Inputify

[❤x1]

Inputify

Hello!

I was screen sharing to teach a friend when I realized I used keyboard shortcuts without even noticing it.
Rather than working on my teaching skills, I decided to write a tool to alleviate the problem, and here it is : Inputify is a small program displaying your keyboard inputs on the screen.



It's built with the almighty new C backend and comes with a few options : mouse input, light and dark mode and scaling.



My PureBasic knowledge is rather limited, so there is probably much to optimize or clean up and, what a coincidence, it's open source and hosted on GitHub : https://github.com/LastLifeLeft/Inputify

I'll accept pull requests, bug reports and suggestions!

Oh, and a word of advice : don't forget Inputify on when you type a password while screen sharing. Not that I'd be clumsy enough to do that.

[Tenaja]

Thanks for sharing! That looks like a handy tool.

[NicTheQuick]

Is there a Linux version available?

[❤x1]

Is there a Linux version available?

I was waiting for the release of PB 6.00 for Mac and Linux to throw an eye on port, but it's rather API heavy and I can't guaranty anything.

[ChrisR]

It is very nice, thank you for sharing
It could be good with the keys written horizontally following the typing delay, as done for hotkeys like Ctrl+, Alt+...

[Kwai chang caine]

Very pro and nice work
Thanks for sharing

[BarryG]

I was going to For/Next all the key definitions, but noticed some have different offsets. If they were all the same offsets (like the numbers 0-9), then those definitions can be shrunken down to just a few lines like this:

Code: Select all

; Numbers
For c='0' To '9' ; 48 to 57
  VKeyData(c)\Text = Chr(c)
  VKeyData(c)\Width = 60
  VKeyData(c)\Offset = 32
Next

Compare that to your existing definitions for numbers:

Code: Select all

;{ Numbers ( 48 to 57)
VKeyData(48)\Text = "0"
VKeyData(48)\Width = 60
VKeyData(48)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(49)\Text = "1"
VKeyData(49)\Width = 60
VKeyData(49)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(50)\Text = "2"
VKeyData(50)\Width = 60
VKeyData(50)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(51)\Text = "3"
VKeyData(51)\Width = 60
VKeyData(51)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(52)\Text = "4"
VKeyData(52)\Width = 60
VKeyData(52)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(53)\Text = "5"
VKeyData(53)\Width = 60
VKeyData(53)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(54)\Text = "6"
VKeyData(54)\Width = 60
VKeyData(54)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(55)\Text = "7"
VKeyData(55)\Width = 60
VKeyData(55)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(56)\Text = "8"
VKeyData(56)\Width = 60
VKeyData(56)\Offset = 32
VKeyData(57)\Text = "9"
VKeyData(57)\Width = 60
VKeyData(57)\Offset = 32
;}

[❤x1]

those definitions can be shrunken down to just a few lines

All those definitions got generated automatically, so I did not even read them... And damn! Applied wherever it was possible, that's about 150 lines saved!
Many thanks.

[BarryG]

No problem; glad I could help. Not sure if you're aware that wrapping a single character in apostrophes will make PureBasic convert that character to its Asc() code at compile time? It makes your source more readable, like the below, and you also don't need to remember the Asc() numbers for the loop.

Both lines do exactly the same thing when compiled, but the "Better" way makes it more obvious with no comments needed.

Original: For n = 48 To 57
Better: For n = '0' To '9'

Original: For l = 65 To 90
Better: For l = 'A' To 'Z'

[❤x1]

Not sure if you're aware that wrapping a single character in apostrophes will make PureBasic convert that character to its Asc() code at compile time?

I definitively didn't know that. Thanks again!

It could be good with the keys written horizontally following the typing delay, as done for hotkeys like Ctrl+, Alt+...

I gave it a try, and it adds some readability issues : we need more space between each input window to get a clear separation, and more movement doesn't help either. So, I won't implement it, sorry.

[ChrisR]

I gave it a try, and it adds some readability issues : we need more space between each input window to get a clear separation, and more movement doesn't help either. So, I won't implement it, sorry.

It was just a suggestion, it's beautiful the way it is, especially if you've already tried it.
It can be helpful, to show the shortcuts used CtrL+C, Ctrl+V,... when connecting to remote computers, training, demo,...

[Sicro]

Thanks for the very useful tool!

hosted on GitHub

Yeah, very nice!

Yes, Linux version would be very good. When I have enough time, I will try if it works with Wine under Linux, but a native Linux version would of course be better. Maybe helpers can be found.

[Mr.L]

Hi, ❤x1!
Inputify looks very nice, thanks for sharing!

[OgreVorbis]

What are you using for the UI? If I saw that, I would have guessed it was an embedded web app.
Are those just image gadgets that toggle or are they animated controls?

[❤x1]

Are those just image gadgets that toggle or are they animated controls?

Plain and simple vector drawn canvas, sorry.
I thought of using a webview, but the one available within PB seems ancient (gave me a lot of js error) and importing a modern one was way out of scope for such a small project.