Provide a GUI for defining mappings

[jcnauta]

Creating custom mappings by manually editing JSON is pretty cumbersome, it would be great to have a visual interface for composing key combinations for the mappings. This could also filter mappings by number of keys for example, or apply the same repeat/absorbing behavior to a set of mappings.

[jcnauta]

This looks like an awesome project btw, as soon as I have time I'll try to make myself a configuration for 3l with regular shortcuts (LEFTCTRL + {Z, X, C}) and vi-style movement (hjkl). Do you see any possibilities for closer integration with Linux/X11 in the future? I don't understand the ecosystem very well, but I could imagine this being included in X11 by default as an alternative to XKB or xmodmap, or being easily installable via apt or snap.

[ellbur]

A simpler way to create layouts is a great idea. I was thinking as a first step improving the JSON schema to make common operations easier, such as defining an entire row of keys, or aliasing alternative modifiers.

[ellbur]

As to closer integration with other Linux software, that is possible, but tricky. One thing that would be useful would be a socket so that you could make a "layout switcher" for totalmapper---right now you're stuck with just one layout.

But closer integration is hampered by the fact that almost all userspace keyboard software is based around XKB. For example, in Wayland, the server sends an entire keyboard layout in XKB format to the client, for the client to interpret. This basically locks everyone into using XKB forever :)

But I am definitely open to suggestions for specific integrations that would be helpful.

[ellbur]

The latest version of totalmapper now provides shortcuts to make defining layouts less tedious, as described in the README.