Database Develop

[1/28/08] iPhone skin for PCM Keyboard - refined

After many months of tweaking this skin, I think it is about as good as it can get (for my personal use). For those of you not familiar with PCM Keyboard, it is a program being developed as a replacement on screen keyboard for PPC devices.
I am providing the skin and layout files only, please refer any program or device compatibility questions to the developers thread or website.
The latest version the application can be downloaded at this link (keep in mind the developer currently puts an expiration of 30 days on each version until it is commercially released. So plan on upgrading to the newest version each month or plan on purchasing the software when it is launched):
http://pocketcm.com/keyboard2.php
Support:
http://pocketcm.com/phorum/index.php?9
XDA thread with the latest version information:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=321712
There are two types of files that have to be loaded onto your device and selected in the options/settings for this skin to work: The keyboard layout file and the keyboard skin file. Choose either the Eng 2many or Eng 2many., layout (the second having the , and . next to the space bar) AND either the 2many GreyiPhone or 2manyiClone skin. I suggest restarting the device to make sure everything has changed correctly.
This design was done to allow almost any layout work with this skin, so check out the multi language layouts and a "azerty" layout created by ialu in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=330525
Here are some features of this skin:
Main screen:
-Numbers pop up if you press and hold the "123#?" key
-Basic symbols pop up from the space bar. Period with a space is the default pop up key, so if you press and hold too long and don't slide to another symbol, you will get a period and a space.
-If you press and hold a letter, you will get a caps letter (idea borrowed from my BlackBerry).
-Caps lock is still double press on the shift (up arrow) and double press to change back to lower caps.
On the symbol keyboard (one press of 123#?):
-If you press the internet explorer key you will get "http://www."
-If you press and hold the internet explorer key you can choose: https://, .net, .org, .com or www.
The Grey iPhone skin / layout also supports landscape. This was not easy and I had to compromise some eye candy to get all the buttons to look right in both orientations. It does take up a LOT of screen in landscape, but I didn't want to make the buttons smaller for portrait use.
Keep in mind all of this customization is set in the layout file and can be opened and modified in wordpad. The only trick is making sure it is saved as a .layout file. I suggest making a copy of the layout file you are changing, rename it, make your changes and then save it (not save as).
I made this skin for my personal use and am sharing because I haven't seen anything else that works as good - for me. I am not a developer or a designer, so again please try to search for questions in the thread links I have provided. Please feel free to modify, use, distribute any of the graphics or file settings - no need to ask
Newest Version has been posted in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=366987
If you prefer black keys with white letters, got to this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1718149&postcount=26
If you like some color in your keyboard, try this version:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1597831&postcount=21
Layout file with ( ) that pop up from the "." key:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1724593&postcount=46
HTC Touch Style Skin, with help from Kin0Kin:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1766908&postcount=2
Here is the eye candy:

Great look!
What about support cyrrilyc? (Russian?)

Tks for sharing...

very beautifull thank you man

preciate you

This is VERY nice
Many thanks.

iPhone12 files
I download the zip file but how do I install it on my PPC 6800 ?
PHP:

Excellent! Thanks! Though I will need to slightly mod it to add the "_". No one seems to put that on their layouts. Apparently, I'm the only one who ever uses it, and I do in my passwords sometimes...
EDIT: Just noticed that a hold of the "-" will also do a "_". Cool! I'll still add a dedicated button for it. I don't need the .com since I made the press and hold of the http button default to a .com, instead of .net, and also I use the "_" much more than .com as I have most of my sites bookmarked...
But awesome skin again! Thanks for the time and effort!

jomo25 said:
Excellent! Thanks! Though I will need to slightly mod it to add the "_". No one seems to put that on their layouts. Apparently, I'm the only one who ever uses it, and I do in my passwords sometimes...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press and hold the "-" key and voilá...

radiototal said:
I download the zip file but how do I install it on my PPC 6800 ?
PHP:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Download the program cab from the link on post one (v12 is the current).
2. Install onto the device
3. Using active sync, open the folder program files\PCMKeyboard
4. Drag all of the files in the zip (or just the iphone12 skin and eng iphone12 layout if you don't want the multi language options).
5. Go to settings, input and select PCM Keyboard as the input method
6. Click on the options button and change the keyboard layout and keyboard skin to Eng iphone12 and iPhone 12. See the screen shot. I alsot changed the feedback on letters to 30 ms from the default 100. This is how long it takes for the feedback graphic to pop up. Basically 30 is if you want it to show up quickly when you press letters (like the actual iPhone) or if you want to type faster and not have it show the pop up of the letter you pressed, leave it at 100.
7. Once the options are set, press OK and OK to exit the input screen.
8. I suggest restarting the device to make sure the layout and skin set correctly. If you do not have a SIP change program on your device, when you restart, it will default back to the standard keyboard. I recommend default IM and have attached the cab file in this post. Install it, run it and it should keep PCMKeyboard as your default, even after restarts.

just installed works great thanks!

Awesome
One word - AWESOME!!

is there a possibility to include a copy/cut/paste/undo button? would be handy.
or just a Control button to be used incombination with X/C/V/Z as in the default SIP
EDIT: very nice skin btw!!thx for sharing..

