eclipse-theia/theia

Use capslock as an additional modifier key

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#7653 opened on Apr 23, 2020

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enhancementhelp wantedkeybindings

Description

Feature Description:

I would like to use capslock as an additional modifier key.

In vscode I do this by making capslock an "additional hyper" (in the kde settings, I am on Linux). Then, I can bind meta+<key> to a command (so actually the windows key and capslock are then the same). This is my xmodmap output

shift       Shift_L (0x32),  Shift_R (0x3e)
lock      
control     Control_L (0x25),  Control_R (0x69)
mod1        Alt_L (0x40),  Meta_L (0xcd)
mod2        Num_Lock (0x4d)
mod3      
mod4        Hyper_L (0x42),  Super_L (0x85),  Super_R (0x86),  Super_L (0xce),  Hyper_L (0xcf)
mod5        ISO_Level3_Shift (0x5c),  Mode_switch (0xcb)

Not sure if possible to do this in the browser (I am using theia via gitpod).

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptnodejs
Domain
frontenddeveloper experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
TypeScriptTheia keybinding systemWeb keyboard events
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
30
Research direction
Investigate Theia's keybinding system in the packages/core and packages/browser directories. Look for how modifier keys are currently handled (e.g., in KeyboardLayoutService or keybindings context). Determine if CapsLock can be treated as a modifier by listening for keydown events and toggling a state. Note that browser support for CapsLock as a modifier is limited; consider checking the event.getModifierState('CapsLock') API. There is no linked PR or maintainer comment to guide implementation.