Application-specific key combination remapping? Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast? ...

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Application-specific key combination remapping?



Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?
Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar ManaraHow do I bind right click to a keyboard shortcut?How do you assign commands to keys in Terminal?Emacs-like keybindings globallyRemapping keyboard shortcuts (copy, paste etc) to Alt key instead of CtrlHow to bind a key such that it toggles between one particular application and the current application?How to customize hotkeyschange or disable modifier key (alt) which activates the application menubar?Disable Alt-Key menu combinationsHow to type key combinations instead of pressing them?How to manipulate the keypress that applications recieve?Alt key randomly behaves as ctrl when switching workspaces





.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
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18















I'm aware of a number of ways of remapping key combinations in Ubuntu on a global basis (e.g., globally remapping Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D or something), such as the xbindkeys application. What I need, though, is a way to do this only for a specific application. For example, something like "Remap Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D, but only in Chrome". Is there any way to accomplish this?










share|improve this question























  • Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

    – lumbric
    Jan 24 '12 at 15:19




















18















I'm aware of a number of ways of remapping key combinations in Ubuntu on a global basis (e.g., globally remapping Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D or something), such as the xbindkeys application. What I need, though, is a way to do this only for a specific application. For example, something like "Remap Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D, but only in Chrome". Is there any way to accomplish this?










share|improve this question























  • Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

    – lumbric
    Jan 24 '12 at 15:19
















18












18








18


9






I'm aware of a number of ways of remapping key combinations in Ubuntu on a global basis (e.g., globally remapping Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D or something), such as the xbindkeys application. What I need, though, is a way to do this only for a specific application. For example, something like "Remap Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D, but only in Chrome". Is there any way to accomplish this?










share|improve this question














I'm aware of a number of ways of remapping key combinations in Ubuntu on a global basis (e.g., globally remapping Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D or something), such as the xbindkeys application. What I need, though, is a way to do this only for a specific application. For example, something like "Remap Ctrl+S to send Ctrl+D, but only in Chrome". Is there any way to accomplish this?







shortcut-keys x11






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Jan 20 '12 at 21:28









Derek ThurnDerek Thurn

9317




9317













  • Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

    – lumbric
    Jan 24 '12 at 15:19





















  • Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

    – lumbric
    Jan 24 '12 at 15:19



















Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

– lumbric
Jan 24 '12 at 15:19







Did you read this thread? I haven't tried it, but it seems to me to be exanctly what you are searching for. I don't know engouh about it to write a proper answer, though.

– lumbric
Jan 24 '12 at 15:19












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















12





+100









Your idea of using xbindkeys sounds good:



in your .xbindkeysrc add a new keybinding:



"app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


This will execute "app_specific_keys.sh" when you press ctrl+s.



Now you need to define the script. It should get the active window and from that the name of the app which currently has the focus:



xprop -id `xdotool getactivewindow` |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'


This would do the trick: it asks xdotool for the active window, then asks xprop for all properties of the window with the given id, and then reduces the very verbose output to the name of the application (actually its class). If you run this in a gnome-terminal you would get



"Gnome-terminal"


Now you need to define actions for your applications:



if [ $N = '"Gnome-terminal"' ]; then                                                    
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
fi


So together, the script "app_specific_keys.sh" could look like this:



#!/bin/bash                                                                     
W=`xdotool getactivewindow`
S1=`xprop -id ${W} |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'`
S2='"Gnome-terminal"'
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
fi


This should work, but as in this question, I have to admit that it does not. Probably because one of Compiz, Unity, Global Menu does not work well with the --clearmodifiers option of xdotool. A workaround would be to add a sleep in front of your script in oder to be able to release the keys yourself:
In your .xbindkeysrc change to this keybinding:



"sleep 0.5; app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


As a sidenote: this will not work, if you want to change keys for programs which run in a terminal (e.g. vi or emacs in console mode). The returned application class would still be "Gnome-terminal".



Hope that helps.






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

    – Derek Thurn
    Jan 30 '12 at 18:37











  • it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:07











  • ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:32



















2














autokey is like AutoHotkey for Ubuntu. You can write scripts in python and have them execute via keyboard shortcut and a windows filter (making it pseudo-application specific). Your script can control keyboard and mouse events and even move windows around as an added touch.






share|improve this answer


























  • autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 13 '16 at 16:24












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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









12





+100









Your idea of using xbindkeys sounds good:



in your .xbindkeysrc add a new keybinding:



"app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


This will execute "app_specific_keys.sh" when you press ctrl+s.