I Love it!!
This is Really good!
Just a view question,
Could you make the same thing only then change the colors
so, dark keys with light characters?
Would make it complete!
and is it costumizable?
because i have changed the order of the characters ever sinds i use pcm keyboard.
but now when i use your skin i don't get numbers but special characters when holding the 123 button.
and i don't have a . next to it so i lost the extra options when holding that.
can i change it my self in one of the files?

VOODOOS!L said:
is there a possibility to include a copy/cut/paste/undo button? would be handy.
or just a Control button to be used incombination with X/C/V/Z as in the default SIP
EDIT: very nice skin btw!!thx for sharing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2manyphones, I now see that keeping the 'RETURN' button pressed, gives a menu to copy/paste/cut!! so forget my request, this skin is perfect!! thx again!!

woooww
This keyboard is the best one i so far used..just so fast..red coloring is a great idea..thank you man

Ok!
I just downloaded the keyboard and installed it on my ETEN X500+
It's o so f..king great!
Great skin and it also supports Russian!
But!
Where are the commas, full stops etc????
What about a Greek layout??
Maybe I can helb about the greek layout

Thanks man.
Great work!

Absolutely Wonderful, Amazing F****G wORK Awesome My pocket Pc is now Final. Thank you

Great! Thanks a lot

Butler - Using capacitive area as stroke launcher and many more features

I really enjoy this forum since it helps me a lot to increase the productivity with my HTC Touch Pro. I found many useful applications. Unfortunately, after installing a large number of them, I run into the infamous 32 processes limit of Windows Mobile. So I decided to write my own app that combines all the features that I find useful. It is implemented as a Pocket PC service, so it does not require an own process.
Here are the features:
- Better vibration for incoming calls. I found the built-in vibration function very annoying as it vibrates permanently during an incoming call. This extensions vibrates in pulses of 300 ms with a pause of one second when a call is incoming
- SIP changer depending on stylus state. If stylus is out, another soft input panel is selected as if stylus is in. Can be changed via the registry keys StylusInSIP and StylusOutSIP.
- Stroke Launcher. If the finger is stroked from one button to another, an application is launched.Four directions are possible: From home button to accept phone call button and vice versa as well as from back button to reject phone call button and vice versa. The applications can be configured via the RightUpApp, RightDownApp, LeftUpApp and LeftDownApp registry keys. The required length of the stroke can be configured via the GestureMinLen registry key. Unfortunately, the program has to poll HTC's NAV sensor directly in order to not disturb the functionality of the wheel sensor. The sleep time between two polls can be configured with the GesturePollingDelay (in ms). If you use very fast strokes and the device does not react, try to decrease this value.
- Key lock if device is face down. The key lock is activated and the device is powered off if it is turned face down. The key locked is acknowledged by two short vibrations. Key lock can be disabled depending on the foreground window or active process list. Exclude list can be specified via the ExcludedProcesses and ExcludedWindows registry keys. The tolerance for the face down detection can be configured via the FacedownTolerance registry key.
The registry settings for Buttler are stored in HKLM\Software\Butler. Each extension described above can be switched of by setting the EnableFeature registry key to 0.
As I have not much time to react on bugs or feature requests, I have also attached the source code. Fell free to modify my Butler but please publish it here so that we all can benefit from it.
The Butler service is started with the program "StartButler.exe" located in the Windows directory. I call it from a MortScript during device boot. It is important that HTC Touch Flo 3D is already loaded. For some reason, the gsensors can not be initialized if Touch Flo 3D is not loaded. Here is the code I use:
# Wait for TouchFlo3D
While(ProcExists("manila.exe")=0)
Sleep(1000)
EndWhile
# Start the butler
Run("\Windows\StartButler.exe")
Have fun!
Siggie
Change log:
V1.0:
- Initial release
V1.1:
- Reading of the NAV sensor completely rewritten. The sensor is now directly polled. This does not interfere with other programs, so the wheel sensor and the camera is working again.
- EnableFeature registry keys added for switching off each extension individually.
linuxis said:
New thread For Keyboard Slide Out Support:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3305730#post3305730
Updated CAB is there. Happy using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

sounds like an excellent program, I'll try it

man, great app. it is totally replacing hbutton, and lets me start using voice commander again. two questions....can you list the other sip layout entries? i really want to use the full qwerty when the stylus is out and in. secondly, is there a way to define a diff lock such as s2u2 and then shut down. either way, the function is fine as is and really, thanks for sharing

I'm interest in Stroke Launcher more than the other apps. is there a chance you can provide a cab for just that portion of your application> I know it's contrary to your original intent (of combining apps) but that's the only one of those apps I really would want so I have the opposite- no desire to install any extra apps even if it's a single process Thanks.

about to give it a shot, sounds great
but i second the request to have s2u2 when put face down

noticed that if you delete the entries for sip, keeping the actual keys though. butler wont start. guess it still needs to check those values i was trying to get it to do nothing to my sip's and just keep full qwerty.
edit** here is the key for full qwerty {36BC8FF6-8241-4c36-ABDE-204885471FEE} and the other keys are all listed under HKCR/CLSID and look like this:
(HTC SIPs)
{198D503A-...} = Phone Keypad
{36BC8FF6-...} = Full QWERTY
{62B00599-...} = Compact QWERTY
(MS Default SIPs)
{42429667-...} = Keyboard
{42429690-...} = Letter Recognizer
{42429691-...} = Block Recognizer
{F0034DD0-...} = Transcriber
Maybe it would be easier to be able to just input the name

