252 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
252 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
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# SlotThe's Keyboardio Atreus Keymap
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Note: the following is (a relevant and shortened) excerpt from [this
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rewiev](https://tony-zorman.com/posts/atreus-review.html) of the
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keyboard itself. See there for, e.g., some thoughts about modifier
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placement.
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## Base layer
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.------.
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| Q | W | F | P | B | | J | L | U | Y | M4+; |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.------.
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| A | R | S | T | G | | M | N | E | I | O |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.------.
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| S+Z | X | C | D | V | ARP | REP | K | H | , | . | S+/ |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.------.
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| ESC | TAB | M4 | L1 | SPC | A[] | BSC | C() | L2 | - | ' | RET |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.------.
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I use [Colemak Mod-DH][colemak-dh] as my layout, so this takes up most of the base of the keyboard.
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Perhaps strikingly, I opted for not putting Shift on the thumb,
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but recreating the "ordinary" one-on-each-side setup from the good old typewriter days.
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While I already have a key to access the `LOWER` (L1) layer with my left thumb,
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I had to sacrifice Shift so I could fit a key to the `RAISE` (L2) layer on the right thumb.
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This also jumps to the `ADJUST` (L3) layer when both `LOWER` and `RAISE` are held at the same time.
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I will gladly trade two layers for one Shift key.
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One of the most basic things—besides having layers—that one can do with QMK is [mod-taps][qmk:mod-tap].
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These are keys that act as modifiers when held, and as "ordinary" keys when pressed.
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For example, all of the `S+«key»` keys emit Shift when held and `«key»` when pressed.
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There is a slight delay between pressing the key and the press registering,
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since we have to wait for a possible tap,
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which keeps me from using modifiers on the home-row, as some people like to do.
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Likewise, the `M4+;` key acts as Super when held and as `;` when pressed.
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At this point, it is actually my main way to press the Super key,
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even though I don't find the real `M4` key particularly hard to hit with my thumb.
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Sometimes these things just happen,
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I suppose,
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though it may help that I press both outer keys of the top row (that is, `q` and `;`) with my ring finger
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instead of my pinky.
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The `A[]` and `C()` keys are utilising [tap dances][qmk:tap-dance],
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in order to do even more.
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Tap dances are very similar to mod-taps,
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only in addition to just differentiating between a "pressed" and a "held" state,
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QMK now also keeps track of *how often* a key has been tapped.
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So far, [my setup][qmk:slotthe:tapdances] here is quite basic;
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I only check whether a key was pressed once, twice, or is being held.
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This allows me to not need extra keys for parentheses,
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as they can fit on the modifier keys:
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- `A[]`: Alt when held, `[` when pressed once, and `]` when pressed twice.
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This one is especially neat, since tap dances play well with other modifiers,
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so pressing `S-M1` once will result in `{` and pressing it twice gives `}`.
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- `C()`: Control when held, `(` when pressed once, and `)` when pressed twice.
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I don't mind having the extra indirection for the respective closed delimiter,
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as [paredit][emacs:paredit],
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[puni][emacs:puni],
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`electric-pair-mode`,
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or a different package of choice usually takes care of inserting it.
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The `REP` and `AREP` keys make use of the [Repeat Key][qmk:repeat-key] functionality;
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basically, `REP` executes the key chord that was last pressed.
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On the other hand,
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`AREP` is an alternative, configurable, of "repeating" things;
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by default, it turns some directional movements
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around—e.g., `M-f` becomes `M-b`—but
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it can be made to pretty much input anything one wants.
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## Layer 1
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-------.
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| & | *> | >>= | <&> | | | = | + | * | - | M4+RT |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-------.
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| :: | => | =<< | <|> | @ | | LFT | UP | DWN | RGT | \ |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-------.
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| S+! | <* | <*> | <$> | <- | | MEN | -> | $ | # | % | S+^ |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-------.
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| | | | | | | | | L3 | ALT | | S-Ins |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-------.
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Guess which programming language I like based on this layer's [macros][qmk:macros] :).
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Crucially, keys that were "Shift when held,
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*something* when pressed" on the base layer retain the Shift part of that functionality.
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This is used for the commutativity of the modifier
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keys—i.e., it does not matter whether I press `S-L1-«key»` or `L1-S-«key»`—which
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would otherwise drive me insane.
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The same goes for all fall-through keys:
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keys that appear blank in the above layout.
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These aren't blocked or anything,
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just no new functionality is added
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so the key falls back to what's on the next lowest layer.
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In plain terms,
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the key to the left of `L3` will still be Control,
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as I can comfortably press that while holding down something with my left hand.
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The same can't be said for the Alt key,
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which is on the left hand by default,
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so a separate binding for it has to be created on the right hand.
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Thus,
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as the two don't commute,
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key chords involving the LOWER layer and Alt are to be avoided if possible.
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The `S-Ins` key is not some sort of tap,
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but actually just emits a Shift-Insert,
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which can be used to paste stuff from the [X11 primary selection][x11:clipboard].
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## Layer 2
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| | 7 | 8 | 9 | | | | + | * | - | |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| : | 4 | 5 | 6 | = | | | ` | _ | ' | " |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| S+0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | # | % | S+^ |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| | | | L3 | | | | | | | | |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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A relatively unspectacular layer,
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RAISE is mainly used for numbers,
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and number adjacent things.
