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    Caps lock

    • Started by stevep99
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    • From: UK
    • Registered: 14-Apr-2014
    • Posts: 978

    I decided long ago that Caps Lock was a waste of a perfectly good key, and so for the last few years I have been using my own custom Autohotkey script to create a "cut/copy/paste" key. Here are my mappings:

    Copy : Shift + CapsLock
    Cut :  Ctrl + CapsLock
    Paste : CapsLock

    As the three keys involved are all close to each other it does make copy/paste operations a breeze.

    It's good that Colemak redefines CapsLock to be something useful, but it does mean I now I'm learning Colemak, I have to decide whether I should go with backspace as per the convention, or keep my existing scripts. I can see the benefit of backspace, being a frequently hit key.

    Hmm, that top-left key (backtick on my KB) is pretty useless, perhaps that could become my new Paste key... then I could keep my shift/ctrl modifiers for CapsLock.

    Wondered if anyone else defines their own custom shortcuts like this...

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    • Registered: 11-Oct-2013
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    I've mapped backspace and control-backspace behaviour (backspace a word) to a thumbkey, which I think is a better option than capslock. Most keyboards don't have good thumbkeys though, so I'd recommend keeping whichever you use more on backspace. You could also make a capslock layer with all of them with binds like this (arbitrary letters):
    caps+a = paste
    caps+r = copy
    caps+s = cut
    caps on release = backspace (example implementation for ahk)

    You could also add whatever other stuff you want to that layer. I personally use y, p, and d for copy, paste, and cut.

    Last edited by angelic_sedition (22-Apr-2014 21:46:51)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    Didn't you notice my Extend mappings? Check my sig topic. They're awesome for all sorts of editing and movement!

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • From: UK
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    Hmm, interesting, hadn't considered dual-role modifiers. I also like the idea of having a backspace-word shortcut.

    @DreymaR I am using your tarmak1 PKL script, I noticed some caps-lock extend stuff in the config, but I disabled it as I wasn't sure what it did and it conflicted with my existing AHK script :-P

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    My signature topic(s), scroll/search down to the heading "EXTEND LAYERS AND THE CAPS SWITCH".

    To backspace words, I press Caps+T+O which equals Ctrl+Backspace. It's actually very fast and easy, and most importantly it's intuitive and keeps you in the editing flow if you catch my drift.

    Last edited by DreymaR (24-Apr-2014 12:48:34)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    OK I get it now. I especially like the idea of having navigation keys within easy access. Once I've completed my transition to Colemak, I'll look at this capslock-extend idea in more detail.  Would this script still work in combination with the "official" installed Colemak layout (in Windows)?

    You probably are already aware of this, I imagine it's country-dependent, but to get your PKL layouts (including the Tarmak ones) to work correctly for me, I needed to comment out all OEM lines. Otherwise various symbol keys would get incorrectly remapped.

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    To get the PKL layouts working for your ANSI (US) keyboard, you need to use an ANSI layout. The OEM keys have different numbers on ANSI and ISO (Euro) keyboards! It's a mess, I know. If you aren't mapping the OEM keys, just commenting out the lines will work fine but then you can't use them for Extend mapping. See the ANSI layouts in my PKL folders; there should at least be a 'virtualkey' one or two which tells you what is what.

    A problem for me is that maintaining all variants of people's needs will lead to a whole lot of text file editing. So I hope you understand that I cannot cater to all users as if I were being paid for it. ;)

    If you're using PKL there's really no need for a Windows-installed layout! But yes, the script should work I think since the scan codes of all keys are still the same. If it gets weird, one would have to edit the PKL layout file.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • Registered: 08-Aug-2012
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    My Caps Lock is Alt. This is a result of me using a MacBook Pro, whose Alt button positions are a strain on the fingers. It works great for me :)

    Additionally, I've realized that I never combine my home row buttons with Alt, and that some of the characters that I use when programming are normally quite far from home row. Therefore, Alt+uhjklæøpo is now /{()}[]!$, respectively. Alt+Shift+u is \. (I use QWERTY right now, going back to Colemak soon, will give the same buttons the same Alt mappings : )

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    DreymaR said:

    A problem for me is that maintaining all variants of people's needs will lead to a whole lot of text file editing. So I hope you understand that I cannot cater to all users as if I were being paid for it. ;)

    Have you considered putting it up on github or a similar site?  That way, you can just say "I can't support this, but feel free to submit a pull request" ;)

    https://help.github.com/articles/adding … mmand-line

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    Yes, GitHub. I'm getting around to that, soon, I promise. :)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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