Sound great, I'll give it a try as well.
can you make it so that when it face down, the light turn off?

ok i figured out how to change what sip came when
and i turned off "facedown"
only problem is that the smart scroll such as zooming in opera and pics no longer works or autofocus in camera

Great app cannot go unrecognized!
so i downloaded and installed and forgot to make shortcut. A day after i just luanch it using fileexplorer with copy on storage card. Sounds like alot but considering i only reset once a week maybe... its not so bad.
After using it for a half day. I have to admit i was waiting for a way to use shortcuts with out using manilla. I am a RLtoday fan and i dont really use all of manilla features. I LOVE IT. I am considering removing Manilla all together. This has great potential for those of use that want alternatives to manilla.
This should really be placed in essentials.
Thank you.
**BTW cant get screen lock disabled, anyone have more detailed instructions for disabling face down lock?

to disable the lock i set the sensor threshold to 0
in the registry path that was said earlier in the thread

V1.1 available
I have added a new version that fixes the wheel sensor and camera problem. There are also now registry keys available to switch off each feature individually.

ok I dont know what happend but i installed this app and after a restart the keyboard pops up on the splash screen and the phone freezes.. I need a resolution fast. I really dotn want to hard reset. I have a lot of stuff i need back up.... Please help!!!

fuk it. had to hard reset.

any chance on just releasing stroke launcher as a standalone app so we don't need to install all and then disable them? Thanks

Exclude S2U2
How can I disable stroke launcher, when s2u2 is active? I tried to add S2U2(name of DWORD value=0) to ExcludedWindows and s2u2.exe to ExcludedProcesses, but stroke launcher is still active, any ideas?

Great App siggie1970,
Thanks .. I Think The most important thing to do now is to add a User Interface for the configuration..as it kinda hard to do it through the registry
thanks

Wow amazing programs are being released and 09 just started. Great name btw How are resources being used with this program? Since your combining apps perhaps you could work with the guy to incorporate his new alternative to gyrator/ screen tilt app.

bugsykoosh said:
any chance on just releasing stroke launcher as a standalone app so we don't need to install all and then disable them? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is not the purpose of the program

would it be possible to turn one of the sides into scrolling up and down?
like leave the left up and down for app launching but right side scrolling that would make it pretty much perfect for me
then of course a configurator, although i got it setup but no fun having to change on each new install

It sounds like a great program, thanks! Stroke Launcher, I like that one LOL

[APP+DRV] [Keys remapper] Raphael Keyboard Controller GSM/CDMA v1.4

This is what many touch pro/fuze owners want to have - ability to get full control over their keyboards.
This is for Raphael only! Do not try to install this on other devices!
Do not ask me to make a version for other device since my remappers are driver dependent and this can be very and very complicated without real device (if possible at all).
So, what is it ? It's a modified keyboard driver with configurator application for keys setup. Any key (yeah, i mean ANY, including Home and Back keys) can be reassigned to perform desired actions. Keys on a QWERTY keyboard are not an exception, they might be remapped too.
If any key has an action configured and is defined to be processed by my driver extension, it wouldn't go into the system. That is to say no one program even like AEButton will see key events processed by my driver.
Driver extension also can vibrate on any key press.
Modified drivers were tested on many ROMs based on different OEMs, so they would work in most cases.
Thanks dcd1182 for CDMA version testing.
Features:
Different event types supported: single, double and triple clicks, long presses
Two modes of key mapping: three actions per key or direct key mapping
Key repeats in direct key mapping mode
Actions sequence repeats in actions mode
Key combinations using FN modifier
Default key behaviour action - you won't loose key's default behaviour if you just want to add double click or long press to it
Different key behaviour depending on foreground process/window class/window text
Multiple rules for each key to provide different behaviour for each application you want
Multiple actions for each event
Different predefined actions:
Run program
Key press emulation
Send symbol/text to active window
Close active window
Switch to window by class/text
Terminate data connection
Wi-Fi toggle
BT toggle
Screen rotation
Power management (screen power toggle, suspend, reset)
Exceptions lists which are used to deny key remapping depending on foreground process/window class/window text
Configurable long press and double click duration
Configuration import/export in configurator
Changelog is located here.
Configurator UI localization support information is located here.
Requirements:
- .NET CF 2.0 (for configurator app)
- WM 6.1/6.5 compatible
Usage:
- Install SdkCerts.cab
- Install RaphKbdControl_XXX.cab
- Soft reset
- Check if keyboard works by pressing hardware buttons and seeing if they do their work, if not - uninstall cab, this wouldn't work on your current ROM
- If it works - go to the control panel and find "Keyboard Config" on a System page
How to define key processing:
- Run configurator (Control Panel -> System -> Keyboard Config)
- Press Menu -> Add key
- When dialog asking you to press key appears press and release desired key
- Set up needed options in key setup dialog and press OK (left softkey)
- In configurator's main window press left softkey "Update settings" to let new configuration take place (reboot is not needed, coz new settings will work immediately after saving)
What to do if keyboard doesn't work after uninstallation of this software:
- in any way stop device "KBD1:"
- for example, you can use Dotfred's TaskManager - navigate to Devices tab and find the KBD1: string, then press Stop
- delete files \Windows\keypad.dll and \Windows\kbdcntrl.dll
- soft reset
How to add new button to Buttons applet and get it working:
- add or copy existing key [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\Keys\40CX], where X is 1-6
- under this key add next values:
* Name - display name of the button in list (doesn't matter what you write here, it's only for you)
* Icon - path to icon for this button
- goto configurator and define an 'emulate key press' action for any button you want and set these values here: key code - 'App X' and check 'Win' checkbox - only in this case button will work
- save settings and enjoy newly created button
TODO:
- optimization
- Shift+?? key combinations support (if there would be requests on this)
- more actions
- other useful things
- your suggestions ?
Backup before installing of modified driver is strongly recommended.
Be careful when downloading the cab, make sure you choose the correct version suitable for your device.
Also, here is small collection of AltTab programs attached.
You can use any of them assigned as 'run program' action to desired key to switch between running programs.

