GNU bug report logs - #77099
30.1; Feature Request: Handle Android Keyboard input with Ctrl and Meta Keys correctly

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Johannes C. Mayer" <j.c.mayer240 <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 30.1; Feature Request: Handle Android Keyboard input with Ctrl and
 Meta Keys correctly
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2025 12:05:02 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Motivation: Having Meta and Ctrl available on the virtual keyboard seems
much superior than showing control keys in the tab bar.

There are Android keyboards that support Alt and Ctrl keys. The problem is
that typing M-! on such a keyboard (I only tested Unexpected Keyboard) does
not actually work as expected. However e.g. M-@ works as expected.

Please see this github issue for more:
https://github.com/Julow/Unexpected-Keyboard/issues/921

Summary of the Issue so far:
According to the author of Unexpected Keyboard this is due to a limitation
in Android (and therefore likely any virtual keyboard with control keys
would run into this issue). Iit seems to be the kind of limitation where
you can work around the issue by adding a small bit of code to the input
handling logic in Emacs.

Note that it is possible to work around, at least for the Meta key, by
pressing the escape key instead of the meta key (which is also a key on
Unexpected Keyboard).

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #8 received at 77099 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> suse.de>
To: "Johannes C. Mayer" <j.c.mayer240 <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 77099 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#77099: 30.1; Feature Request: Handle Android Keyboard input
 with Ctrl and Meta Keys correctly
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2025 15:29:09 +0100

On Mär 18 2025, Johannes C. Mayer wrote:

> Note that it is possible to work around, at least for the Meta key, by
> pressing the escape key instead of the meta key (which is also a key on
> Unexpected Keyboard).

You can also add any modifier to a key with the `C-x @' bindings.

-- 
Andreas Schwab, SUSE Labs, schwab <at> suse.de
GPG Key fingerprint = 0196 BAD8 1CE9 1970 F4BE  1748 E4D4 88E3 0EEA B9D7
"And now for something completely different."

Message #11 received at 77099 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Po Lu <luangruo <at> yahoo.com>
To: "Johannes C. Mayer" <j.c.mayer240 <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 77099 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#77099: 30.1; Feature Request: Handle Android Keyboard input
 with Ctrl and Meta Keys correctly
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2025 09:09:32 +0800

tags 77099 notabug
close 77099
thanks

"Johannes C. Mayer" <j.c.mayer240 <at> gmail.com> writes:

> Motivation: Having Meta and Ctrl available on the virtual keyboard
> seems much superior than showing control keys in the tab bar.
>
> There are Android keyboards that support Alt and Ctrl keys. The
> problem is that typing M-! on such a keyboard (I only tested
> Unexpected Keyboard) does not actually work as expected. However
> e.g. M-@ works as expected.
>
> Please see this github issue for more: https://github.com/Julow/Unexpected-Keyboard/issues/921
>
> Summary of the Issue so far:
> According to the author of Unexpected Keyboard this is due to a
> limitation in Android (and therefore likely any virtual keyboard with
> control keys would run into this issue). Iit seems to be the kind of
> limitation where you can work around the issue by adding a small bit
> of code to the input handling logic in Emacs.

The "bit of code" suggested by the author will interfere with the
reporting of keyboard meta state in keypresses generated from physical
keyboards, when a modifier key is depressed but only released after the
input focus is removed from Emacs--or the converse.  Please inform the
authors of this virtual keyboard that his program should generate
keycodes for keys that produce characters such as '!' (rather than
futilely searching for keycodes that produce these characters alone) and
any modifier bits necessary to produce them.  (E.g., M-!  should produce
M-S-1.)

This isn't a bug in Emacs, sorry.

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