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Keyboard Layouts For Circuitpython

The goal of this repository is to contain a list of keyboard layouts for use with the Circuitpython adafruit_hid library, that can be used as a reference for international keyboards and can be distributed as a "bundle" in the style of the Adafruit bundle.

It can be used with circup for easy installation.

circup bundle-add Neradoc/Circuitpython_Keyboard_Layouts
circup install keyboard_layout_win_fr keycode_win_fr

There's a couple of project-specific guides:

Install your language

To install both the layout and keycode files for your language, you need to copy 2 files to your board. Pick the language and platforms that match yours. Use the .py version, or the .mpy version matching your version of Circuitpython. The mpy files take less space and are better suited for Circuitpython boards with less than 1MB of drive.

  • keyboard_layout_win_fr.mpy (pick your platform/language)
  • keycode_win_fr.mpy (pick your platform/language)

The files go directly in the directory called "lib" on the board.

CIRCUITPY drive screenshot

Don't forget to also install the adafruit_hid library in the lib directory.

Use the libraries

Layouts

Layouts require the latest version of the adafruit_hid library (at least 5.x.x).

For the plaform platform (win, mac) and the layout language lang. The module keyboard_layout_platform_lang has a class called KeyboardLayout. It contains the layout information for use with the Keyboard to type text.

import usb_hid
from adafruit_hid.keyboard import Keyboard
from keyboard_layout_win_fr import KeyboardLayout
keyboard = Keyboard(usb_hid.devices)
layout = KeyboardLayout(keyboard)
layout.write("Bonjour le monde")

Switching layouts on start can be done by conditionally importing a different layout module, or renaming the imported layout class like this for example:

from keyboard_layout_win_fr import KeyboardLayout as LayoutFR
from keyboard_layout_win_de import KeyboardLayout as LayoutDE

Keycodes

keycode_<platform>_<lang> modules are an attempt to make it easier to swap layouts. While keycode numbers are really physical positions on a keyboard, HID Keycodes normally reference the US keyboard for key names. These localized keycodes offer a level of conversion allowing to use Keycode.A across azerty and qwerty keyboards for example. It won't swap control and command to match the platform however. (A helper module could do that).

if IS_AZERTY:
	from keycode_mac_fr import Keycode
else:
	from adafruit_hid.keycode import Keycode

kbd.send(Keycode.COMMAND, Keycode.A)

Helpers

The consumer_control_extended module brings a big list of names for the consumer controls page in the HID specs, to be used with adafruit_hid.consumer_control.

The Layout Generator

This needs to be further documentend, but for now tests/make_validated.sh shows an example of how to use it. There is a live version of the web generator, though it might not always be the current release.

https://www.neradoc.me/layouts/