Keyman 17.0 Beta Release

Keyman
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Apologies Keyman Pre-release Versions is the download link, Darcy has edited the post!

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Hi, I installed KMC as an NPM package on both Windows and Linux computers using the following command:

npm install -g @keymanapp/kmc@beta

Then I successfully built my keyboard using the following commands:

  • In Windows Terminal - kmc.cmd build ./path-to-my-keyboard

  • In Linux Terminal - kmc build ./path-to-my-keyboard

  1. Can we avoid adding .cmd as a suffix to kmc.cmd for usage in Windows? If possible, it will be identical in Linux and Windows.

  2. Is the zip download of the KMC beta release available using the method mentioned at: keyman/developer/src/kmc at beta · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub ?
    curl -L https://keyman.com/go/download/kmcomp -o kmc.zip

  3. Does the repository - https://github.com/keyman-keyboards/khmer_angkor exist? Or is it private? Because it is mentioned in the documentation at keyman/developer/src/kmc at beta · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub

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Thanks for the feedback @Ramesh_Kunnappully!

  1. Yes, .cmd extension is optional in Windows
  2. No that link is for stable releases. You can use https://keyman.com/go/download/kmcomp?tier=beta to get the beta version, or https://keyman.com/go/download/kmcomp?tier=beta&version=17.0.279 for a specific release in beta. (We will try and add a https://keyman.com/go/download/kmc shortlink as well at some point but the kmcomp link will continue to work into the future.)
  3. See chore: establish https://github.com/keyman-keyboards/khmer_angkor · Issue #10832 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub This is scheduled to be completed during the beta cycle. We have some infrastructure work we need to complete in order to make this single-keyboard-repository model viable.
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Thanks for the reply, @Marc

I understand that the kmc command without the .cmd extension did not work in Windows Terminal (PowerShell) due to the default ExecutionPolicy being set as Restricted.

I ran the PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass command in Windows Terminal, and then I was able to run the kmc command successfully.

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Great, thanks for the update @Ramesh_Kunnappully – that makes sense.

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Thanks for all the hard work. Having been under a rock for the last few months, I now am hunting around to see if you’ve been able to make any progress on the iOS/Android text selection behaviour referenced here: iOS and Android - Undesirable behaviour with selected text I’ll try it and see.

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@rowbory, We’ve made some progress on a bunch of related issues, but I don’t think we’ve actually fixed any of the three specific issues listed in that topic, sadly:

I’ll ping the team on #7865 and #7866 and see what we can do – even if it’s a partial mitigation. I don’t like letting usability issues like these linger.

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@rowbury, we’ve got a proposed fix now for #7866, which I think was the most icky bug.

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FEEDBACK 1: REDUCE DOUBLE-TAP DELAY
Double-tap the shift key to switch to caps layer.

If you double-tap as fast as you do on other keyboards, it will not switch the layer, instead it will go back to the previous layer. But if you tap and wait for about one second and tap again, it will switch to caps. Too slow.

Spec:
Android 12, Tecno Pop 7
Keyman for Android 17.296

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and @rowbory hurrah, finally, the fix for the selection clearing is in, with fix(web): prevent layer switch key from erasing selection by mcdurdin · Pull Request #11032 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub, in the next beta build! And sorry for misspelling your handle in my last post…

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@katelem, I’m not entirely clear on your description. Are you saying you want the maximum delay for double-tap to be shorter, or something else? Can you clarify for me?

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Double-tapping on shift to switch to caps layer is not working. But if you tap and wait then tap again, it will switch the layer. I think the length of time between the double-tap should be reduced in this new version. Double-tap was working well in KM 16, but it’s not working fine now.

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Can you let me know which keyboard and the version of the keyboard? I am not seeing the behaviour you describe on sil_euro_latin 3.0.1 on my Keyman 17.0.292 beta on Android.

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I’m using 17.296 which I downloaded yesterday before giving this feedback. This issue affects sil-eurolatin 3.0.1 also. I wanted to share a screen recording but this site says the format is not authorised.

Screenshot_20240329-081158
Screenshot_20240329-081158720×1611 121 KB

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Perhaps you could open an issue on GitHub with the video? New Issue · keymanapp/keyman

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There’s a considerable chance this is related to bug(android): Keyboard Stuck and Displaying Error Message While Rapidly Typing on Text Input Screen · Issue #10592 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub and/or bug(android): typing rapidly can lead to stuck keys · Issue #10646 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub.

We’ve got a fix (capped off by fix(web): proper linkage of sources to events 🪠 by jahorton · Pull Request #10960 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub) prepared for these issues that still needs a bit of internal testing first. We can’t guarantee it’s the fix without further examination and a successful reproduction of what you see on our end, though.

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@joshua_horton I’ve noticed on my own end the first two issues you cited. Key pop-ups getting stuck and blocking the way to other keys or remaining blue as if it’s active. I didn’t report since it was an alpha version.

I wish you and the entire Keyman team good luck in fixing these issues. More grace.

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@Marc It seems this double-tap delay issue has been resolved in 17.0.303. If otherwise, I will let you know.

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A day or two ago we pushed fixes for the bugs I mentioned. There’s still some pending optimization work, but the stuck-keys problems and such should be fixed on our most recent beta builds now. Please let us know if you continue to see such errors!

Joshua H.

1 Like
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If you select text, and double-tap (with the intention of switching to CAPS LOCK layer) the selected text gets deleted. Switching to other layers (default, shift, alt, num) does not delete the selected text.

Please note that I’m very happy with this fix. It’s a great relief. Just extend the fix to CAPSLOCK layer.

Spec:
Android 12, Tecno POP 7
Keyman 17.304 & 17.308
Obolo Chwerty 1.5 & SIL EuroLatin 3.0.1

1 Like