[haiku-development] Re: AltGr Key, key_map, and the US-International Keyboard

  • From: John Scipione <jscipione@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:25:41 -0400

On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 3:38 PM, Ingo Weinhold <ingo_weinhold@xxxxxx> wrote:
> John Scipione wrote:
> [...]
>> The only problem is, is adding more maps to the key_map struct going
>> to break backwards compatibility? Do we care?
>
> Unless I'm mistaken one wouldn't usually allocate a key_map structure in an 
> application. So if the new stuff is added at the end, there shouldn't be any 
> compatibility issue for old applications.

I was worried that there might be alignment issues if I put the maps
at the end since they are uint32[128] arrays so I put them in the
middle with all the other maps.

>> I also realize that AltGr is usually right Alt not right option, and
>> not right option, but, I figured making it right option would cause
>> less conflicts and would free up the right alt key for use with
>> application shortcuts instead.
>
> That implies that the AltGr role remains on the wrong key also in 
> Window/Linux modifier mode, right? I don't find that a particularly good 
> idea. In case that was not clear, the key gives access to -- at least for 
> coding purposes -- rather important characters like brackets, braces, and the 
> pipe symbol. I would assume that people coding also on other platforms would 
> prefer the same key to be used.

In Windows/Linux mode control and command are switched, option stays
the same. So for the US-International map there would be no change in
regards to special characters. For other keymaps, you might switch the
AltGr key to control on the right side depending on how the keymap is
setup.

John Scipione

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