Virtual keys only work as last item on match side?

Keyman Keyman How To
1

Have they always worked this way?

I just noticed this morning if I use a virtual key code then + then another keystroke, the rule does not work. Isn’t it supposed to?

In my test, the first rule works, the second one does not. Is this new?

'`' + [K_BKQUOTE] > 'backtick backtick' 
[K_BKQUOTE] + 'a' > 'backtick a'

I have Keyman and Keyman Developer 15.0.274.

2

The 2nd rule can’t fire because you’ve already converted [K_BKQUOTE] into something else in the first rule.

3

The second rule will not work even if the first one is removed.

4

On the left side of the rule, the items to the left of the + are characters, whereas the item to the right of + is a keystroke, which can be expressed either as [K_XXXX] or a character which is interpreted as a key code.

5

Oh, right. The left side of the + is context and the right side is the keystroke.

6

Yes, I can see that in the manual now that I know to look for it.

**

Virtual keys are used in the key section of a rule. Virtual keys are not valid in the context of a rule, as the context consists solely of characters.

**

7

See also bug report: bug: Keyman Developer does not flag virtual keycodes in context string as an error · Issue #7880 · keymanapp/keyman · GitHub

8

And yes, @lorna is correct. rule is made up of three parts:

context + keystroke > output

The context consists of characters already in the document, so a keystroke makes no logical sense in that part of the rule. (Note, while the idea of emitting a keystroke to the active application is not illogical, we don’t support that either :slight_smile:)