Kaleidoscope-MagicCombo

The MagicCombo extension provides a way to perform custom actions when a particular set of keys are held down together. The functionality assigned to these keys are not changed, and the custom action triggers as long as all keys within the set are pressed. The order in which they were pressed do not matter.

This can be used to tie complex actions to key chords.

Using the extension

To use the extension, we must include the header, create an array of combos we want to work with, let the plugin know we want to work with those, and then use a special function to handle the combos:

#include <Kaleidoscope.h>
#include <Kaleidoscope-Macros.h>
#include <Kaleidoscope-MagicCombo.h>

void magicComboActions(uint8_t combo_index, uint32_t left_hand, uint32_t right_hand) {
  switch (combo_index) {
  case 0:
    Macros.type(PSTR("It's a kind of magic!"));
    break;
  }
}

static const kaleidoscope::MagicCombo::combo_t magic_combos[] PROGMEM = {
  {
    R3C6,  // left palm key
    R3C9   // right palm key
  },
  {0, 0}
};

KALEIDOSCOPE_INIT_PLUGINS(MagicCombo, Macros);

void setup() {
  Kaleidoscope.setup();

  MagicCombo.magic_combos = magic_combos;
}

The combo list must reside in PROGMEM, and is a list of tuples. Each element in the array has two fields: the left hand state, and the right hand state upon which to trigger the custom action. Both of these are bit fields, each bit set tells the extension that the key with that index must be held for the action to trigger. It is recommended to use the RxCy macros of the core KaleidoscopeFirmware, and or them together to form a bitfield. To see how the RxCy coordinates correspond to the physical keys of your keyboard, you'll have to consult the documentation for the keyboard. Below, you can find a diagram showing the layout for the Keyboardio Model 01.

The combo list must end with an element containing zero values for both the left and the right halves.

Extension methods

The extension provides a MagicCombo singleton object, with the following methods and properties:

.magic_combos

Setting this property lets the plugin know which combinations of key presses we are interested in. If any of these are found active, the magicComboActions() function will be called.

.min_interval

Restrict the magic action to fire at most once every minInterval milliseconds.

Defaults to 500.

Overrideable methods

Whenever an combination is found to be held, the extension will trigger an action, in each scan cycle until the keys remain held. This is done by calling the overrideable magicComboActions function:

magicComboActions(combo_index, left_hand, right_hand)

Called whenever a combination is found to be held. The function by default does nothing, and it is recommended to override it from within the Sketch.

The first argument will be the index in the combo list, the other two are the key states on the left and right halves, respectively.

Plugins that build upon this extensions should not override this function, but provide helpers that can be called from it. An override should only happen in the Sketch.

Further reading

Starting from the example is the recommended way of getting started with the plugin.

RxCy coordinates for a Model01: