xbindkeys: Mouse button as modifier (second attempt)

Vinter · 10-15-2011, 03:17 PM

Hi!

A while ago, I asked about using mouse buttons as modifiers through an .xbindkeysrc.scm file. Unfortunately, it seems xbindkeys is a bit buggy, and won't allow me to switch between levels of mouse bindings when a button is held.

Now, I'd like to try a simpler approach: The mouse button would simply have to act as if a modifier on the keyboard was pressed and held for as long as the button is down.

How would I be able to accomplish this? It seemed simple, binding 'xdotool keydown ctrl' to b:8 and 'xdotool keyup ctrl' to b:8 + Release (or control + b:8 + release, as ctrl should be recognized as pressed when I release), but this just doesn't do it and the behavior is very strange any way I tried.

So, I'd need a way to make this work. Is there a way to directly modify the OS's keyboard buffer, so an exactly identical state to a button beind pressed, held and release can be emulated, without the help of additional tools? Or is there a program fashioned exactly to suit this purpose, to toggle the state of modifiers? Or is there a tool similar to xbindkeys which I could try?

Thanks for any help!

Vinter

Vinter · 10-17-2011, 05:18 AM

I found this:

Code:

// Send a fake keystroke event to an X window.
// by Adam Pierce - http://www.doctort.org/adam/
// modified by veek in order to generate keystrokes that aren't marked "synthetic,"
// so the receiving application thinks it's receiving genuine keyboard input.

#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include <X11/extensions/XTest.h>
#include <X11/keysym.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

// The key code to be sent.
// A full list of available codes can be found in /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h
#define KEYCODE XK_F7
#define KEYCODE1 XK_Alt_L
#define KEYCODE2 XK_Left
#define KEYCODE3 XK_Control_L
#define KEYPRESS 1
#define KEYRELEASE 0


main()
{
// Obtain the X11 display.
    Display *display = XOpenDisplay(0);
    if(display == NULL) {
        printf("Display not found\n");
        return -1;
    }

// Get the root window for the current display.
    Window winRoot = XDefaultRootWindow(display);

// Find the window which has the current keyboard focus.
    Window winFocus;
    int    revert;
    XGetInputFocus(display, &winFocus, &revert);

// Send ALT + LEFT key sequence to currently targeted window
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE1), KEYPRESS, 0);
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE3), KEYPRESS, 0);
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE2), KEYPRESS, 0);
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE2), KEYRELEASE, 0);
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE3), KEYRELEASE, 0);
        XTestFakeKeyEvent(display, XKeysymToKeycode(display, KEYCODE1), KEYRELEASE, 0);

// Done.
    XCloseDisplay(display);
    return 0;
}

This might help in some way, but it only works for the app that has focus. How can I trick the X server itself?