opensteno_qmk/keyboards/ergodox/keymaps/algernon

algernon's layout

This is an unconventional layout for the ErgoDox EZ. For more details about the history of the layout, see my blog posts about my ErgoDox journey.

Some of the things in the layout only work when one uses Spacemacs and GNOME under Linux. Your mileage may vary.

Table of Contents

• Layouts
  • Base layer
  • ADORE layer
  • Hungarian layer
  • Navigation and media layer
  • One-handed layer
  • Steno layer
  • LED states
• Tools
  • Heatmap
• Building
  • Using on Windows
• Changelog
• License

Layouts

Base layer

At its core, this is a Dvorak layout, with some minor changes. The more interesting parts are how certain keys behave:

• The keys on the number row double as function keys, when held for a bit longer than an usual tap. This allows me to use the function keys without having to switch layers.
• The Shift, Alt, and Control modifiers are one-shot. When tapped, they are considered active for the next key press only. When double tapped, they toggle on, until a third, single tap sometime later. When held, they act as expected. My usual pattern is that I use these for the next keypress only, so this behaviour is perfect. If I need them held, I'll just double-tap.
• The GUI key is special, because when I double-tap it, it sends GUI + w, which pops up an application selector. It also switches to a one-shot layer, where the number row on the left half turns into app selector macros, for the most common things I usually want to switch to. Otherwise it behaves as on a normal layout.
• The ESC key also doubles as a one-shot cancel key: if tapped while any of the one-shot modifiers are in-flight (as in, single-tapped, and not expired yet), it cancels all one-shot modifiers. It also cancels the Hun layer, if active. Otherwise it sends the usual keycode.
• The Media and Hun layer keys are one-shot, the 1Hand and STENO keys are toggles.
• When holding any of the Arrow layer keys, the arrow layer activates while the layer key is held. Tapping the key produces the normal key.
• Tapping the : key once yields :, tapping it twice yields ;.
• The Lead key allows me to type in a sequence of keys, and trigger some actions:
  • LEAD u enters unicode input mode, by sending the GTK+ key sequence that does this.
  • LEAD l uses the unicode input method to enter a λ.
  • LEAD s does a lot of magic to type in a shruggie: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • LEAD y types \o/.
  • LEAD w m maximises the currently focused window.
  • LEAD a makes the ADORE layer the default.
  • LEAD v prints the firmware version, the keyboard and the keymap.
  • LEAD d toggles logging keypress positions to the HID console.
  • LEAD t toggles time travel. Figuring out the current date is left as an exercise to the reader.

ADORE layer

While using the standard Dvorak layout, I encountered a number of inconveniences, and on this layer, I am playing with ideas to make the layout feel better. Initially, it was based on Capewell-Dvorak, but that too, had shortcomings I was not happy with. So now this is something inbetween, with own observations thrown in. How it works out in the long run remains to be seen.

Based on a week and a half of typing, the keys were rearranged, and the home row neatly spelled out ADORE, that gave the layout its name.

Hungarian layer

On this layer, the accented characters are at the same position as their base variant. For some, which can have other diatribes, the long one is on top, short's on bottom. Tapping any of the accented characters takes us back to the base layer.

Navigation and media layer

This layer is primarily for navigating with the cursor or the mouse, and some media things.

One-handed layer

The one-handed layer is used in situations where the right hand is occupied, by mousing around, for example. Tapping the OTHER key switches which side is active. For the most part, keys remain in their usual position. When the right half is active, keys are mirrored to the left half.

The differences are as follows:

• The ESC key has been moved to the bottom row, so the OTHER key is easier to tap.
• Most keys on the thumb cluster now have dual uses, and these do not change when switching sides:
  • The Space/Backspace key sends Space on tap, Backspace when held for longer than a normal tap.
  • The Enter/Shift key sends Enter on short-tap, Shift on long-tap.
• The Apps/BASE key can be used to go back to the base layer, by long-tapping it. A short-tap will send the App key, as usual.

Steno layer

This is to be used with Plover, nothing really fancy here. The STENO key toggles the layer on and off, and sends the toggle command to Plover too.

LED states

The primary purpose of the LEDs is to show the modifier status, a secondary, to show which layer is active. Each modifier, Shift, Alt and Control each have their designated LEDs: the red, green and blue, respectively. When a modifier is in a one-shot state, the respective LED will turn on with a dimmer light. If the modifier is toggled on, the brightness of the LED turns full.

For the layers, the following rules apply:

• When the ADORE layer is toggled on, LEDs will light up from left to right in a sequence, then turn off. When the layer is toggled off, the LEDs light up and turn off in the other direction. No LEDs are on while the layer is active.
• When the Hungarian layer is active, the green and blue LEDs are on.
• When the Navigation and media layer is active, the red and green ones are on.
• When the One-handed layer is active, the green LED is on and bright, and either the red or the blue one is going to slowly blink, depending on the currently active side.
• For the Steno layer, all LEDs will be turned on.

Unless noted otherwise, the layers use a dim light for the LEDs, while modifiers use a stronger one, and modifiers override any layer preferences. For example, when on the one-handed layer, with the left side active (red light blinking), if Shift is on, the red light will be constantly on.

Tools

Heatmap

When the keypress logging functionality is enabled (by LEAD d), the keyboard will output a line every time a key is pressed, containing the position of the key in the matrix. This allows one to collect this information, and build analytics over it, such as a heat map, including dead keys too.

Included with the firmware is a small tool that can parse these logs, and create a heatmap that one can import into KLE. To use it, simply point tools/log-to-heatmap.py to a base layout file (one is included in the tools/ directory), and the key position log. The latter one can create by running hid-listen, and redirecting its output to a file.

The generated heatmap looks somewhat like this:

Building

To make my workflow easier, this layout is maintained in its own repository. To build it, you will need the QMK firmware checked out, and this repo either checked out to something like keyboards/ergodox_ez/algernon-master. One way to achieve that is this:

$ git clone https://github.com/jackhumbert/qmk_firmware.git
$ cd qmk_firmware
$ git clone https://github.com/algernon/ergodox-layout.git \
            keyboards/ergodox_ez/keymaps/algernon-master
$ make KEYBOARD=ergodox_ez KEYMAP=algernon-master

From time to time, updates may be submitted back to the QMK repository. If you are reading it there, you can build the firmware like any other firmware included with it (assuming you are in the root directory of the firmware):

$ make KEYBOARD=ergodox_ez KEYMAP=algernon

Using on Windows

The keymap default to forcing NKRO, which seems to upset Windows, and except the modifiers, none of them work. If you experience this problem, recompile the firmware with FORCE_NKRO=no added to the make command line.

Changelog

v1.4 - 2016-07-29

• When toggling the key logging on or off, the LEDs will do a little dance.
• The keylogger is now optional, but enabled by default. Use KEYLOGGER_ENABLE=no on the make command line to disable it.
• The TAB/ARRW key was turned into a tap-dance key, allowing one to toggle the ARROW layer on by double-tapping, and as such, avoid the need to hold the key.
• The -/_ key was turned into a tap-dance key too.
• There is now a way to travel time with the keyboard, toggle the feature on by hitting LEAD t.

v1.3 - 2016-07-06

• Added support for logging keys, by pressing LEAD d. Also included is a tool to generate a heatmap out of the logs.
• The arrow and navigation keys were rearranged again, and now require an additional key being held to activate. See the base layer for an image that shows where arrows are.
• The experimental layer has been redone, and is now called ADORE, and as such, can be enabled by LEAD a now.
• Switching between Dvorak and ADORE is now persisted into EEPROM, and survives a reboot.

v1.2 - 2016-06-22

• The forced NKRO mode can be easily toggled off at compile-time, to make the firmware compatible with certain operating systems.
• The :; key has changed behaviour: to access the ; symbol, the key needs to be double-tapped, instead of shifted.
• The = and \ keys were swapped, = moved to the home row, on both the base and the experimental layers.
• The arrow and navigation keys were redone, they are now more accessible, but the navigation keys require an extra tap to access.
• The Emacs layer is gone, replaced by a simplified navigation and media layer.
• LEAD v types the firmware version, and the keymap version.
• On the experimental layer, the L and Q, and the K and G keys were swapped.
• The Steno layer gained a few more # and * keys, to make it easier on my fingers.

v1.1 - 2016-06-14

• The keyboard starts in NKRO mode, bootmagic and other things are disabled.
• A Steno layer was added, to be used with Plover.
• An experimental layer was added, something halfway between Dvorak and Capewell-Dvorak. A work in progress.
• LEAD y types \o/.
• Some keys on the Base layer have been moved around:
  • ? moved to the left pinky, left of Q.
  • = shifted one row down, but F11 stayed where it was.
  • - on the left half was replaced by Tab.
  • Tab's original position is taken by a Media Next/Media Prev key.
  • : now inputs ; when shifted.
• ESC cancels the Hungarian layer too, not just modifiers.

v1.0 - 2016-05-26

Initial version.

License

The layout, being a derivative of the original TMK firmware which is under the GPL-2+, this layout is under the GPL as well, but GPL-3+, rather than the older version.