Please review: Virtual keyboard plasmoid - Plasmaboard

[Aaron J. Seigo]

On Monday 03 August 2009, Björn Ruberg wrote:
> I use tabs, but used different code editors. Some tabs must have been
> turned into whitespaces :(

nasty editors always betraying us ;)

> > * the tab key, when pressed, just keeps pressing tab over and over :)
>
> hmm, that's wanted I think. The key is repeated when you keep it pressed.
> The key repeat rate is the same as you have it with your physical keyboard.

well, yes, as long as it's depressed ... but if i click-release, it should 
only tab once. if i click-hold it should keep tabbing. no?

> > * it'd be great if the keyboard modifier state was harmonized; e.g. if i
> > press CAPS LOCK on my keyboard, it would set this on the virtual keyboard
> > and vice versa. note that there is a "keystate" DataEngine that makes
> > this all very easy and cross-platform (it has serviceForSource() which
> > lets you modify the global state of modifiers)
>
> Should be doable with that engine. Did not thought that users may need
> that. If you use plasmaboard, you have a touchscreen. If you have
> touchscreen and type on plasmaboard, you don't want to use another keyboard
> at the same time.

the classic example are mobile devices like flip-phones or the N810. you have 
your on-screen keyboard until you flip open the hardware keyboard. it would be 
great to have the hardware keyboard appear in the same state as the software 
keyboard at that point. :)

> > * in FunkKey::toggleOn there is this:
> >
> > ·       Plasma::PushButton::setStyleSheet(oldStyle + "color:red;text-
> > align:center;"); // sorry, but I need some visual confirmation
> >
> > that color should really be coming out of the Plasma::Theme::colorScheme
> > so it works with all themes. in any case, i don't ever see the red color?
> > is it really needed?
>
> No, it's not. That's old code that was used before I drawed the arrows on
> the keys with QPainter.

ah, ok good :) then it can just be removed.

> > the upside to this is that we can just use what's already there and
> > follow the system layout settings
>
> Hehe, that's the nice thing about it. Plasmaboard automatically adapts to
> your keyboard layout! The main magic is done in the X-Server, so it's no
> wonder that you didn't see it.

ah, just drilled down some more into AlphaKey, and indeed there it is! very 
nice :)

> > what sort of popup are thinking of or wanting? if you can give me a
> > mockup or a screenshot, i'm sure we can make it happen ;)
>
> Basically I need a simple QGraphicswidget which can be displayed fast.
> (this will run on MIDs and Netvertibles, slow CPUs) It shall be plasma
> themed. It should appear near to the button you pressed, must be drawn
> above the keyboard, must be able to draw outside the sceneRect of the
> keyboard and must be shown above anything else on the desktop.
> Well, I didn't found a better solution than this missused tooltip I have
> now. (The delay before it opens is bad for my use case)

i *think* i know what you want, but i'm not 100% positive. could you do up a 
small mock-up? doesn't have to be pretty, just show exactly what you're 
wanting. 

what i'm thinking of based on your description is a simple Label with a solid 
background (rounded corners, though, of course ;) with the text in the middle 
of it; it would be a child of the keyboard, but hidden whenever a letter 
hasn't been pressed. when a letter is pressed, it can be shown and positioned 
manually into the right position (Corona::popupPosition might even be helpful 
there). children can move freely outside the scene rect of their parent. so 
this should be easy enough :)


> So (sorry, I don't know the way), can I move this into kdeplasma-addons and
> do the further development there - or do I have to go on in kdereview and
> ask again?

other than a few little things, it's ok as far as i can see. so i'm fine with 
it moving. however, it's supposed to spend at least a week in kdereview 
(preferably two) so others can have a chance to review it. there's no rush in 
this case (4.4 is a long ways out :) and you can continue to develop it in the 
meantime ... so let's say that if by next Monday there are no objections 
voiced you can move it into kdeplasma-addons :)

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

KDE core developer sponsored by Qt Software
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 197 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part.
Url : http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/plasma-devel/attachments/20090803/5ce8a1e0/attachment-0001.sig