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docs » hs.eventtap.event

Create, modify and inspect events for hs.eventtap

This module is based primarily on code from the previous incarnation of Mjolnir by Steven Degutis.

API Overview

API Documentation

Constants

properties

Signature hs.eventtap.event.properties -> table
Type Constant
Description A table containing property types for use with hs.eventtap.event:getProperty() and hs.eventtap.event:setProperty(). The table supports forward (label to number) and reverse (number to label) lookups to increase its flexibility.
Notes
  • This table has a __tostring() metamethod which allows listing it's contents in the Hammerspoon console by typing hs.eventtap.event.properties.
  • In previous versions of Hammerspoon, property labels were defined with the labels in all lowercase. This practice is deprecated, but an __index metamethod allows the lowercase labels to still be used; however a warning will be printed to the Hammerspoon console. At some point, this may go away, so please update your code to follow the new format.

rawFlagMasks

Signature hs.eventtap.event.rawFlagMasks[]
Type Constant
Description A table containing key-value pairs describing the raw modifier flags which can be manipulated with hs.eventtap.event:rawFlags.

types

Signature hs.eventtap.event.types -> table
Type Constant
Description A table containing event types to be used with hs.eventtap.new(...) and returned by hs.eventtap.event:type(). The table supports forward (label to number) and reverse (number to label) lookups to increase its flexibility.
Notes
  • This table has a __tostring() metamethod which allows listing it's contents in the Hammerspoon console by typing hs.eventtap.event.types.
  • In previous versions of Hammerspoon, type labels were defined with the labels in all lowercase. This practice is deprecated, but an __index metamethod allows the lowercase labels to still be used; however a warning will be printed to the Hammerspoon console. At some point, this may go away, so please update your code to follow the new format.

Functions

newKeyEventSequence

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEventSequence(modifiers, character) -> table
Type Function
Description Generates a table containing the keydown and keyup events to generate the keystroke with the specified modifiers.
Parameters
  • modifiers - A table containing the keyboard modifiers to apply ("cmd", "alt", "shift", "ctrl", "rightCmd", "rightAlt", "rightShift", "rightCtrl", or "fn")
  • character - A string containing a character to be emitted
Returns
  • a table with events which contains the individual events that Apple recommends for building up a keystroke combination (see hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent) in the order that they should be posted (i.e. the first half will contain keyDown events and the second half will contain keyUp events)
Notes
  • The modifiers table must contain the full name of the modifiers you wish used for the keystroke as defined in hs.keycodes.map -- the Unicode equivalents are not supported by this function.
  • The returned table will always contain an even number of events -- the first half will be the keyDown events and the second half will be the keyUp events.
  • The events have not been posted; the table can be used without change as the return value for a callback to a watcher defined with hs.eventtap.new.

Constructors

copy

Signature hs.eventtap.event:copy() -> event
Type Constructor
Description Duplicates an hs.eventtap.event event for further modification or injection
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A new hs.eventtap.event object

newEvent

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newEvent() -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates a blank event. You will need to set its type with hs.eventtap.event:setType
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a new hs.eventtap.event object
Notes
  • this is an empty event that you should set a type for and whatever other properties may be appropriate before posting.

newEventFromData

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newEventFromData(data) -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates an event from the data encoded in the string provided.
Parameters
Returns
  • a new hs.eventtap.event object or nil if the string did not represent a valid event

newKeyEvent

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent([mods], key, isdown) -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates a keyboard event
Parameters
  • mods - An optional table containing zero or more of the following:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
  • key - A string containing the name of a key (see hs.hotkey for more information) or an integer specifying the virtual keycode for the key.
  • isdown - A boolean, true if the event should be a key-down, false if it should be a key-up
Returns
  • An hs.eventtap.event object
Notes
  • The original version of this constructor utilized a shortcut which merged flagsChanged and keyUp/keyDown events into one. This approach is still supported for backwards compatibility and because it does work in most cases.
  • According to Apple Documentation, the proper way to perform a keypress with modifiers is through multiple key events; for example to generate 'Å', you should do the following:
  • ~~~lua
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent(hs.keycodes.map.shift, true):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent(hs.keycodes.map.alt, true):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent("a", true):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent("a", false):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent(hs.keycodes.map.alt, false):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent(hs.keycodes.map.shift, false):post()
  • ~~~
  • The shortcut method is still supported, though if you run into odd behavior or need to generate flagsChanged events without a corresponding keyUp or keyDown, please check out the syntax demonstrated above.
  • ~~~lua
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent({"shift", "alt"}, "a", true):post()
  • hs.eventtap.event.newKeyEvent({"shift", "alt"}, "a", false):post()
  • ~~~

newMouseEvent

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newMouseEvent(eventtype, point[, modifiers) -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates a new mouse event
Parameters
  • eventtype - One of the values from hs.eventtap.event.types
  • point - An hs.geometry point table (i.e. of the form {x=123, y=456}) indicating the location where the mouse event should occur
  • modifiers - An optional table containing zero or more of the following keys:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
Returns
  • An hs.eventtap object

