Re: Keyboard mapping of Option and Command

[Riccardo Mottola]

Hi,

Riccardo Mottola wrote:
> what is the default mapping for Option and Command on GNUstep when 
> running on X11? 

I reply to myself and try to stir up the discussion.
Standard we map both option and command to alt. This is quite convenient 
for menus shortcuts for example, but is not for mouse operations.
Also not all keyboards have extra keys, like the windows key to mimic 
command.

Let me exemplify.

Apple's spec say:
Control: Link
Option: Copy
Command: Generic

So if Option = Alt and Command = Alt, there is no way to distinguish 
Copy from Generic during drag operations.

GWorkspace contains a lot of "workaround" code to be able to Move and 
Copy.. essentially, Move operation is never explicitly gotten from the 
mask, but inferred if it is "not Copy"... and with some dirty tricks 
apparently it mostly worked, but not always. Who knows what other 
applications would do.

I think the code should be "right" and check for Move, Copy, Link... and 
whatever else and tricks should be somehow standard in gui

I am rewriting GWorkspace so that it works correctly, testing with 
having 3 mapped modifiers. You can test & check in the drag_debug branch:
https://github.com/gnustep/apps-gworkspace/tree/drag_debug


I think we should have a more sensible setup in gui. Proposals to 
discuss would be:
1) map to different keys, so to have 3 keys. E.g. Alt, Shift, Ctrl, or 
LeftAlt, RightAlt, Ctrl.... Most keyboards have two Alts, but not all 
(e.g. small laptops, MacBooks and PowerBooks)
2) try to have a "modifier" for either option or command, e.g. Alt-Shift
3) keep the defaults we have, but in case of drag operations prioritize 
Copy over Generic if the modifiers are the same

The changes should allow users with more keys to be able to fully map 
things.

Riccardo