Shortcuts not working properly with international keyboards

[pierredewilde]

The idea to have Consistency across Platforms shortcuts is appealing but the current implementation (v3.0) does not work properly with international keyboards (eg issue #1601).

For instance, on a MacBookAir with AZERTY Belgian keyboard (S=Shift C=Ctrl A=Alt M=Cmd):

M-{ - Switch buffer to the left => A-M-(
M-} - Switch buffer to the right => A-M-)
M-+ - Increase text size of current buffer => S-M-=

M-] - Copy selection to paste buffer => S-A-M-) :-)
C-] - Cut selection to paste buffer => S-A-C-)

M-/ - Comment/Uncomment current line or selection => S-M-:

M-< - Move to beginning of buffer => M-< (not working)
M-> - Move to end of buffer => S+M+<

None of those shortcuts works properly, which is very annoying since there is no way to change the keyboard mapping.

Thanks,
Pierre

[samaaron]

Understood - happy to consider pull requests. However we don't currently have the resources to support all keyboard layouts at this time. Apologies.

[pierredewilde]

Thank for your support.

Supporting all keyboard layouts one by one is indeed out of scope.

The idea is to be dependent on Meta and Ctrl key modifiers (eg M-\) but independent on Shift and Alt key modifiers required to generate special characters (eg \ { } [ ] < >) on international keyboards.

[samaaron]

That certainly sounds more manageable. Could you flesh this idea out a little more?

[pierredewilde]

Most keys are safe: A-Z F1-10 Esc Tab Backspace Left Right Up Down with all modifiers Shift Ctrl Meta are compatible with most keyboards.

Some keys have minor issues: F11-12 Home End are not always available but alternatives exist.

Some keys have major issues: <>\/{}[]. Those keys are located differently on international keyboards.

For example, M-< is currently implemented in sonicpiscintilla.cpp with:

addKeyBinding(settings, QsciCommand::DocumentStart, Qt::Key_Comma | Qt::SHIFT | SPi_META);

Meta-Shift-, is converted into Meta-< but works only with UK/US keyboards (hard-coded).

Another example is M-/ to comment code implemented in mainwindow.cpp with:

QShortcut *toggleLineComment= new QShortcut(metaKey('/'), workspace);
connect(toggleLineComment, SIGNAL(activated()), this, SLOT(toggleCommentInCurrentWorkspace()));

In most non-US/UK keyboards, / is only accessible with the Shift modifier.

Final example is M-{ and M-} also implemented in mainwindow.cpp with:

new QShortcut(shiftMetaKey('['), this, SLOT(tabPrev()));
new QShortcut(shiftMetaKey(']'), this, SLOT(tabNext()));

Shift-[ is assumed to be converted to { and Shift-] to }. Unfortunately, this is not the case in most international keyboards. Alt-( is used for { and Shift-Alt-( for [.

A possible workaround is to add alternative key combinations but it is still keyboard-dependent.
Another workaround is to avoid the use of those special characters and stay stuck with safe keys.

HTH,
Pierre

[guardabrazo]

This would be so nice to have!
I work with a Spanish-ISO keyboard layout and I'm able to use the Atom or Xcode commenting/uncommenting shortcut with M-Shift-/

[quintendewilde]

Is there any workaround because it's very annoying that I can not comment out certain parts quick when trying in out code in a live setup?

[adam-suki]

Would it be okay then to duplicate the shortcut options for the keys in question and add alternatives to these shortcuts with some available combinations based on @pierredewilde 's suggestion?

[samaaron]

Unfortunately the shortcuts are all hard-coded into the GUI and are not currently dynamic and rebindable.

General discussion about this is taking place here: #3162