well im going to try this right now, thanks
tested and works great.
side note: under the todo list adding different key behaviours depending on active window would be great
thanks

Push!
What a great app ! Couold you try to add something like multi-pressd ?

Glad to see something like this come along.
Curious, any plans to integrate with the Buttons applet found in Settings?
Cheers,
Again, excellent work!

luciusz said:
Couold you try to add something like multi-pressd ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean key combinations ? I will think about it.

hilaireg said:
Curious, any plans to integrate with the Buttons applet found in Settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Although buttons applet and my extension do similar work, they work in different ways, so it's not possible to integrate them at this moment.

It is very cool program.
But it is not work with russian keyboard on official Rom
Or it's my mistake?
after uninstall app and soft reset do not work hardware keyboard,
and keys: on/off device (on the top side) and loudness (on left side)
What can I do?

Cool tool!!! If you implement to configure different behaviour for different programs that would be really nice!

Wow; this really does sound like the tool I was hoping for. (The hardware keyboard and the home/back etc keys? Perfect!)
Sadly, seems like the rom I am using (MightyROM5, for CDMA and Sprint) wasn't one of them... oh, well. If anyone else with CDMA has a ROM and tries this successfully, though, I'd love to know so I can try a different one.
For me, the hardware keys worked again after an uninstall and soft reset. (To turn the screen back on after it fell asleep while I was doing this, I had to hold the power key down as if I was going to force it to turn off, only longer than normal -- just a FYI if someone else has the same issue.)

ldrn said:
Sadly, seems like the rom I am using (MightyROM5, for CDMA and Sprint) wasn't one of them... oh, well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you send me keypad.dll (hope CDMA version has the same name as for GSM) file from your ROM ?

is there a way to make a tab key ? i really would like one . i hate having to touch the screen to change entry feilds on the internet ,usually when i log into xda or myspace or anywhere that has a forums ..... i use it tons on my computer and thats pretty much my only complaint about the fuze keyboard ...NO TAB !

tarkim said:
Could you send me keypad.dll (hope CDMA version has the same name as for GSM) file from your ROM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the keypad.dll from MightyRom 4.16 (CDMA):

Two requests:
1.
Please let me execute .lnk files also, not only .exe files
2.
I cannot use arguments when calling exe files. Please support arguments when calling exe files in the next version.
Thanks for listening!
Oliver

gmanfuzing said:
is there a way to make a tab key ? i really would like one . ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
owilsky said:
Two requests:
1. Please let me execute .lnk files also, not only .exe files
2. I cannot use arguments when calling exe files. Please support arguments when calling exe files in the next version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All these would be implemented in new version which I'm currently working on. Wait a few days and you'll get it

mcw
tnx for driver, will se what I can do

Nice!
Will this app let me remap the Volume Up/Down to Scroll Up/Down?

tarkim said:
mcw
tnx for driver, will se what I can do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thank you for taking a look at this! (And thanks Mcw for posting it.)

kusbainian said:
Will this app let me remap the Volume Up/Down to Scroll Up/Down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes
ldrn
i've analyzed CDMA keypad driver that mcw posted here, it's 90% similar to GSM version
i will patch it in a free time like my one, but i haven't a CDMA device to test it so you will need to test patched driver

Amazing app, exactly what I dream about, thanks!
I would also like to propose some more functions than just running app with keypress, like for example closing window, closing app, opening start menu, etc...
And, if anybody knows standalone symbols keypad replacement, with your superb program we can get rid of this problem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3911050

I have an issue with this app, dunno why but only my storage card is available to search exe from, I'm unable to search exe from main memory, how comes?
Thanks

[Think tank] Map menu long press to keyboard (not search)

Since the vibrant doesn't have a secondary input like most android devices, it's even more vital that we have unfettered access to the keyboard and its soft arrow keys. Unfortunately long pressing the menu button in some applications (notably the browser) brings up SEARCH rather than the keyboard by itself. That means no arrow keys for text selection or link highlighting.
This has been discussed previously in general at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=776792
How difficult would it be to remap the long press of the menu key to bring up the keyboard by itself?

After researching it some on my own, it looks like I need to come up with a way to call showSoftInput() from one of the softkeys. It'd be ideal if I could get that to happen on menu long press, but if that's too far buried in proprietary configuration I'd settle for replacing the google voice search app mapped to the Search button long press.
Anyone have any tips on mapping system functions to a hardware key normally used for app launching? The lack of any keyboard in the browser is seriously inhibiting my ability to use this phone.

Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

fit333 said:
Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, buth then you have to use dxtop. *non fan of dxtop*

fit333 said:
Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dxtop takes over the long press of buttons only in the home screen context, and it doesn't use any of them to launch the keyboard. Plus there's no way to configure any of it so it's not really the same at all.
What I'm looking for is to alter one of the long press actions in a system-wide way to launch the soft keyboard.

cbisquit said:
After researching it some on my own, it looks like I need to come up with a way to call showSoftInput() from one of the softkeys. It'd be ideal if I could get that to happen on menu long press, but if that's too far buried in proprietary configuration I'd settle for replacing the google voice search app mapped to the Search button long press.
Anyone have any tips on mapping system functions to a hardware key normally used for app launching? The lack of any keyboard in the browser is seriously inhibiting my ability to use this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried emailing Anderweb? ADW launcher intercepts the home button. You might be able to do something similar. It might only work on the home screen though, as his app is running there. For a system wide thing you might need to mod the underlying OS files, framework maybe? I'm not sure where that stuff launches. You could try asking one of the Cyanogen devs, they might have found it. They add stuff to the power button long press menu at least.

Certain apps (Visual Task Switcher and Itching Thumb) remap the search and home buttons to open themselves. I imagine this same idea could be used for the menu button, but I've never seen it.
I don't always complain, but when I do, I #BlameWes

some success...
Well I got a little app to work at opening the keyboard on long press of the SEARCH key. I don't want to override the home function, which is what ADW for instance does. The only other button that has an available intent as far as I can tell is search. This is my first java anything, so I wouldn't expect much out of it (it may not even work on anyone's phone but mine) but maybe someone with better android chops can use it as a proof-of-concept for what I was thinking. Install it and when you long press the search key you can choose "Search for Keyboard!"
One pretty major caveat... the swype soft cursor doesn't act anything like I'd wanted when I was envisioning this. There's no "execute" button that works like a click, so while you can use the soft arrows to select links it's not gonna do you much good. Also there's no way to effectively use "select text" in the browser. Concept 2, if I ever get around to it, would probably be more like a replacement touchpad area below the current application window.

i would like to see an app to remap long press menu on my i9000, anyone has success? thx

Another reason to ditch Samsung firmware and use AOSP-based ROMs, like CyanogenMod or MIUI.
FYI, nearly every "ROM" made for Galaxy S phones are Samsung firmware. They're not built from source like ROMs for other decent Android phones, they are just original Samsung builds being modified like nuts. And they use the same Samsung framework (though usually customized for themes and removing of annoyances like battery-full popup), and usually still include most of Samsung's stupid fixes that make their Galaxy S system software the most different in structure compared to any other Android system.
By using AOSP firmware like CyanogenMod and MIUI, these problems (like menu-button keyboard binding getting screwed up by Samsung) don't exist, because they were never present in official Android release. When problems do come up for AOSP, they get fixed quick because the source code is actually available.
Summarized process of development:
Samsung-based ROMs: What's broken or runs like ****? Try to fix it. Hack hack hack, hope it works, if it fails try again. Submit to XDA
CyanogenMod (in general): If there is a problem, try to fix it. Write code, build, test. Make sure it works before putting it in "stable" branch. After that think of brand new useful feature to implement, code it, bug test a lot, request it to be used in official releases or just make your own CyanogenMod-based ROM with your own enhancements, like BiffMod for the HTC Dream.
Btw, the reason why Samsung put this keybind is because the original international Galaxy S doesn't have a dedicated search key, so they set the search function up with the menu button. Our problem is that Samsung was a lazyass and forgot to change back that binding to the original for the Vibrant, which does have a dedicated search button and doesn't need the menu binding to search.

But aosp roms have other problems like poor 3d performance and no gps/compass. If the issues get worked out, I suspect many devs will be switching to aosp builds.

Custom keyboard layout

Hey, I found OK and caps lock keys on the D4 keyboard useless - I just don't see any difference between using OK, mapped as D-pad center, and Enter, and caps lock can be substituted by double press of shift. So I decided to play with the layout a bit, mainly because I was irritated by a need to touch the screen to work with clipboard or to go back.
The result is attached - a custom layout which remaps OK button from DPAD_CENTER to ESCAPE and caps lock from CAPS to CTRL_LEFT.
Esc works as the Back button and Ctrl is tested working in combinations of Ctrl+A (Select all), Ctrl+X (Cut), Ctrl+C (Copy) and Ctrl+V (Paste). Unfortunately Ctrl+Z/Y (Undo/Redo) don't seem to work... Any suggestions for other combinations to try?
I have tested it all on rooted Eclipse ICS 1.2 ROM, but it should generally work on all rooted Android 4.0.4 ROMs.
How to get it working?
1. You probably need to have your phone rooted first.
2. Optional - you might want to backup your original /system/usr/keylayout/omap4-keypad.kl if you're on different ROM (it should be all the same, but I haven't tested it)
3. Unpack the attached custom_layout.zip to the root of your phone - it will put omap4-keypad.kl into /system/usr/keylayout
4. Reboot your phone.
In case you'd like to revert the changes, I put the original keylayout from my system in original_layout.zip, or you can use your own backed up file
Hope you enjoy my mod. Also, which key would you suggest to replace by Menu? I'm thinking about SYM, but I still think the day I'll actually need it might come, unlike with caps lock and OK
For those interested in changing values for themselves I've attached scancodes of all the buttons given out by safestarap's key test - see keycodes.txt. If you're gonna change any .kl files, be sure to open it with some program supporting UNIX formatting such as PSPad - I really don't wanna see what would happen after editing it with Notepad You should probably also see Android documentation article about it first.

