. 
        #Escape-Sequenz in eine Befehlsfolge umwandeln
        commands << sequence_escape(token, w_id)
        #Die eingefügten Arrays plätten, damit ein einziger Befehlsstack übrig bleibt
        commands.flatten!
      else
        #Ab hier ist der Token sicherlich normaler Text; entsprechend wird damit verfahren. 
        token.each_char do |char|
          commands << "#{XDOTOOL} key #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : ""}#{check_for_special_key(char)}"
        end
        commands.flatten! #Zur Sicherheit
      end
    end
    #Ausführen aller Befehle
    commands.each do |cmd|
      out = `#{cmd}`
    end
  end
end

.type(str, w_id = nil) ⇒ Object

Types a character sequence, but without any special chars. This function is a bit faster then #simulate.



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# File 'lib/xdo/keyboard.rb', line 151

def type(str, w_id = nil)
  out = `#{XDOTOOL} type #{w_id ? "--window #{w_id} " : ""}"#{str}"`
  nil
end