newScrollEvent

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newScrollEvent(offsets, mods, unit) -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates a scroll wheel event
Parameters
  • offsets - A table containing the {horizontal, vertical} amount to scroll. Positive values scroll up or left, negative values scroll down or right.
  • mods - A table containing zero or more of the following:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
  • unit - An optional string containing the name of the unit for scrolling. Either "line" (the default) or "pixel"
Returns
  • An hs.eventtap.event object

newSystemKeyEvent

Signature hs.eventtap.event.newSystemKeyEvent(key, isdown) -> event
Type Constructor
Description Creates a keyboard event for special keys (e.g. media playback)
Parameters
  • key - A string containing the name of a special key. The possible names are:
  • SOUND_UP
  • SOUND_DOWN
  • MUTE
  • BRIGHTNESS_UP
  • BRIGHTNESS_DOWN
  • CONTRAST_UP
  • CONTRAST_DOWN
  • POWER
  • LAUNCH_PANEL
  • VIDMIRROR
  • PLAY
  • EJECT
  • NEXT
  • PREVIOUS
  • FAST
  • REWIND
  • ILLUMINATION_UP
  • ILLUMINATION_DOWN
  • ILLUMINATION_TOGGLE
  • CAPS_LOCK
  • HELP
  • NUM_LOCK
  • isdown - A boolean, true if the event should be a key-down, false if it should be a key-up
Returns
  • An hs.eventtap.event object
Notes
  • To set modifiers on a system key event (e.g. cmd/ctrl/etc), see the hs.eventtap.event:setFlags() method
  • The event names are case sensitive

Methods

asData

Signature hs.eventtap.event:asData() -> string
Type Method
Description Returns a string containing binary data representing the event. This can be used to record events for later use.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a string representing the event or nil if the event cannot be represented as a string
Notes

getButtonState

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getButtonState(button) -> bool
Type Method
Description Gets the state of a mouse button in the event
Parameters
  • button - A number between 0 and 31. The left mouse button is 0, the right mouse button is 1 and the middle mouse button is 2. The meaning of the remaining buttons varies by hardware, and their functionality varies by application (typically they are not present on a mouse and have no effect in an application)
Returns
  • A boolean, true if the specified mouse button is to be clicked by the event
Notes
  • This method should only be called on mouse events

getCharacters

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getCharacters([clean]) -> string or nil
Type Method
Description Returns the Unicode character, if any, represented by a keyDown or keyUp event.
Parameters
  • clean -- an optional parameter, default false, which indicates if key modifiers, other than Shift, should be stripped from the keypress before converting to Unicode.
Returns
  • A string containing the Unicode character represented by the keyDown or keyUp event, or nil if the event is not a keyUp or keyDown.
Notes
  • This method should only be used on keyboard events
  • If clean is true, all modifiers except for Shift are stripped from the character before converting to the Unicode character represented by the keypress.
  • If the keypress does not correspond to a valid Unicode character, an empty string is returned (e.g. if clean is false, then Opt-E will return an empty string, while Opt-Shift-E will return an accent mark).

getFlags

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getFlags() -> table
Type Method
Description Gets the keyboard modifiers of an event
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A table containing the keyboard modifiers that present in the event - i.e. zero or more of the following keys, each with a value of true:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
  • The table responds to the following methods:
  • contain(mods) -> boolean
  • Returns true if the modifiers contain all of given modifiers
  • containExactly(mods) -> boolean
  • Returns true if the modifiers contain all of given modifiers exactly and nothing else
  • Parameter mods is a table containing zero or more of the following:
  • cmd or ⌘
  • alt or ⌥
  • shift or ⇧
  • ctrl or ⌃
  • fn

getKeyCode

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getKeyCode() -> keycode
Type Method
Description Gets the raw keycode for the event
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A number containing the raw keycode, taken from hs.keycodes.map
Notes
  • This method should only be used on keyboard events

getProperty

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getProperty(prop) -> number
Type Method
Description Gets a property of the event
Parameters
  • prop - A value taken from hs.eventtap.event.properties
Returns
  • A number containing the value of the requested property
Notes

getRawEventData

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getRawEventData() -> table
Type Method
Description Returns raw data about the event
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A table with two keys:
  • CGEventData -- a table with keys containing CGEvent data about the event.
  • NSEventData -- a table with keys containing NSEvent data about the event.
Notes
  • Most of the data in CGEventData is already available through other methods, but is presented here without any cleanup or parsing.
  • This method is expected to be used mostly for testing and expanding the range of possibilities available with the hs.eventtap module. If you find that you are regularly using specific data from this method for common or re-usable purposes, consider submitting a request for adding a more targeted method to hs.eventtap or hs.eventtap.event -- it will likely be more efficient and faster for common tasks, something eventtaps need to be to minimize affecting system responsiveness.

getType

Signature hs.eventtap.event:getType() -> number
Type Method
Description Gets the type of the event
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A number containing the type of the event, taken from hs.eventtap.event.types

location

| Signature | hs.eventtap.event:location([pointTable]) -> event | table | | -----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Type | Method | | Description | Get or set the current mouse pointer location as defined for the event. | | Parameters |

