keyboard-tables

Keyboard module

JavaScript module that provides PC scancode sequence generation for US and international keyboards given a Unicode input string.

Supports all modifier keys Shift, Ctrl, Alt and AltGr, as well as dead key mechanics.

The underlying mapping data in keyboard_tables.js is converted from a user-defined set of .KLC files. A .KLC file is the Unicode-encoded output of Microsoft's Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC). KLC files for over 200 different keyboard layouts can be downloaded from https://kbdlayout.info/.

See https://chschnell.github.io/v86-i18n/keyboard-tables for an interactive visualisation of keyboard_tables.js.

Generating keyboard_tables.js

Python script import_kbd.py generates keyboard_tables.js from a set of automatically downloaded .KLC files defined in source_urls.json.

Usage

$ python import_kbd.py -h
usage: import_kbd [-h] [-i FILE] [-o FILE]

Generates Unicode to keyboard scancode mappings.

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  -i FILE     input file name, default: source_urls.json
  -o FILE     output file name, default: keyboard_tables.js

Using keyboard_tables.js

Copy Javascript modules keyboard_tables.js and keyboard_lib.js into your project, then use module keyboard_lib.js to access the keyboard mappings.

Example usage:

<script type="module">

// import functions from module keyboard_lib.js (which imports keyboard_tables.js)
import * as kbd from './keyboard_lib.js';

// retrieve available keyboards
for(const [kbd_id, kbd_description] of Object.entries(kbd.get_available_keyboards()))
{
    // ...
}

const emulator = new V86({ ... });

// paste current clipboard content into V86
navigator.clipboard.readText().then((text) => {
    if(text.length) {
        // use keyboard with kbd_id "kbdgr" (German Keyboard Layout)
        const scancodes = kbd.text_to_scancodes("kbdgr", text);
        kbd.paste_scancodes(emulator, scancodes);
    }
});

// paste Ctrl+Alt+Del into V86 (non-printable keys, identical across all keyboard layouts)
// use key names from KeyboardEvent.code to identify both printable and non-printable keys
const scancodes = kbd.ev_codes_to_scancodes(["ControlLeft", "AltLeft", "Delete"]);
kbd.paste_scancodes(emulator, scancodes);

</script>

See also

• KeyboardEvent code Values: Standard "102" Keyboard Layout
• German layout scancodes
• German KLC file
• Computer-Engineering.org (Adam Chapweske)
• Italian keyboard (Wikipedia, note the remark on ASCII characters tilde ~ and backquote `)