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Some symbols related to this,
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like `=`, `+`, `*`, and `-`,
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are replicated from the LOWER layer.
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This is due to the above mentioned issues of inserting arithmetic.
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This layer also features \` and `'` quite prominently,
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as these are important for [CDLaTeX].
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Plus, putting `'` and `"` on this layer circumvents the difficult to hit key on the base layer.
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## Layer 3
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| | | | | | | | F7 | F8 | F9 | F10 |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----. .-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| | | | | | | | F4 | F5 | F6 | F11 |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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| | | | | | | | | F1 | F2 | F3 | F12 |
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.-----.
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So far, only the seldom used F-keys are present here.
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As should be obvious, this is the least developed layer,
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and also the one that'll probably change the most in the future.
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Currently, I'm thinking of putting some XMonad specific bindings on here,
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which could even to free up the Super key to be used inside of Emacs
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for certain things—that would certainly be a worthwhile experiment.
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Other thoughts include things like volume and brightness controls,
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although this is less critical since my laptop keyboard is never far away.
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## Other features
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There are some features that aren't necessarily reflected in the keys themselves,
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yet are quite essential for day-to-day use.
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The TL;DR can be found in [rules.mk][./rules.mk].
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### [Key overrides][qmk:key-overrides]
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Quoting from the documentation
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> Key overrides allow you to override modifier-key combinations to send a different modifier-key combination
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> or perform completely custom actions.
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Some keys on the keyboard are quite hard to hit.
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On the default layout,
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one of these turns out to be the Tab key,
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which is nonetheless important in a lot of situations.
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Conveniently, Emacs interprets `C-i` as Tab, so there is less need to actually hit the "real" key.
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However, not all programs are quite so understanding—or old, I guess.
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With key overrides, one can send a real `TAB` whenever `C-i` is pressed;
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no special convention on how to interpret certain key chords required!
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I also rebound `C-m` to `RET` (with the same justification), and `S-BSP` to `DEL`.
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This is one of those features that I didn't know I needed,
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yet now couldn't live without anymore.
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I'm definitely looking forward to discovering new and interesting ways of using this!
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### [Autocorrect][qmk:autocorrect]
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This is a quaint little feature: auto-correct inside of your keyboard's firmware!
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I promise that it's not as bad as it sounds.
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It does not work automatically, thankfully, but is based off a given list of replacements.
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For example,
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widht -> width
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would fire anytime one writes `widht`, which then gets replaced by `width`.
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This is based on (a trie of) the most recently pressed keys,
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so whenever one actually wants to write `widht`
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all that's needed is pressing, for example, any modifier during the insertion.
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As I've really just been trying this out for a laugh, my current word list is quite short:
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:alot -> a lot
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accesories -> accessories
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accomodate -> accommodate
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alledge -> allege
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In general,
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I think the solution to stop misspelling a word is not to remap key sequences on the firmware level,
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but to—you know—learn how to spell that word.
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Still,
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I can imagine at least one or two use-cases where something like this could be useful,
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so I figured it might be nice to make people aware of this features' existence.
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In addition—as I've found out on three separate occasions so far—using the words "auto-correct, but in firmware"
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makes people stare in utter disbelief and/or disgust at your keyboard.
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That alone makes this feature worth it.
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### [Caps Word][qmk:caps-word]
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Caps Word is a clever alternative to Caps Lock,
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which I enable by pressing both Shift keys together.
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After that,
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all of the letter keys are shifted,
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and `-` becomes `_`
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until a different key (excluding common sense ones like backspace) is pressed.
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This is very useful for, e.g.,
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writing long constants,
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as these tend to have capital names separated with underscores:
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writing `BOTH_SHIFTS_TURNS_ON_CAPS_WORD` has never been easier!
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One thing to note is that,
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while layer switching works just fine in "Caps Word mode",
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the [Tri Layer][qmk:tri-layer] feature does not seem to play nicely with it;
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i.e., the mode gets disabled when switching to these layers.
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This is also the reason why I have an explicit LOWER, RAISE, and ADJUST setup,
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instead of just using Tri Layer.
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One could fiddle with the `caps_word_press_user` callback,
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but it seemed much easier to just create one additional layer toggle instead.
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I haven't looked at how hard it would be to hack this into Caps Word,
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so maybe this is a future pull request.
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[CDLaTeX]: https://github.com/cdominik/cdlatex
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[colemak-dh]: https://colemakmods.github.io/mod-dh/
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[emacs:paredit]: https://paredit.org/
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[emacs:puni]: https://github.com/AmaiKinono/puni
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[qmk:autocorrect]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_autocorrect
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[qmk:caps-word]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_caps_word
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[qmk:key-overrides]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_key_overrides
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[qmk:macros]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_macros
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[qmk:mod-tap]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/mod_tap
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[qmk:repeat-key]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_repeat_key
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[qmk:slotthe:tapdances]: https://github.com/slotThe/qmk_firmware/blob/keyboardio/atreus/slotThe/keyboards/keyboardio/atreus/keymaps/slotThe/keymap.c#L187
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[qmk:tap-dance]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_tap_dance
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[qmk:tri-layer]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_tri_layer
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[x11:clipboard]: https://www.uninformativ.de/blog/postings/2017-04-02/0/POSTING-en.html
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