Now you need to define the script. It should get the active window and from that the name of the app which currently has the focus:



xprop -id `xdotool getactivewindow` |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'


This would do the trick: it asks xdotool for the active window, then asks xprop for all properties of the window with the given id, and then reduces the very verbose output to the name of the application (actually its class). If you run this in a gnome-terminal you would get



"Gnome-terminal"


Now you need to define actions for your applications:



if [ $N = '"Gnome-terminal"' ]; then                                                    
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
fi


So together, the script "app_specific_keys.sh" could look like this:



#!/bin/bash                                                                     
W=`xdotool getactivewindow`
S1=`xprop -id ${W} |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'`
S2='"Gnome-terminal"'
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
fi


This should work, but as in this question, I have to admit that it does not. Probably because one of Compiz, Unity, Global Menu does not work well with the --clearmodifiers option of xdotool. A workaround would be to add a sleep in front of your script in oder to be able to release the keys yourself:
In your .xbindkeysrc change to this keybinding:



"sleep 0.5; app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


As a sidenote: this will not work, if you want to change keys for programs which run in a terminal (e.g. vi or emacs in console mode). The returned application class would still be "Gnome-terminal".



Hope that helps.






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

    – Derek Thurn
    Jan 30 '12 at 18:37











  • it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:07











  • ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:32
















12





+100









Your idea of using xbindkeys sounds good:



in your .xbindkeysrc add a new keybinding:



"app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


This will execute "app_specific_keys.sh" when you press ctrl+s.



Now you need to define the script. It should get the active window and from that the name of the app which currently has the focus:



xprop -id `xdotool getactivewindow` |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'


This would do the trick: it asks xdotool for the active window, then asks xprop for all properties of the window with the given id, and then reduces the very verbose output to the name of the application (actually its class). If you run this in a gnome-terminal you would get



"Gnome-terminal"


Now you need to define actions for your applications:



if [ $N = '"Gnome-terminal"' ]; then                                                    
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
fi


So together, the script "app_specific_keys.sh" could look like this:



#!/bin/bash                                                                     
W=`xdotool getactivewindow`
S1=`xprop -id ${W} |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'`
S2='"Gnome-terminal"'
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
fi


This should work, but as in this question, I have to admit that it does not. Probably because one of Compiz, Unity, Global Menu does not work well with the --clearmodifiers option of xdotool. A workaround would be to add a sleep in front of your script in oder to be able to release the keys yourself:
In your .xbindkeysrc change to this keybinding:



"sleep 0.5; app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


As a sidenote: this will not work, if you want to change keys for programs which run in a terminal (e.g. vi or emacs in console mode). The returned application class would still be "Gnome-terminal".



Hope that helps.






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

    – Derek Thurn
    Jan 30 '12 at 18:37











  • it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:07











  • ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:32














12





+100







12





+100



12




+100





Your idea of using xbindkeys sounds good:



in your .xbindkeysrc add a new keybinding:



"app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


This will execute "app_specific_keys.sh" when you press ctrl+s.



Now you need to define the script. It should get the active window and from that the name of the app which currently has the focus:



xprop -id `xdotool getactivewindow` |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'


This would do the trick: it asks xdotool for the active window, then asks xprop for all properties of the window with the given id, and then reduces the very verbose output to the name of the application (actually its class). If you run this in a gnome-terminal you would get



"Gnome-terminal"


Now you need to define actions for your applications:



if [ $N = '"Gnome-terminal"' ]; then                                                    
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
fi


So together, the script "app_specific_keys.sh" could look like this:



#!/bin/bash                                                                     
W=`xdotool getactivewindow`
S1=`xprop -id ${W} |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'`
S2='"Gnome-terminal"'
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
fi


This should work, but as in this question, I have to admit that it does not. Probably because one of Compiz, Unity, Global Menu does not work well with the --clearmodifiers option of xdotool. A workaround would be to add a sleep in front of your script in oder to be able to release the keys yourself:
In your .xbindkeysrc change to this keybinding:



"sleep 0.5; app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


As a sidenote: this will not work, if you want to change keys for programs which run in a terminal (e.g. vi or emacs in console mode). The returned application class would still be "Gnome-terminal".