This sounds rather good...i wasn't going to, but this may give me a reason to root my phone. Thanks f for your work. It does seem illogical having those buttons. Btw what happens to LED when you press caps lock now.
Still running stock ics on Vodafone UK.
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app

This doesnt seem to work on stock rooted.
it seems the physical keyboard runs off generic.kl and the omap4.kl, but i simply used root explorer to edit the KL's and got things how i wanted them. i missed my HTC G2 alt + del/backspace = delete whole line, so i made tab the ALT_LEFT and problems solved, also mapped OK as CTRL_LEFT for copy paste ext.. just my pref.
also changed all the qwerty keys to WAKE_DROPPED to wake the screen instead of having to hit the top power button, as i leave my phone on my desk open constantly so its annoying to always have to hit the power button to wake.

So do you have to change the 2 files or just the one?
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app

bustr85 said:
Btw what happens to LED when you press caps lock now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Caps Lock mapped as Ctrl and it's not connected to the LED at all - seems the LED is working as normal Caps Lock signalization. However, after double-press of Shift the caps Lock is activated and the LED signalizes it fine.
wheeliest said:
This doesnt seem to work on stock rooted.
it seems the physical keyboard runs off generic.kl and the omap4.kl, but i simply used root explorer to edit the KL's and got things how i wanted them. i missed my HTC G2 alt + del/backspace = delete whole line, so i made tab the ALT_LEFT and problems solved, also mapped OK as CTRL_LEFT for copy paste ext.. just my pref.
also changed all the qwerty keys to WAKE_DROPPED to wake the screen instead of having to hit the top power button, as i leave my phone on my desk open constantly so its annoying to always have to hit the power button to wake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know the Alt+BkSp combination, thanks What other combinations do you use?
BTW Alt+Tab works for switching apps (I have now SYM mapped as ALT_LEFT and TAB is left untouched - I like to use it when filling forms).
In my mod it already is WAKE_DROPPED, but not by me, it's probably one of the Eclipse mods to stock
bustr85 said:
So do you have to change the 2 files or just the one?
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? Do you refer to wheeliest's post?

Ah, good idea mapping SYM to ALT_LEFT. Then we can go in and define Alt key combos for the rest of the alpha keys, to get all the other symbols that we need (e.g., brackets, curly brackets, vertical bar, backquote...)
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

I edited both .kl's to answer the above question,
I also changed the "/" to work as a "?" with out shifting first. (which i changed in the omap4 keychars)
system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm
its about the middle of the code, you get into the symbols after the numbers.
key SLASH {
label. number: '?'
base: '?'
shift: '/'
ctrl. alt. meta: none
and thats the only useful key combos i know.

I've tried to edit the keyboard for my AOSP Unofficial CM10/JB ROM. No luck at all.
None of the changes take effect and the shift key stops functioning as it should. You have to hold the shift key down and press the additional key for it to work, the same as you do on a computer keyboard.
I've tried to edit both the generic and omap4 files. It always ends up with the same result. Not looking for a fix just notifying you guys.

Long press symbols
Hi, does anybody know where to change symbols and/or their order in long press popup window?
screenshot - imgur.com/joN15zH
CM10 or CM11

wild_a said:
Hi, does anybody know where to change symbols and/or their order in long press popup window?
screenshot - imgur.com/joN15zH
CM10 or CM11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I don't know, but I never use it.
My short story:
My old phone was a Motorola Milestone 1 (Droid 1) with physical QWERTY.
I used it with Smart Keyboard Pro (SKP). It has an option called “Physical Keyboard”, by this way I reach the special characters of SKP’s actual language (long press on short character then some short press for selecting).
I changed for Droid4, upgraded for SlimKAT 4.4.2 installed SKP, but it is not worked with new 5-row keyboard. I can’t reach the keyboard’s yellow and my language-specific characters. Shift is not working with yellow keys.
Solution:
Change SYM and CAPS LOCK buttons in /system/usr/keylayout/omap4-keypad.kl:
I changed SYM button for “ALT”:
KEY 162 ALT_LEFT
and the CAPS LOCK button to “CTRL”:
KEY 222 CTRL_LEFT
Than modify /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm as follows:
Defined yellow characters for ALT method, and some other characters for all available buttons. The original SYM function still available by ALT+Space.
I attached a picture about the ALT-characters.
Unfortunately the new CTRL-button not works with SKP “Phisical Keyboard” option so I must switch off this option. By this way I lost the language specific fonts, so I programmed the upper rows for this fonts. The selection is working by SHIFT and D-pad, than CAPS-LOCK + C is Copy and CAPS-LOCK + V is Paste.
I attached a picture about CTRL-characters too.
I used character codes at: fileformat.info
We must be use the C/C++/Java source codes.
Thats all.
Zavo

hi.
i wanna change my hardware keyboard of droid4. its qwerty ... and i want to have qwertz.
so i edited the /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm and changeg key "Z" { label base shift } with "Y" . reboot and it works me happy
by thinking myself that i missed Ä Ö Ü at the hardware keyboard and dont want to wait long with long push on a to wait for the popup and choose there ä, i tryed to edit the /system/usr/keylayout/omap4-keypad.kl:
CAPS LOCK button to “ALT”:
KEY 222 ALT_LEFT
and back into the /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm there under A { label: "A" / base : "a" / shift: "A" / cltr,alt,meta: "ä" }
reboot and now it works nothing -.-
also the y z is back to qwerty and not qwertz ?!?!?!??! in the files is all right.
why my changes are undone ????
can some help ? ideas ?
thx and sry 4 bad english

