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JSON-Karabiner-0.005
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/ JSON::Karabiner

NAME

JSON::Karabiner - easy JSON code generation for Karabiner-Elements

SYNOPSIS

Below is an example of an executable perl script for generating a json file for use by Karbiner-Elements. You can copy and paste this code to your local machine and execute it. Feel free to modify it to your liking. Note that you must first install the JSON::Karabiner package (see the "INSTALLATION" section below).

Hopefully it is simple enough to understand even if you have no experience with programming in Perl. Read through the code below and see if you can determine what it will do. Don't hesitate to file an issue if you need asssistance.

#!/usr/bin/env perl   # shebang line so this program is opened with perl interpreter
use JSON::Karabiner;  # The JSON::Karabiner Perl package must be installed on your machine

use strict;    # always set these in perl for your
use warnings;  # own sanity

# Create an object by passing it a title and the name of the file you will write to:
my $kb_obj = JSON::Karabiner->new('Typing assists', 'my_awesome_karbiner_mod.json');

# Now add a rule and give it a description:
my $rule = $kb_obj->add_rule('a-s-d to show character viewer');

# Add a manipulator to the rule:
my $manip_1 = $rule->add_manipulator;

# Add a "from" and "to" action to the manipulator
my $from = $manip_1->add_action('from');
my $to = $manip_1->add_action('to');

# Tell the "from" action what to do
$from->add_simultaneous('a', 's', 'd');
$from->add_optional_modifiers('any');

# Tell the "to" action what to do
$to->add_key_code('spacebar');
$to->add_modifiers('control', 'command');

# Done! Now it's time to write the file:

$kb_obj->write_file;

Save this above code to a file on your computer and be sure to make the script executable with:

chmod 744 your_file_name.pl

Then execute this script with:

./your_file_name.pl

from the same directory where this script is saved.

After this script is run, a json file called my_awesome_karbiner_mod.json should now be sitting in the assets/complex_modifications directory. Open the Karabiner-Elements app on your Mac to install the new rules.

Ready to give is try? Follow the "INSTALLATION" instructions to get started.

DESCRIPTION

Karabiner stores rules for its modifications in a file using a data format known as JSON which is painstaking to edit and create. JSON::Karbiner eases the pain by letting Perl write the JSON for you. If you aren't familar with Perl, or programming at all, don't worry. There are examples provided that you can follow so no programming knowledge should be necessary. The 10 or 20 minutes you spend learning how to install and use this module will pay off in spades.

A Karbiner JSON complex modification file stores the rules for modifying the keyboard in a data structure called the "manipulators." Therefore, most of Perl code you write adds data to the manipulator data structure. JSON::Karabiner can then write the JSON to a file and then you can load the rules you've written using the Kabrabiner-Elements program.

Below are descriptions of the methods you use to generate the json file. There are three important methods to know:

add_action method

for adding the from/to actions to the Karbiner manipulator data structure

add_condition method

for adding condtions to the manipulator structure

add_parameters method

for adding parameters to the manipulator data structure

It will be very helpful if you have a basic familiarity with the Karbiner manipulator definition. See the Karabiner complex_modification manipulator documentation for more information.

The documentation below is not exhaustive. You'll also need to consult the documentation at:

from action
to action
conditions

These pages document the methods for actions and conditions.

But the best way to learn, of course, is to experiment and see what happens.

METHODS

Below are the methods for the Karabiner, Rule, and Manipulator classes.

Karabiner Object Methods

new($title, $file, { mod_file_dir => $path_to_dir } )

my $kb_obj = JSON::Karbiner->new('title', 'file.json');

The new method creates an object that holds the entire data structure. This should be the first command you issue in your scipt.

The $title and $file arguments are required. An optional third argument can be passed to change the default Karbiner directory which is set to:

~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/

If you are using a non-standard location for your Karbiner install, you must change this directory to where Karbiner stores its modifications on your local machine by setting the mod_file_dir option to the path on your hard drive.

write_file()

This will generally be the last command in your script:

$kb_obj->write();

Once the file is written, you should be able to add the rules from your script using the Karbiner-Elements program. If it does not appear there, first check to make sure the file is saving to the right directory. If it still doesn't work, please open an issue on GitHub and post your perl script as it may be a bug.

add_rule($rule_name)

Every Karabiner json file has a rules data structure which contains all the modifications. Add it to your object like so:

my $rule = $kb_obj->add_rule('My Cool Rule');

Rule Methods

add_manipulator()

A manipulator must be added to the Rule object to do anything useful:

my $manip = $rule->add_manipulator

Once done, you can add actions, conditions, and parameters to your manipulator. See below for more information.

