fish-shell/doc_src/fish_key_reader.txt
Kurtis Rader b055b8440c enhance the key_reader program
The original `key_reader` program was useful but didn't do much that `xxd`
or `od -tx1z` didn't do. Furthermore, it wasn't built and installed by
default. This change adds features that make it superior to those programs
for decoding interactive key presses and makes it a first-class citizen
like the `fish_indent` program that is always available.

Fixes #2991
2016-05-10 14:11:30 -07:00

40 lines
2 KiB
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\section fish_key_reader fish_key_reader - explore what characters keyboard keys send
\subsection fish_key_reader-synopsis Synopsis
\fish{synopsis}
fish_key_reader [-c | --continuous]
\endfish
\subsection fish_key_reader-description Description
`fish_key_reader` is used to show in a human friendly manner the sequence of characters each key on a keyboard sends. If the sequence of characters matches a key name recognized by the `bind` command that is also displayed. It shows each characters decimal, hexadecimal and symbolic values. It also shows the delay in microseconds since the previous character was received. The timing data is useful for detecting when an intermediary such as ssh or tmux has altered the timing of the characters sent by the keyboard. If at least 0.2 seconds has passed since the previous character the program will insert a blank line in the output. This makes it visually easier to distinguish the sequence of chars sent by a single key press.
By default the program exits after displaying a single key sequence. Specifially, it exits after 0.5 seconds has elapsed without seeing another character after the first character is seen. You can force it to run in a continuous mode by passing the `--continuous` or `-c` flag.
Here is an example of the program in action that also shows how to exit from continuous mode:
```
$ ./fish_key_reader --continuous
Type 'exit' or 'quit' to terminate this program.
Characters such as [ctrl-D] (EOF) and [ctrl-C] (interrupt)
have no special meaning and will not terminate this program.
Type 'exit' or 'quit' to terminate this program.
999999 usec dec: 27 hex: 1b char: \e (aka \c[)
450 usec dec: 91 hex: 5b char: [
409 usec dec: 49 hex: 31 char: 1
424 usec dec: 126 hex: 7e char: ~
FYI: Found sequence for bind key name "home"
Type 'exit' or 'quit' to terminate this program.
999999 usec dec: 113 hex: 71 char: q
111562 usec dec: 117 hex: 75 char: u
55820 usec dec: 105 hex: 69 char: i
128021 usec dec: 116 hex: 74 char: t
Exiting at your request.
```