Felix241 said:
hi.
i wanna change my hardware keyboard of droid4. its qwerty ... and i want to have qwertz.
so i edited the /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm and changeg key "Z" { label base shift } with "Y" . reboot and it works me happy
by thinking myself that i missed Ä Ö Ü at the hardware keyboard and dont want to wait long with long push on a to wait for the popup and choose there ä, i tryed to edit the /system/usr/keylayout/omap4-keypad.kl:
CAPS LOCK button to “ALT”:
KEY 222 ALT_LEFT
and back into the /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm there under A { label: "A" / base : "a" / shift: "A" / cltr,alt,meta: "ä" }
reboot and now it works nothing -.-
also the y z is back to qwerty and not qwertz ?!?!?!??! in the files is all right.
why my changes are undone ????
can some help ? ideas ?
thx and sry 4 bad english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the fault is that in the .kcm no ÄÜÖ alowed.
when i entered A {
label: "A"
base: "a"
shift: "ä"
}
reboot
the system dont work with the .kcm anymore... what do i have to fill in under shift : "" for an ä ?
thx 4 help

Felix241 said:
the fault is that in the .kcm no ÄÜÖ alowed.
when i entered A {
label: "A"
base: "a"
shift: "ä"
}
reboot
the system dont work with the .kcm anymore... what do i have to fill in under shift : "" for an ä ?
thx 4 help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that for ÄÜÖ, in the stock kcm you press ALT+u and then the key that you want to have ' ': a,u,o......

Hi everyone
I know it's an old post but it really helped me solve the non CTRL problem.
I needed it to switch between languages on the hard keyboard as I installed the CM11 ROM. It's a little bit funny that it takes a CTRL button to switch, but no one bothered to notice that there isn't such button.
Anyhow, my current problem is this - I'm missing a letter on the Hebrew keyboard. I have all the letters except one. It's annoying to type with a missing letter.
I've tried to look for a way to add this letter on the ompam4-keypad.kcm file, but it doesn't contain the hebrew characters.
I really don't know where to go for that char map that contains other characters other than english.
Can anyone help me?

drornohi said:
I know it's an old post but it really helped me solve the non CTRL problem.
I needed it to switch between languages on the hard keyboard as I installed the CM11 ROM. It's a little bit funny that it takes a CTRL button to switch, but no one bothered to notice that there isn't such button.
Anyhow, my current problem is this - I'm missing a letter on the Hebrew keyboard. I have all the letters except one. It's annoying to type with a missing letter.
I've tried to look for a way to add this letter on the ompam4-keypad.kcm file, but it doesn't contain the hebrew characters.
I really don't know where to go for that char map that contains other characters other than english.
Can anyone help me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankly I never updated it for CM11 and CM12 I've been using for over a year now, even though it always bugged me not to have Ctrl Good wake-up call I'll try to get to it through the weekend, no promises though.
@ZavoDroid's post (#10, last of previous page) looks golden, will try to make something similar working with CM11 and CM12. Will need you to report how the CM11 version works, I'm still at CM12 currently.
Edit: @drornohi - did you try custom layouts from this thread to see they did not work with CM11? And what is the specific character you miss from your Hebrew keyboard - could you post it here in lower case and upper case, ideally with Unicode codes as well?

LuH said:
Frankly I never updated it for CM11 and CM12 I've been using for over a year now, even though it always bugged me not to have Ctrl Good wake-up call I'll try to get to it through the weekend, no promises though.
@ZavoDroid's post (#10, last of previous page) looks golden, will try to make something similar working with CM11 and CM12. Will need you to report how the CM11 version works, I'm still at CM12 currently.
Edit: @drornohi - did you try custom layouts from this thread to see they did not work with CM11? And what is the specific character you miss from your Hebrew keyboard - could you post it here in lower case and upper case, ideally with Unicode codes as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, it's not a layout problem.
I think that the keyboard doesn't take the characters from the .kcm file. The keyboard linked to another app that mapping the layout to a character map according to the current chosen language. i.e, when you press 'm', it links it to the app that checks which language is chosen, if english - it will type 'm', if hebrew it will type ׳צ׳ (a hebrew letter)
The problem is I don't know where is this app. I've been trying to look it up in the CyanogenMod11 source code but I'm not a developer so I didn't manage to load the project to eclipse.
Actually I have 2 missing letters.
The first one is ׳ף׳ unicode U+05E3 (source: http://unicode-table.com/en/05E3/)
The second one is 'ץ' unicode U+05E5 (source: http://unicode-table.com/en/05E5/)
If you want I have the full hebrew charmap with unicodes: http://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/hebrew/
Thanks for trying! Hope you'll save us all!

