Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
127 lines (86 loc) · 3.6 KB

readme.md

File metadata and controls

127 lines (86 loc) · 3.6 KB
Raw

KeyboardJS Library

Getting Started

Download the library and place it somewhere in your project. All methods are accessed via the KeyboardJS namespace.

Example Structure
/
/keyboard.js
/app.js
/index.html

load the script with a script tag.

Example index.html
<doctype html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>KeyboardJS Demo</title>
        <script src="jQuery.js"></script>
        <script src="keyboard.js"></script>
        <script src="app.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <!-- Markup goes here... -->
    </body>
</html>

What can I do with KeyboardJS?

KeyboardJS will allow you to bind to any key the browser can detect. It allows for setting up complex key combos or even single key binds with ease. It is aware of combo overlap and will not fire simpler combos or single key bindings when they share key with larger combos.

Basically if you want to use the keyboard, this will let you do it without restrictions.

Methods

KeyboardJS.bind.key

Usage
KeyboardJS.bind.key(keyCombo, onDownCallback, onUpCallback);

Binds any key or key combo. See 'keyCombo' definition below for details. The onDownCallback is fired once the key or key combo becomes active. The onUpCallback is fired when the combo no longer active (a single key is released).

Both the onUpCallback and the onUpCallback are passed three arguments. The first is the key event, the second is the keys pressed, and the third is the key combo string.

Returned

Returns an object containing the following methods.

  • clear - Removes the key or key combo binding.

KeyboardJS.bind.axis

Usage
KeyboardJS.bind.axis(upkeyCombo, downkeyCombo, leftkeyCombo, rightkeyCombo, callback);

Binds four keys or key combos as an up, down, left, right axis. See 'keyCombo' definition above for details. The callback is fired when any of the key combos are active. It is passed an axis object. See 'axis' definition below for more details.

Returned

Returns an object containing the following methods.

  • clear - Removes the axis binding.

KeyboardJS.activeKeys

Usage
KeyboardJS.activeKeys();

Returns an array of active keys by name.

KeyboardJS.unbind.key

Usage
KeyboardJS.unbind.key(keyCombo);

Removes all bindings with a key or key combo. See 'keyCombo' definition for more details.

Definitions

keyCombo

A comma separated string of keys. Combos can be created using the + sign instead of a comma.

examples
  • 'a' - binds to the 'a' key. Pressing 'a' will match this keyCombo.
  • 'a, b' - binds to the 'a' and 'b' keys. Pressing ether of these keys will match this keyCombo.
  • 'a + b' - binds to the 'a' and 'b' keys. Pressing both of these keys will match this keyCombo.
  • 'a + b, c + d' - binds to the 'a', 'b', 'c' and 'd' keys. Pressing ether the 'a' key and the 'b' key, or the 'c' and the 'd' key will match this keyCombo.

axis

An array containing two numbers. The first value represents x and the second represents y. These values are 1, 0, or -1.

example
[x, y]

Language Support

KeyboardJS is an amd module for binding to keyboards with the US character set. Adding other character sets is also possible by editing the key code map variable named 'keys' in the module.

Credits

I made this to enable better access to key controls in my appications. I'd like to share it with fellow devs. Feel free to fork this project and make your own changes.