Keyboard remapper... Interested? need ur opinion

Ok, I'm working on a keyboard remapping utility... with no fixed layout .... that means you can define your own layout and save it or otherwise load layouts made by other users... but actually I have a "little" problem.
Since I WON'T write a Keyboard driver, I don't have access to actually change the layout according to international layouts or whatever. I can't rearrange the keys on your keyboard.
So I actually have few options..... (assuming there's a simple "map" button on the layout edition panel and a "map a new key" button... so when you press the last one... the program will:

1.- Let the user edit "ASCII" codes....
MEANS: Turn individual ascii chars (like "a" (lowercase)) into other ascii char (like Alt+145 whatever that is)
EDITION METHOD: Under this method you can edit your layouts by just making with your keyboard the char you want to change (by pressing Alt+whatever or shift or ctrl or any combination you usually use to make THAT character with your keyboard).. press the "map" button and then generating with your keyboard the ascii char you want it to be now...
PROS: It's up to your ascii charset. Layout files will be 256 bytes in size.
CONS: No Alt, Shift, Ctrl and other system keys mapping (i.e: You won't be able to make your SPACEBAR to act like CTRL)

2.- Let the user edit the "Virtual Key" codes..
MEANS: Map every (single) KEY on your keyboard into another (single) one....
EDITION METHOD: Press a SINGLE key on your keyboard, then click the "map" button and then another SINGLE key on your kbd.
PROS: Easy to edit. Allow you to remap keys like CTRL, SHIFT, ALT, UP, DOWN, etc.
CONS: This actually won't allow you to make characters you wouldn't be able to do yourself with a SINGLE keystroke of your current Keyboard.

3.- Let the user map SINGLE keys into UNICODE codes
MEANS: Assign to every SINGLE KEY (no combinations) a UNICODE char (so you can do virtually any character you want with the proper font of course)
EDITION METHOD: Press a SINGLE key on your keyboard, then the "map" button and then WRITE the unicode code you want to assing to it.
PROS: Allows support for virtually any foreign language so international layouts can be made.
CONS: Every key on your keyboard will make a UNIQUE character, combinations will have no effect. Also, making your layouts will be a pain in the as....m...

4.- Let the user map ASCII codes to UNICODE
MEANS: Turn ASCII chars into international codes.
EDITION METHOD: Make with your keyboard the char you want to change (by pressing Alt+whatever or shift or ctrl or any combination you usually use to make that character with your keyboard).... click the "map" button and then WRITE the unicode code you want it to generate instead of the current char it actually makes....
PROS: International layouts can be made. Layout files will be 512 bytes in size.
CONS: No remapping of System (CTRL, ALT, WIN, etc) keys... they will stay where they actually ARE. Very uncomfortable layout edition...

5.- Let the User map TWO-KEY combinations into UNICODE
MEANS: Turn any freak combination you want (like CTRL+0) into a International char.
EDITION METHOD: Press the combination with your keyboard, then click the "map" button and finally WRITE the UNICODE code you want to generate....
PROS: Every combination you want will make a character. Also allows virtually ANY language layout to be made. You can remap keys like UP, DOWN, etc into characters (but NOT into other system keys (i.e: won't be able to turn UP into DOWN)
CONS: Slooooooooow and painful layout making..... Limited remapping of system keys.

6. All of the above
MEANS: Turn any SINGLE key or COMBINATION into either a ASCII char, UNICODE or SINGLE key
EDITION METHOD: Chose "SINGLE" or "COMBINATION".....Press on your keyboard either the combination or single key you want to edit.. CHOOSE the type of mapping (ASCII, UNICODE, SINGLE KEY). click the "map" button and then:
>you selected ASCII or UNICODE? write the code
>you selected SINGLE KEY? press the key
PROS: Almost everything is possible
CONS: Larger layout files (for every key I'll need to save information about the type of mapping to be done). It will also mean probably some kind of "delay" (in order to act according the type of mapping given a single key or combination).
Awfully painful and selfsteem-breaking proccess of layout edition......


Which one should I choose?..... Are there more options? (as far as I know, that's what I can make use of.... (Virtual Key Codes, Unicode and ASCII)
What do user mostly need? add international support? rearrange the existing keys?
alter the ASCII order?

Lot of questions...... USERS (yeah.. u.. the one reading... ) have the answer.... I want to make the remapper for MOST user needs.. not my own personal needs....

I dont really see any 'need' to remap anything but letters, but then sometimes.... You know :-)

Hi ShadowMaster,

if you need a utility to remap keys or simulate special keys for French or Germany writing for example, take a look at this:

http://www.wolfgang-rolke.de/wince/

It is another high qualtity application by Electron (aka Wolfgang Rolke). It's great, although it is in German languag, you should be able to use it without problems.