Manipulator Methods

add_action($type)

There are seven different types of actions you can add:

my $from        = $manip->add_action('from');
my $to          = $manip->add_action('to');
my $to_alone    = $manip->add_action('to_if_alone');
my $to_down     = $manip->add_action('to_if_held_down');
my $to_up       = $manip->add_action('to_after_key_up');
my $to_invoked  = $manip->add_action('to_delayed_if_invoked');
my $to_canceled = $manip->add_action('to_delayed_if_canceled');

The major ones are the first four listed above. You must create a from action to your manipulator. This the actions that contains the keystrokes you want to change. The other to actions describe what the from keystroke actions will be changed into. See the Karbiner documentation for more information on these actions.

Once these actions are created, you may apply methods to them to add additional data. Consult the documentation for the different actions for a listing and description of those methods:

JSON::Karabiner::Manipulator::Actions::From
JSON::Karabiner::Manipulator::Actions::To

add_condition($type)

Conditions make the modification conditional upon some other bit of data. You can add the following types of conditions:

$manip->add_condition('device_if');
$mainp->add_condition('device_unless')
$manip->add_condition('event_changed_if')
$manip->add_condition('frontmost_application_if')
$manip->add_condition('frontmost_application_unless')
$manip->add_condition('input_source_if')
$manip->add_condition('input_source_unless')
$manip->add_condition('keyboard_type_if')
$manip->add_condition('variable_if')
$manip->add_condition('variable_unless')

Consult the Karabiner documenation for more information on conditions. Once the conditions are created, you can add data to them using methods. See the documenation for each of the type of conditions and the types of methods they use:

JSON::Karabiner::Manipulator::Conditions

add_parameter($name, $value)

Parameters are used by Karabiner to change various timing aspects of the actions. Four different parameters may be set:

$manip->add_parameter('to_if_alone_timeout_milliseconds', 500);
$manip->add_parameter('to_if_held_down_threshold_milliseconds, 500);
$manip->add_parameter('to_delayed_action_delay_milliseconds, 250);
$manip->add_parameter('simultaneous_threshold_milliseconds, 50);

See the Karabiner documentation for more details.

add_description($description)

Adds a description to the manipulator data structure:

$manip->add_description('This turns a period into a hyper key.');

INSTALLATION

This software is written in Perl and bundled as a package called JSON::Karabiner. If you are not familiar with installing Perl packages, don't worry. Just follow this simple two-step process:

Step 1: Ensure the cpanm command is installed:

Run the following command from a terminal window:

C<which cpanm>

If the terminal reponds with the path to cpanm, proceed to Step 2.

If the cpanm command is not installed, copy and paste one of the following three commands into your terminal window to install it:

# Option 1: Install to system Perl
curl -L https://cpanmin.us | perl - --sudo App::cpanminus

# Option 2: Install to local Perl (you must have a local version of Perl already installed)
curl -L https://cpanmin.us | perl - App::cpanminus

# Option 3: Install as standalone executable
cd ~/bin && curl -L https://cpanmin.us/ -o cpanm && chmod +x cpanm

If you are unsure what the best option is for installing cpanm, consult its documentation for more help..

Step 2: Install the JSON::Karabiner package

Now issue the following comamdn to install the software:

cpanm JSON::Karabiner

After issuing the cpanm command above, you should see a success message. If so, you can start using cpanm JSON::Karabiner and start using it in local Perl scripts you write. If you get errors about lack of permissions, try running:

sudo cpanm JSON::Karabiner

If you still get weird errors, it may be a bug. Please report your issue to the issue queue.

Other install methods

This module can also be installed using the older cpan command that is already on your Mac. See how to install CPAN modules for more information.

VERSION

version 0.005

Development Status

This module is currently in the early alpha stages and is actively supported and maintained. Suggestion for improvement are welcome. It is known to generate valid JSON that allow Karabiner to import rules from the file generated for simple cases.

Many improvements are in the works.

SUPPORT

Perldoc

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc JSON::Karabiner

Websites

The following websites have more information about this module, and may be of help to you. As always, in addition to those websites please use your favorite search engine to discover more resources.

Source Code

The code is open to the world, and available for you to hack on. Please feel free to browse it and play with it, or whatever. If you want to contribute patches, please send me a diff or prod me to pull from your repository :)

https://github.com/sdondley/JSON-Karabiner

git clone git://github.com/sdondley/JSON-Karabiner.git

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

Though this software is still in an alpha state, it should be able to generate code for any property with the exception of the to_after_key_up key/value use for the simultaneous options behavior due to uncertainty in how this should be implemented. If you need this feature, generate your json code using this script as you normally would and then manually edit it to insert the necessary json code.

SEE ALSO

Karabiner Elements Home Page
Karabiner Elements Reference Manual

AUTHOR

Steve Dondley <s@dondley.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2020 by Steve Dondley.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.