drornohi said:
Sadly, it's not a layout problem.
I think that the keyboard doesn't take the characters from the .kcm file. The keyboard linked to another app that mapping the layout to a character map according to the current chosen language. i.e, when you press 'm', it links it to the app that checks which language is chosen, if english - it will type 'm', if hebrew it will type ׳צ׳ (a hebrew letter)
The problem is I don't know where is this app. I've been trying to look it up in the CyanogenMod11 source code but I'm not a developer so I didn't manage to load the project to eclipse.
Actually I have 2 missing letters.
The first one is ׳ף׳ unicode U+05E3 (source: http://unicode-table.com/en/05E3/)
The second one is 'ץ' unicode U+05E5 (source: http://unicode-table.com/en/05E5/)
If you want I have the full hebrew charmap with unicodes: http://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/hebrew/
Thanks for trying! Hope you'll save us all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm also no dev and never opened the CM11 project - wouldn't know where to start
By inspecting the CM11 build briefly I think I found where it loads language-specific layouts: cm-11-20150327-UNOFFICIAL-maserati.zip\system\priv-app\InputDevices.apk\res\raw\*.kcm - but there is 05E5 mapped to PERIOD ( . : ), are you sure you can't type it by period? Also regular period should be mapped to SLASH ( / ? ) according to keyboard_layout_hebrew.kcm.
I tried to set 05e3 as Alt+L. Try replacing your /system/priv-app/InputDevices.apk by attached file and use it in combination with some keylayout with Alt (ZavoDroid's maybe). Do a backup before - it's my first attempt on repacking a system apk so anything can go wrong
Edit: just realized I forgot to attach the APK. -_- Sorry, will do in several hours - it's almost 6 AM now so I need to catch some sleep, left laptop elsewhere.

...so here you are with the attachment
drornohi said:
Sadly, it's not a layout problem.
I think that the keyboard doesn't take the characters from the .kcm file. The keyboard linked to another app that mapping the layout to a character map according to the current chosen language. i.e, when you press 'm', it links it to the app that checks which language is chosen, if english - it will type 'm', if hebrew it will type ׳צ׳ (a hebrew letter)
The problem is I don't know where is this app. I've been trying to look it up in the CyanogenMod11 source code but I'm not a developer so I didn't manage to load the project to eclipse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what happens here is that as long as you have Settings - Languages & input - Physical keyboard - omap4-keypad set to default layout, /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm is used, but once you add any languages there, it uses language's kcm from /system/priv-app/InputDevices.apk for CM11, or /system/priv-app/InputDevices/InputDevices.apk for CM12.
Please let me know if the attached apk works (try signed first) installed or put into system directly - you should be able to type ף by pressing Alt+L (SYM+L with Zavo's custom kl - also attached).

LuH said:
Hey, I'm also no dev and never opened the CM11 project - wouldn't know where to start
By inspecting the CM11 build briefly I think I found where it loads language-specific layouts: cm-11-20150327-UNOFFICIAL-maserati.zip\system\priv-app\InputDevices.apk\res\raw\*.kcm - but there is 05E5 mapped to PERIOD ( . : ), are you sure you can't type it by period? Also regular period should be mapped to SLASH ( / ? ) according to keyboard_layout_hebrew.kcm.
I tried to set 05e3 as Alt+L. Try replacing your /system/priv-app/InputDevices.apk by attached file and use it in combination with some keylayout with Alt (ZavoDroid's maybe). Do a backup before - it's my first attempt on repacking a system apk so anything can go wrong
Edit: just realized I forgot to attach the APK. -_- Sorry, will do in several hours - it's almost 6 AM now so I need to catch some sleep, left laptop elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually your'e right. I forgot I have already found ׳ץ׳ letter (It's my GF's phone so It's not near me all the time). The other one is still missing though.
Thanks for finding the apk file. I'll try edit it myself and let you know (I'm trying with notepad because I read that you can't open apk with eclipse)
I want to make the 'Q' letter assigned to ׳ף׳ because now it assigned to '/' but I already have that.
---------- Post added at 02:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:36 PM ----------
LuH said:
...so here you are with the attachment
I think what happens here is that as long as you have Settings - Languages & input - Physical keyboard - omap4-keypad set to default layout, /system/usr/keychars/omap4-keypad.kcm is used, but once you add any languages there, it uses language's kcm from /system/priv-app/InputDevices.apk for CM11, or /system/priv-app/InputDevices/InputDevices.apk for CM12.
Please let me know if the attached apk works (try signed first) installed or put into system directly - you should be able to type ף by pressing Alt+L (SYM+L with Zavo's custom kl - also attached).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try it when I'll have the phone with me (it's my GF's)
How did you pack the apk again after unpacking it?
I want to change it to the 'Q' letter instead of Alt+L
I have some ideas to to improve the keyboard functioning with some keys.

drornohi said:
How did you pack the apk again after unpacking it?
I want to change it to the 'Q' letter instead of Alt+L
I have some ideas to to improve the keyboard functioning with some keys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Searched xda for instructions, in some general android development forum on xda found a rom & apk kitchen (intended for different device though, apk kitchen is universal) and used the apk kitchen for proper unpack and repack. I think it's needed, because InputDevices.apk is signed so the kcm's crc would not match if I just overwrote it in the apk directly.