Check out what Wolfgang does.
My vote would be to use the virtualkey remapping...

wow...

hmmm i think LE uses the second method... (except it won1t allow remapping system keys ) editing the layout is better there though. it lists two columns, in the first are the original keys, in the second the remapped ones. then i can change it as i wish... another advantage: if one of your keys isn't working you can still remap it then.

that works pretty well. i wouldn't want to use key combinations for accented chars.

but it would be really good if you could allow for key combinations as well. very very useful if there aren't enough keys on the keyboard. LE doesn't let me use Alt combinations (and i can't change AltGr combinations with it on intl english jornadas)

now that and the second method together would be the best for me

not sure which method is meant for that combinations thing i was talking about, i have to run now, i'll try to read through the methods later

Edited by cmonex 2006-02-03 5:46 AM

i think this is it for the combinations "5.- Let the User map TWO-KEY combinations into UNICODE
MEANS: Turn any freak combination you want (like CTRL+0) into a International char."
(not sure if this works the way i imagine it but probably.. )

it is important to have the ability for key combinations! even if i wouldn't use it as the first option for more frequent chars. for example i can easily use all accented chars only on the int'l english jornadas as they have such combination support by default with the AltGr key. no other hpc (that i know of) has this kind of support... not even the other jornadas (i mean US english - probably UK doesn't either).

so it seems best if there are two options, one for the second method and one for the fifth... also they could work together if that is possible at all i mean, you can use both at the same time. hope it wouldn't slow the system down..?!

and to do the remapping, the column editing method of LE seems best for me, it is easier (well, in a sense - in another not.. if the need for scrolling could be eliminated, it would be good.. i have ideas how to do that!) and allows you to remap physically non working keys too, to working keys. (try the HPC Pro version, hpc2000 version can't change the default layout, grr!)

it would be a truly wonderful application, ahh

Edited by cmonex 2006-02-03 7:29 AM

Ok, seems like I'll stick with "virtual keys remapping" plus "optional key combinations"....
Should I allow Hardware Key remapping? (Hardware keys act actually as "Win+Something" where something is a keycode between 0xc1 and 0xcf)


[EDIT] BTW, Wolfgang application is quite nice... but it lacks of save/load functionality for my purposes.... u_u

Edited by ShadowMaster 2006-02-03 7:55 AM

i don't understand what hardware key remapping means can you explain it a little more?

Hardware keys are mostly known in PocketPC where they are obviously the 4 or less (sometimes more) buttons available on the device.... they are usually used to quicklaunch applications .... in the jornada 720.. the upper row of keys (which serve the same purpose) return the same codes as PPC hw keys.. in other words, they are implemented as typical PPC hardware keys....
I suspect that in other handheld devices, the "quick launching" buttons are also implemented in this way....
In both PPC and HPC.... hardware keys return composite keypresses (what actually I didn't expect)... they return the WIN +CODE.... where the codes used are mostly to be (standard?) from 0xc1 for the first hardware key... till 0xcf, allowing thus 15 hardware keys in a device (but there are more unused codes so more keys can be assigned in a different range but seems like 0xc1-0xcf is the standard)....

Allowing support for HW keys means that I WON'T look for the 0xc1-0xcf keycodes alone (I don't know if they can be produced by themself) ... I'll look for Win+[0xc1-0xcf] instead.....
This will be a special treatment for Hardware keys since AS FAR AS I KNOW.. the 0xc1-0xcf codes are ONLY used together with the Win key.....
(if anyone have a keyboard that can produce a code in this range without casting a WIN key press first please let me know).....

Should I implement this special 'case'??

wow, yes, implement hw key remap too

i will experiment on my hpcs with keyhook, lets see how their hw keys behave

Yep, like most people say, Virtual Key is the way to go.

However, why does the key have to be mapped to another existing key? Can you do this: simply draw a virtual keyboard with all kinds of possible keys (maybe in a few pages). So you can assign any key (press it) to any virtual key (tap on the screen).

ShadowMaster, thank you very much in advance, and good luck!

Actually you will be able to do that

Can you explain a little about that? As far as I can understand, you are talking about the layout save/load? Wolfgang's WR-Tools Hotkeys can only have one set of remapped keys, so that's why you're making another program for that purpose?

Wolfgang just updated Hotkeys (it's dated Feburary 6th, 2006), but I have no idea what changes were made. Anyone? You would think if he wanted to add a layout profile thingy, it would be pretty easy, right?

I never used it before, so I just checked it out and finally have a backslash key on my SmartBook's UK keyboard

Is not only that, it also doesn't allow you to remap keys. I just released a beta version of my program. Be sure to check it out
http://www.damnsoft.org