100 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
A keymap for 34 keys with 4 layers and no mod-tap.
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## Details
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- Hold `sym` to activate the symbols layer.
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- Hold `nav` to activate the navigation layer.
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- Hold `sym` and `nav` together to activate the numbers layer.
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- The home row modifiers are oneshot so that it's possible to modify the
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keys on the base layer, where there are no dedicated modifiers.
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- `swap win` sends `cmd-tab` for changing focus in macOS but holds `cmd`
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between consecutive presses.
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- `swap lang` behaves similarly but sends `ctrl-space`, for changing input
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language in macOS.
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## Oneshot modifiers
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The home row modifiers can either be held and used as normal, or if no other
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keys are pressed while a modifier is down, the modifier will be queued and
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applied to the next non-modifier keypress. For example to type `shift-cmd-t`,
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type `sym-o-n` (or `nav-a-t`), release, then hit `t`.
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You can and should hit chords as fast as you like because there are no timers
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involved.
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Cancel unused modifiers by tapping `nav` or `sym`.
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### Userspace oneshot implementation
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For my usage patterns I was hitting stuck modifiers frequently with [`OSM`][]
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(maybe related to [#3963][]?). I'd like to try to help fix this in QMK proper,
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but implementing oneshot mods in userspace first was:
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1. Fun.
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2. A good exploration of how I think oneshot mods should work without timers.
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So in the meantime, this [userspace oneshot implementation][] is working well
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for me.
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## Swapper
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`swap win` sends `cmd-tab`, but holds `cmd` between consecutive keypresses.
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`cmd` is released when some other key is hit or released. For example
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nav down, swap win, swap win, nav up -> cmd down, tab, tab, cmd up
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nav down, swap win, enter -> cmd down, tab, cmd up, enter
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`swap lang` sends `ctrl-space` to swap input languages in macOS and behaves
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similarly.
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[Swapper implementation.][]
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## Why no mod-tap?
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[Mod-tap][] seems to be by far the most popular tool among users of tiny
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keyboards to answer the question of where to put the modifiers, and in the
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right hands it can clearly work brilliantly, but I've always found myself error
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prone and inconsistent with it.
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With dedicated modifiers, there are three ways one might type `ctrl-c`:
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ctrl down, ctrl up, c down, c up
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ctrl down, c down, ctrl up, c up
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ctrl down, c down, c up, ctrl up
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Basically, you never have to worry about the keyups, as long as the keydowns
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occur in the correct order. Similarly, there are three ways one might type
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`ac`:
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a down, a up, c down, c up
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a down, c down, a up, c up
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a down, c down, c up, a up
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Replace `a` with `ctrl` and this is exactly what we had before! So if we want
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to put `a` and `ctrl` on the same key we have a problem, because without
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considering timing these sequences become ambiguous. So let's consider timing.
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The solution to the ambiguity that QMK employs is to configure the
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`TAPPING_TERM` and consider a key held rather than tapped if it is held for
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long enough. My problem with this is that it forces you to slow down to use
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modifiers. By its very nature the tapping term must be longer than the longest
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you would ever hold a key while typing on the slowest laziest Sunday afternoon.
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I'm not typing at 100% speed at all times, but when I am, having to think about
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timing and consciously slow down for certain actions never fails to trip me up.
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So alas, mod-tap is not for me -- but if it works for you, more power to you.
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:)
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* * *
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[My github][]
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[`OSM`]: /docs/one_shot_keys.md
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[#3963]: https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/issues/3963
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[userspace oneshot implementation]: oneshot.c
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[swapper implementation.]: swapper.c
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[Mod-tap]: https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/docs/mod_tap.md
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[My github]: https://github.com/callum-oakley
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