reidprichard / window_tools Goto Github PK

When a minimized saved window is activated with window_manager.exe --load-window=<index>, the window visually activates in the taskbar but remains minimized. I expect I just need to call an additional Win32 function to fix this.

I do have a layer called U_NEW, but's a dummy template layer, commented out.

win10, fully patched.

On second try it worked.

...\miryoku-kanata> kanata_helper_daemon.exe --port=5588 --config-file=./kanata.kbd --default-layer=U_BASE
Starting...
12 layers found in ./kanata.kbd.
Layer 0: 'U_NEW'
Layer 1: 'U_BASE'
Layer 2: 'U_QWERTY'
Layer 3: 'U_TAP'
Layer 4: 'U_NUM'
Layer 5: 'U_SYM'
Layer 6: 'U_FUN'
Layer 7: 'U_NAV'
Layer 8: 'U_BUTTON'
Layer 9: 'U_MOUSE'
Layer 10: 'U_MEDIA'
Layer 11: 'U_CTL'
Connecting to localhost:5588...
TCP connection successful.
New window activated: hWnd='0000000000440C10',  Title='Terminal',       Process='WindowsTerminal'
Sending: '{"ChangeLayer":{"new":"U_BASE"}}'

I'm having the same problem as this issue, it seems I can only run window tools manuall from the terminal as starting it from my autohotkey script will result in it instantly crashing, but even if I run it manually, for some reason, clicking the windows menu icon with my mouse causes it to instantly crash, like something is triggering it for some reason.

Now that I can assign layers to apps, some apps may require language switching. E.g., a chat app should always stay in one specific language. So when switching to it I need to make sure the OS language is switched.

Without getting too much into the specifics of Kanata, layer-switch activates the base layer while layer-while-held/layer-toggle activates the "active" layer. The "active" layer overrides the "base" layer, but _ in the active layer falls through to the corresponding key of the base layer; _ in the base layer falls through to the corresponding key in defsrc.

Kanata's developer does not plan to expose layer-while-held directly via TCP, but he plans to expose press/release/tap/toggle actions for fake keys.

As a workaround, I think I can add an option so that kanata_helper_daemon follows this sequence:

1. kanata_helper_daemon is started
2. A new application (e.g. Windows Terminal) is activated.
3. kanata_helper_daemon presses the WindowsTerminal fake key, which is mapped in kanata.kbd to (layer-while-held WindowsTerminal). This activated the WindowsTerminal layer as the "active" layer while keeping the default layer as the "base" layer.
4. A new application (e.g. Firefox) is activated.
5. kanata_helper_daemon releases the WindowsTerminal fake key and presses the Firefox fake key. As in 3, this must be mapped to (layer-while-held firefox).

I imagine there will be some implementation challenges with e.g. handling errors if a layer doesn't have a corresponding fake key, keeping track of state so fake keys are released at the proper time, etc. To get the most out of this feature, it may be necessary to get Kanata to send a list of all fake keys.

As a plus, additional commands could be run when application focus changed, such as requested in #3. I foresee this being a really powerful feature. For example, you could have each fake key mapped something like:
(multi (layer-while-held layer-name) (cmd pwsh "'application-name: ' + (date +%s) >> application_timestamps.txt" if you wanted to keep track of how much time you're spending each day in each app.
You could run a command to automatically mute your mic when you defocus Teams. You could run a command to enable audio compression with EqualizerAPO when you activate Teams.
With this feature, kanata_helper_daemon won't be restricted to just per-application layer changes - you can do whatever you want when the application changes!

Windows ignores Kanata when locked anyway.

1. Don't read layer names from config directly. Kanata configs can be multi-file (thanks to includes) and your tool will not work properly with these. It would be the best to obtain list of layer names from kanata TCP. There's no such feature in kanata TCP server right now though, so it would need to be implemented there first.

2. 250 line buffer is definitely not enough (

   window_tools/src/kanata_helper_daemon.c

   Line 49 in a7aaf9c

   #define MAX_CONFIG_FILE_LINE_LENGTH 256 // Seems reasonable?

   ). The default config that comes with kanata is 1000 lines long.