qmk/qmk_firmware

Sequencer keycodes are not static

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#11,156 opened on Dec 8, 2020

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Description

The recent addition of the step sequencer feature in https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/pull/9703 has introduced a small roadblock in refactoring the Quantum keycode values to be static (ie. removing all the ifdefs in such a way as to not break VIA). The SQ_S(), SQ_R() and SQ_T() keycodes depend on the values of SEQUENCER_STEPS, SEQUENCER_RESOLUTIONS and SEQUENCER_TRACKS which can be configured by the user. As such, it is not possible to know exactly what value SEQUENCER_STEP_MAX will be, and thus impossible for VIA to support these keycodes. Worse, any new features which add keycodes will be unable to be supported by VIA either, as their values can also not be known.

As it turns out, VIA has already been broken by https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/pull/9940 inserting a new MIDI velocity keycode - although MIDI is not supported by VIA, some of the keycodes are still counted in the enum even if the feature is disabled, and so everything after it is now offset by one. Maybe we should take this opportunity to at least get this ifdef removal done.

@rbelouin would it be possible to refactor the sequencer feature in some way to fix this?

Contributor guide

Tech stack
c
Domain
developer experience
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
3-5 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
needs maintainer response
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
C programmingQMK firmware internalskeycode enums
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
15
Research direction
Investigate the sequencer keycodes SQ S(), SQ R(), SQ T() and how they depend on SEQUENCER STEPS, SEQUENCER RESOLUTIONS, and SEQUENCER TRACKS. Review PR #9703 and #9940 to understand the current state and the MIDI keycode insertion issue. Propose a method to make these keycodes static, possibly by separating the enum definition from the configuration or using a dynamic mapping that VIA can interpret.