Hope that helps.






share|improve this answer















Your idea of using xbindkeys sounds good:



in your .xbindkeysrc add a new keybinding:



"app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


This will execute "app_specific_keys.sh" when you press ctrl+s.



Now you need to define the script. It should get the active window and from that the name of the app which currently has the focus:



xprop -id `xdotool getactivewindow` |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'


This would do the trick: it asks xdotool for the active window, then asks xprop for all properties of the window with the given id, and then reduces the very verbose output to the name of the application (actually its class). If you run this in a gnome-terminal you would get



"Gnome-terminal"


Now you need to define actions for your applications:



if [ $N = '"Gnome-terminal"' ]; then                                                    
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
fi


So together, the script "app_specific_keys.sh" could look like this:



#!/bin/bash                                                                     
W=`xdotool getactivewindow`
S1=`xprop -id ${W} |awk '/WM_CLASS/{print $4}'`
S2='"Gnome-terminal"'
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+d
else
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+s
fi


This should work, but as in this question, I have to admit that it does not. Probably because one of Compiz, Unity, Global Menu does not work well with the --clearmodifiers option of xdotool. A workaround would be to add a sleep in front of your script in oder to be able to release the keys yourself:
In your .xbindkeysrc change to this keybinding:



"sleep 0.5; app_specific_keys.sh"
Control+s


As a sidenote: this will not work, if you want to change keys for programs which run in a terminal (e.g. vi or emacs in console mode). The returned application class would still be "Gnome-terminal".



Hope that helps.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24









Community

1




1










answered Jan 25 '12 at 9:46









xubuntixxubuntix

4,8701939




4,8701939








  • 1





    This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

    – Derek Thurn
    Jan 30 '12 at 18:37











  • it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:07











  • ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:32














  • 1





    This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

    – Derek Thurn
    Jan 30 '12 at 18:37











  • it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:07











  • ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 6 '16 at 23:32








1




1





This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

– Derek Thurn
Jan 30 '12 at 18:37





This ended up working just fine. I didn't use xdotool to send the keystrokes, I just used xvkbd -xsendevent -text "Cs". This doesn't seem to suffer from the issues you were seeing with xdotool.

– Derek Thurn
Jan 30 '12 at 18:37













it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

– Blauhirn
Mar 6 '16 at 23:07





it's not possible to make a key call itself, like f calling xdotool key f. Still searching for a way to do this.

– Blauhirn
Mar 6 '16 at 23:07













ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

– Blauhirn
Mar 6 '16 at 23:32





ha, finally found one! xdotool type --window $(xdotool getwindowfocus) [keys] using the --window option and sending to the currently active window will NOT lead to recursive behaviour.

– Blauhirn
Mar 6 '16 at 23:32













2














autokey is like AutoHotkey for Ubuntu. You can write scripts in python and have them execute via keyboard shortcut and a windows filter (making it pseudo-application specific). Your script can control keyboard and mouse events and even move windows around as an added touch.






share|improve this answer


























  • autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 13 '16 at 16:24
















2














autokey is like AutoHotkey for Ubuntu. You can write scripts in python and have them execute via keyboard shortcut and a windows filter (making it pseudo-application specific). Your script can control keyboard and mouse events and even move windows around as an added touch.






share|improve this answer


























  • autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 13 '16 at 16:24














2












2








2







autokey is like AutoHotkey for Ubuntu. You can write scripts in python and have them execute via keyboard shortcut and a windows filter (making it pseudo-application specific). Your script can control keyboard and mouse events and even move windows around as an added touch.






share|improve this answer















autokey is like AutoHotkey for Ubuntu. You can write scripts in python and have them execute via keyboard shortcut and a windows filter (making it pseudo-application specific). Your script can control keyboard and mouse events and even move windows around as an added touch.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 12 hours ago









Shai Coleman

1031




1031










answered Jan 26 '12 at 19:50









aramadiaaramadia

1212




1212













  • autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 13 '16 at 16:24



















  • autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

    – Blauhirn
    Mar 13 '16 at 16:24

















autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

– Blauhirn
Mar 13 '16 at 16:24





autokey is WAY faster than xbindkeys, even with window detection mode on - immediate action taken. Downside: Mouse button assignments seem to not work ( i think it's a bug)

– Blauhirn
Mar 13 '16 at 16:24


















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