Merge between US English and Czech keyboards + numpad

[vsisl]

Hi there,

I'm currently switching from macOS (where I used ukelele to create a custom keyboard layout) to windows 11.

I was searching for a tool with which I could achieve similar level of customisations and I came across kanata. The tool is great but I reached a point where I'm not myself able to create my config file. Because of that, I'm seeking help here.

The way how I think about the keyboard layout is in terms of what kind of a character I get if I press a particular key or a combination of keys.

Here is my defsrc and a couple of layers (in my thinking layouts of characters that I would like to get). I need help with how to transition to a valid config file for kanata.

(defsrc
  grv  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    0    -    =    bspc
  tab  q    w    e    r    t    y    u    i    o    p    [    ]    bslash
  caps a    s    d    f    g    h    j    k    l    ;    '    ret
  lsft z    x    c    v    b    n    m    ,    .    /    rsft
  lctl lmet lalt           spc            ralt rctl
)

;; the default layer
(deflayer default
  ú    ů    ě    š    č    ř    ž    ý    á    í    é    -    =    bspc
  tab  q    w    e    r    t    z    u    i    o    p    [    ]    bslash
  caps a    s    d    f    g    h    j    k    l    ;    '    ret
  lsft y    x    c    v    b    n    m    ,    .    /    rsft
  lmet lalt lctl           spc            ralt rctl
)

;; triggered by holding shift key
(deflayer layer1
  ~    !    @    #    $    %    ^    &    *    (    )    _    +    bspc
  tab  Q    W    E    R    T    Z    U    I    O    P    {    }    bslash
  caps A    S    D    F    G    H    J    K    L    :    "    ret
  lsft Y    X    C    V    B    N    M    <    >    ?    rsft
  lmet lalt lctl           spc            ralt rctl
)

;; triggered by pressing caps lock key
(deflayer layer2
  Ú    Ů    Ě    Š    Č    Ř    Ž    Ý    Á    Í    É    -    =    bspc
  tab  Q    W    E    R    T    Z    U    I    O    P    [    ]    bslash
  caps A    S    D    F    G    H    J    K    L    ;    '    ret
  lsft Y    X    C    V    B    N    M    ,    .    /    rsft
  lmet lalt lctl           spc            ralt rctl
)

;; triggered by holding lalt key
(deflayer layer3
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    7    8    9    _    _    '    bspc
  tab  _    _    _    _    _    _    4    5    6    _    _    _    bslash
  caps _    _    _    _    _    _    1    2    3    _    _    ret
  lsft _    _    _    _    _    _    0    _    _    _    rsft
  lmet lalt lctl           spc            ralt rctl
)

;; triggered by holding lalt + shift keys
(deflayer layer4
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    ˇ    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _ 
  _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _    _   
  _    _    _           _              _    _
)

There's a couple of points that I find particularily tricky:

1. How do I define switching to a certain layer when pressing and holding two keys (see layer4).
2. Layers 3 and 4 contain the characters ' and ˇ. After pressing these, the computer should wait for receiving a letter to put these characters on top of. E.g. ó, ú, ť, š, ď. How could this be achived?

I know my issues are very specific. I tried for many hours and got quite desperate. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for developing this tool!

[jtroo]

Something others have done is set Windows layout to US international and in Kanata remap layer-key positions to altgr+... output chords, or to Unicode, to get the desired output. I'm not sure if US international supports all the characters you need, but maybe another layout could? I guess you could use Czech and remap it to be more like US QWERTY by default.

For dead keys the Windows layout should already support it for certain characters. Another possibility is to make use of sequences.

[gerhard-h]

;; triggered by holding ralt + shift keys

pressing two keys simultaniously is handled by input chords (combos)

A simpler aproach is using fork or switch
map this to ralt (tap-hold 200 200 ralt (fork ralt (layer-while-held layer4) (rsft lsft)) asumes you press shift before ralt
if you press ralt first you can mirror it and map to shift.

I have a very personel approach as to wich keyboard language layout I use at OS level. "If kanata stopps running (might be intended or not) what layout do I prefer to be active then?

[locknload762]

If you have to "decorate" some English letters to achieve another language (like Lithuanian in my case) you really don't need to use separate layer with locale switching. See my thread on "custom modifiers" #735
Last code sample shows N key as modifier using "dead" F13 when holding to type Ą. Solution without additional layer may not be right if you are typing a lot in Czech and you don't have other languages to maintain. If you have just Czech and English its perfectly normal to use layers. I have "main" as English with switching to Russian layer + OS locale on single Shift tap with automatic switching back to English after 5s idle time. Double tap Shift for permanent switching. For Lithuanian I just use additional modifier with "tap-dance" on English letter I need to "decorate" without switching to Lithuanian OS locale and separate layer because its only 9 additional letters to English.

[vsisl]

Hi @locknload762

Thanks a lot for your input! I admin I haven't been able to solve this and it's preventing me from using my new laptop.

I thought about the possibility of finding someone who knows kanata and would be willing to solve my problem. I'm willing to pay for this. By chance would you be interested?

CC @jtroo @gerhard-h

[locknload762]

I'm new user of Kanata myself. Kanata is pretty logical and really well documented with friendly community. First you must decide which Kanata offering logic you want, how do you want to switch. Study the Manual and Discussions. You'll find tons of examples and new ideas.