  • pointTable - an optional point table specifying the x and y coordinates of the mouse pointer location for the event
| | Returns |
  • if pointTable is provided, returns the hs.eventtap.event object; otherwise returns a point table containing x and y key-value pairs specifying the mouse pointer location as specified for this event.
| | Notes |
  • the use or effect of this method is undefined if the event is not a mouse type event.
|

post

Signature hs.eventtap.event:post([app])
Type Method
Description Posts the event to the OS - i.e. emits the keyboard/mouse input defined by the event
Parameters
  • app - An optional hs.application object. If specified, the event will only be sent to that application
Returns
  • The hs.eventtap.event object

rawFlags

| Signature | hs.eventtap.event:rawFlags([flags]) -> event | integer | | -----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Type | Method | | Description | Experimental method to get or set the modifier flags for an event directly. | | Parameters |

  • flags - an optional integer, made by logically combining values from hs.eventtap.event.rawFlagMasks specifying the modifier keys which should be set for this event
| | Returns |
  • if flags is provided, returns the hs.eventtap.event object; otherwise returns the current flags set as an integer
| | Notes | |

setFlags

Signature hs.eventtap.event:setFlags(table) -> event
Type Method
Description Sets the keyboard modifiers of an event
Parameters
  • A table containing the keyboard modifiers to be sent with the event - i.e. zero or more of the following keys, each with a value of true:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
Returns
  • The hs.eventap.event object.

setKeyCode

Signature hs.eventtap.event:setKeyCode(keycode)
Type Method
Description Sets the raw keycode for the event
Parameters
  • keycode - A number containing a raw keycode, taken from hs.keycodes.map
Returns
  • The hs.eventtap.event object
Notes
  • This method should only be used on keyboard events

setProperty

Signature hs.eventtap.event:setProperty(prop, value)
Type Method
Description Sets a property of the event
Parameters
  • prop - A value from hs.eventtap.event.properties
  • value - A number containing the value of the specified property
Returns
  • The hs.eventtap.event object.
Notes

setType

Signature hs.eventtap.event:setType(type) -> event
Type Method
Description Set the type for this event.
Parameters
Returns
  • the hs.eventtap.event object

systemKey

Signature hs.eventtap.event:systemKey() -> table
Type Method
Description Returns the special key and its state if the event is a NSSystemDefined event of subtype AUX_CONTROL_BUTTONS (special-key pressed)
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • If the event is a NSSystemDefined event of subtype AUX_CONTROL_BUTTONS, a table with the following keys defined:
  • key -- a string containing one of the following labels indicating the key involved:
  • SOUND_UP
  • SOUND_DOWN
  • MUTE
  • BRIGHTNESS_UP
  • BRIGHTNESS_DOWN
  • CONTRAST_UP
  • CONTRAST_DOWN
  • POWER
  • LAUNCH_PANEL
  • VIDMIRROR
  • PLAY
  • EJECT
  • NEXT
  • PREVIOUS
  • FAST
  • REWIND
  • ILLUMINATION_UP
  • ILLUMINATION_DOWN
  • ILLUMINATION_TOGGLE
  • CAPS_LOCK
  • HELP
  • NUM_LOCK
  • or "undefined" if the key detected is unrecognized.
  • keyCode -- the numeric keyCode corresponding to the key specified in key.
  • down -- a boolean value indicating if the key is pressed down (true) or just released (false)
  • repeat -- a boolean indicating if this event is because the keydown is repeating. This will always be false for a key release.
  • If the event does not correspond to a NSSystemDefined event of subtype AUX_CONTROL_BUTTONS, then an empty table is returned.
Notes
  • * CAPS_LOCK seems to sometimes generate 0 or 2 key release events (down == false), especially on builtin laptop keyboards, so it is probably safest (more reliable) to look for cases where down == true only.
  • * If the key field contains "undefined", you can use the number in keyCode to look it up in /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Headers/hidsystem/ev_keymap.h. If you believe the numeric value is part of a new system update or was otherwise mistakenly left out, please submit the label (it will defined in the header file as NX_KEYTYPE_something) and number to the Hammerspoon maintainers at https://github.com/Hammerspoon/hammerspoon with a request for inclusion in the next Hammerspoon update.

timestamp

| Signature | hs.eventtap.event:timestamp([absolutetime]) -> event | integer | | -----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Type | Method | | Description | Get or set the timestamp of the event. | | Parameters |

  • absolutetime - an optional integer specifying the timestamp for the event.
| | Returns |
  • if absolutetime is provided, returns the hs.eventtap.event object; otherwise returns the current timestamp for the event.
| | Notes |
  • Synthesized events have a timestamp of 0 by default.
  • The timestamp, if specified, is expressed as an integer representing the number of nanoseconds since the system was last booted. See hs.timer.absoluteTime.
  • This field appears to be informational only and is not required when crafting your own events with this module.
|