Sticky Keys Double Tap Behaviour Options Explained

1

In Chrysalis 0.13.3 under Main Menu > Preferences > My Keyboard > Sticky keys > Double tap behaviour there are four options to choose from:

  • Lock in for all sticky keys
  • Lock in for layer keys only
  • Lock in for modifier keys only
  • Nothing

The help text reads: “Select what to do when a sticky key is double tapped in quick succession.” I could not find any further information. Could someone please explain what each option does in detail?

2
  • Lock in for all sticky keys
    • Any key marked sticky in the Modifiers menu in Chrysalis will be “locked” or be active until canceled (defaults to escape key pressed).
  • Lock in for layer keys only
    • Only lock layer keys when double tapped. If a key is mapped to a layer shift then double pressing it will lock that layer until canceled.
  • Lock in for modifier keys only
    • Modifier keys like shift, ctl, alt, etc are enabled until canceled if double pressed. This allows you to use double tapping a shift key to act similar to caps lock.
  • Nothing
    • Double tap doesn’t do anything.
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3

Thank you for the explanation. I have a follow-up question to clarify something. You wrote that the shift keys are modifier keys. And I agree. But are they not also layer keys? I mean they shift to another layer. But what is referred to as “layer keys” by Chrysalis/Kaleidoscope are probably only those keys that shift/move/lock to a different “Chrysalis/Kaleidoscope layer”, right? So if one were to press and hold a shift key, one would not change the layer of one’s keyboard by Chrysalis’s/Kaleidoscope’s definition, whereas in the context of a “normal”, traditional keyboard that has nothing to do with Chrysalis/Kaleidoscope, one might indeed say that the layer would change by pressing and holding a shift key. So there are two different definitions of what a layer is. Maybe this should be explicitly made clear in some help text in Chrysalis. Or have I misunderstood something?

4

You are correct in your understand that “layer keys” refer to changing the Chrysalis/Kaleidoscope layers. Shift keys are modifiers like ctrl, alt, etc and apply to the current “layer” In theory you could implement them as “layers” but functionally they are separate as they are sent to the system as an independent button press. Layers are never sent to the system.

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5

Thanks for making that clear. By “system” you mean the operating system of the computer the keyboard is plugged into, right?

6

Correct, or anything else that handles keyboard input.