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    The patorjk Keyboard Layout Analyzer - New forked version!

    • Started by stevep99
    • 6 Replies:
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    • From: UK
    • Registered: 14-Apr-2014
    • Posts: 975

    The patorjk.com keyboard layout analyzer is a cool web app that lets you experiment with different layouts, presenting results in a very attractive and user-friendly way.

    As I've mentioned before on this forum, my only bugbear with it is that doesn't document in any detail how its scoring system works. It's hard to evaluate results if you don't know the methodology that was used to create them. Anecdotally, in the past I have experimented with it and got unexpected results, leading me to have doubts over the algorithm it uses.

    So, wanting a new project to make lockdown more fun, I have taken it upon myself to studying the source code of this analyzer, and documenting how its scoring system works.

    Not being content with that though, I then started to think of ways that it could be improved. To this end, I have now forked the original repo, and made various changes and, hopefully, improvements. All my changes to algorithm are documented, so that people can freely evaluate them and decide if they agree or not.

    My forked version of the Keyboard Layout Analyzer is here. The documentation is in the About tab.

    Have a play around with it and let me know what you think!

    Last edited by stevep99 (21-Apr-2020 13:50:12)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    Nice work! (つ♡ ͜ʖ ♡)つ

    I'd say that there are a priori "too many" choices of syllabi. That is, the massive number of choices confused me and didn't help me. What's a representative and fairly comprehensive syllabus? What would SteveP use to assess a layout as objectively as possible? Maybe you should give, say, three of your favourites for different applications (mostly typical text, some coding, ???) a separate spot at the top of the list with a separator to the many many other choices? For clarity and ease of use.

    Last edited by DreymaR (21-Apr-2020 13:40:41)

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

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    I just added them because I was comparing the codebase with here and thought 'why not'? Maybe there are a bit many, but it can be useful to have different types of corpus. Some are more code or number focussed for example, which might suit people who want to try out numpad/symbol layers and that sort of thing.

    Last edited by stevep99 (22-Apr-2020 16:36:49)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    Well, the sheer number of them confused the heck out of me as mentioned. I just wanted "something to test a layout with", and have no idea what to select...

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

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    cBrZFA3.png


    Since this analyzer includes simulation of modifier keys (well, Shift and AltGr anyway), I've experimenting with creating split spacebar layouts to see how much difference thumb keys make according to its distance calculation. It assumes opposite-pinky movement so for text with frequent capital letters, that's a lot of movement, and the scoring seems to bear that out. Using a thumb Shift makes more difference than going default Colemak to DH even. I expect I'll see if I can add some Planck-style layouts too.

    Last edited by stevep99 (24-Apr-2020 14:37:24)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    That's pretty awesome I must say!  (b ̄◇ ̄)b

    Now the heat map is starting to look so perfect that I'm in fact bothered by the L key sticking out... hehe.

    (Of course, one could swap M and L ... but beware, that way madness lies....)  (ʘ言ʘ╬)

    Last edited by DreymaR (24-Apr-2020 14:42:13)

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

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    ...and now with support for Matrix keyboards (e.g. like the Preonic):

    rvNwRsg.png

    The usage pattern is nice, am tempted to try out out one these keyboards! But ideally I'd prefer a split version.

    Last edited by stevep99 (03-May-2020 13:47:09)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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