spacemacs/layers/+intl/keyboard-layout/README.org

#+TITLE: keyboard-layout layer

[[file:img/keyboard-layout.png]]

* Table of Contents                                         :TOC_4_gh:noexport:
- [[#description][Description]]
- [[#installation][Installation]]
- [[#configuration][Configuration]]
  - [[#enabledisable-package-configurations][Enable/Disable package configurations]]
  - [[#addoverride-key-bindings][Add/Override key bindings]]
- [[#concept][Concept]]
- [[#keyboard-layouts][Keyboard layouts]]
  - [[#bepo][bepo]]
  - [[#dvorak][dvorak]]
  - [[#colemak][colemak]]
- [[#package-configurations][Package Configurations]]
- [[#keybindings][Keybindings]]
- [[#sources][Sources]]

* Description
This layer configures some keybindings in spacemacs to make it compatible with
keyboard layouts that differs from the traditional =en-us= keymap.

* Installation
To use this configuration layer, add it to your =~/.spacemacs=. You will need to
add =keyboard-layout= to the existing =dotspacemacs-configuration-layers= list
in this file. You can then select the desired layout by specifying the
=kl-layout= variable:

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (keyboard-layout :variables kl-layout 'dvorak)))
#+end_src

* Configuration
** Enable/Disable package configurations
This layer can be customized with two variables:
- kl-enabled-configurations
- kl-disabled-configurations

The first one is used to set the list of configurations to activate, and the
second one to prevent loading certain configurations. If the
=kl-enabled-configurations= is nil (by default), all configurations are loaded.
Otherwise, only the listed configurations are loaded. Any configuration listed
in =kl-disabled-configurations= will never be loaded, whether it is in the
enabled list or not (empty by default).

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(
  (keyboard-layout :variables
                   kl-layout 'dvorak
                   kl-disabled-configurations '(org magit))))
#+end_src

** Add/Override key bindings
It is possible to override or add bindings by defining functions named
=kl/pre-config-<NAME>= and =kl/post-config-<NAME>= in =dotspacemacs/user-init=.
They are respectively called just before and after the actual configuration of
keybindings in this layer, so *you don't have to think about when to apply the
configuration by yourself*. =<NAME>= is the name of the configuration you want
to customize, they are listed under the [[#configuration][Configuration]] section.

Example:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defun kl/post-config-company ()
  "Company delete backward."
  (kl/set-in-state company-active-map (kbd "C-w") 'evil-delete-backward-word))
#+end_src

Note: If you define some of these functions in your own layer, be sure that the
=keyboard-layout= layer is placed _after_ it in the
=dotspacemacs-configuration-layers= list.

* Concept
This package first switch traditional ~hjkl~ movement keys with their equivalent
in destination layout, and then try to correct the bugs introduced by these
changes in other parts of Spacemacs. This layer only tries to do these changes
when the letters are used for *doing a movement*.

The equivalent remapping is also made for uppercase letters, ~CTRL+KEY~,
~META+KEY~ and leaders keybindings (~SPC …~) whenever it makes sense to make
such changes.

In some cases the key remapping will not follow these conventions, mainly
because there are better alternatives, or because some moves don't make sense.

#+begin_verse
Example: In the =magit= status buffer, the ~c~ is used for =commit= by default,
but if we want to follow the conventions, it should be remapped to "move left"
in bepo. As it is not useful to move left on =magit= because operations are done
line by line the ~c~ is not remapped.
#+end_verse

* Keyboard layouts
The keyboard-layouts available with this layer are the following:

** bepo
[[file:img/bepo-logo.png]]

=bepo= is a keyboard layout optimized for the French language.

[[file:img/bepo-keymap.png]]

The mapping correction is the one proposed for vim on the official bepo [[http://bepo.fr/wiki/Vim#Principe][wiki]].

- Map the movements keys under the right hand's fingers:
  - ~c → h~
  - ~t → j~
  - ~s → k~
  - ~r → l~

- Map lost functionalities back to some keys:
  - ~h → r~
  - ~j → t~
  - ~k → s~
  - ~l → c~

Some bepo keys are not used in traditional mapping, mainly because they are not
on the =en-us= keyboard layout. They are used as aliases for other shortcuts:

- Map unused ~é~ key as an alias of ~w~, more useful in vim mode:
  - ~é → w~
  - ~É → W~

- Map indentation on direct-access keys:
  - ~» → >~
  - ~« → <~

Some default configurations are also not optimal for vim, so the following
defaults are changed:

- Change =evil-escape= escape combination to something faster to type, while
  being nearly nonexistent in French or English words:
  - ~fd → gq~

- In =avy=, the key used to select words/lines are remapped to the 8 characters
  under the fingers:
  - ~a u i e t s r n~

Note: One difference exists with the wiki version: the ~w~ is *not* remapped to
~C-w~ to avoid having to change its meaning in other modes. Spacemacs provides
already a ~SPC w~ key binding for working with windows.

** dvorak
=dvorak= is a keyboard layout optimized for the English language. [[http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/][dvorak
programmer]] is an optimized keyboard layout focused in programming and it's a
variant of the more general =dvorak= (us) keyboard layout. This configuration
will remap keybindings for the =dvorak-programmer= variant.

[[file:img/dvorak-keymap.png]]

** colemak
=colemak= is a modern alternative to the QWERTY and =dvorak= layouts. It is
designed for efficient and ergonomic touch typing in English. More info can be
found at the [[https://colemak.com/][Colemak website]].

[[file:img/colemak-layout.png]]

* Package Configurations
The available configurations are:

- ace-window
- avy
- comint
- company
- elfeed
- evil
- evil-escape
- evil-evilified-state
- evil-surround
- eyebrowse
- flycheck
- helm
- imenu-list
- ivy
- magit
- mu4e
- neotree
- org
- org-agenda
- ranger
- twittering-mode

* Keybindings
This layer is using functions that try to /automatically/ remap keybindings in a
lot of modes, so it's difficult to list all changed keybindings. And

- You chose to use a different keyboard layout.
- You chose to be on the dark side by using evil (because they have :cookie: obviously).
- You chose to use a layer, written with :heart:, that try to solve the induced mess.

So the price you have to pay is the absence of a keybindings list.

* Sources
The keyboard-layout logo is coming from [[https://openclipart.org/detail/202777/keyboard-layout][openclipart.org]] and is under the public
domain. The bepo logo and the keymap images are coming from the [[http://bepo.fr/][bepo]] official
website.  The Colemak keyboard layout image is from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KB_US-Colemak.svg][Wikipedia]]. They are all
licensed under the [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en][CC-BY-SA]].