Glossary for Keyboard Author
B
BCP 47 language tag
A standardized code that is used to identify human languages on the Internet. More on BCP 47.
There are many possible subtags, but only three types are currently used in most places in Keyman Developer:
More information about BCP 47 language tag and full details on how they are used in Keyman Developer.
D
Deadkey (Or Dead Key, shorthand: dk)
A key that does not produce text output on its own but impacts the text produced by the next keystroke. For example, if the apostrophe key is defined as a dead key, then typing the apostrophe followed by e, could produce the output é.
In Keyman keyboard language, the deadkey statement is used for deadkeys, and is Keyman's implementation for supporting deadkeys.
See how to use deadkey()
E
Encoding
Encoding or Character encoding is the process of assigning numbers to graphical characters, especially the written characters of human language, allowing them to be stored, transmitted, and transformed using computers. The numerical values that make up a character encoding are known as code points.
F
File types
Keyman has the following file types:
- KPJ: a Keyman Developer Project file.
- KMN: a keyboard source file. This holds all the code used by a Keyman Desktop keyboard, in plain text.
- KMX: compiled in Keyman Developer from the Keyman source file (.KMN) and icon for the keyboard (.ICO/.BMP).
- KMP: a Keyman Package file for distributing keyboards or lexical models.
- KPS: a Keyman package source file.
- KVK: a Keyman On Screen Keyboard file.
- KVKS: a Keyman On Screen Keyboard source file.
- TSV: or a tab-separated values file contains a word list. This word list is used to predict and correct words using the predictive text functionality.
- MODEL.JS: compiled in Keyman Developer from the Keyman lexical model source (.MODEL.TS) file and (.TSV) wordlist.
- MODEL.TS: a lexical model definition source file.
- More File types.
File layout
Keyman Developer has a standard folders and files structure for Keyman keyboard projects.
Font
A font is a graphical representation of text that may include a different typeface, point size, weight, color, or design. If you've read or received a message via Keyman that is displayed as square boxes, the most likely cause is that your device does not support the language or script. This is how to properly include font(s) into the keyboard package, and how to fix square boxes related to font.
G
Gesture
A gesture is a finger motion like long press, flick, and multitap that can be used in Keyman.
K
Key Code (Or Virtual Key Code)
Keyman uses the same keycode across all operating system. More on Virtual Key Code.
Keyboard
Keyboard may mean:
- Physical Keyboard - the hardware keyboard used for text input with a computer.
- On-screen Keyboard - or OSK, a keyboard displayed graphically which represents the layout of the keys on the physical keyboard and what characters they will produce.
- Touch Keyboard - the keyboard displayed for text input on a mobile device with a touchscreen such as a smartphone or tablet.
- Keyman Keyboard - the keyboard is built using Keyman Developer and contains rules that determine what text to output for a given keystroke and context.
Keyman Keyboard
A software component that accepts incoming keystrokes and produces text output appropriate to a certain script. A Keyman Keyboard is built using Keyman Developer and contains rules that determine what text to output for a given keystroke and context. Keyboard may also mean:
- Physical Keyboard - the hardware keyboard used for text input with a computer.
- On-screen Keyboard - or OSK, a keyboard displayed graphically which represents the layout of the keys on the physical keyboard and what characters they will produce.
- Touch Keyboard - the keyboard displayed for text input on a mobile device with a touchscreen such as a smartphone or tablet.
Keyboard Layout
Any specific physical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys of a computer. In general every key on a keyboard can be identified by either its position on the keyboard or the character it would print out. In Keyman:
- A key can be referenced by its position on the US English Keyboard ( K_A, K_B, etc.). In this case a positional keyboard layout is used.
- A key can also be referenced by its output ( “A” , “B”, etc.). In this case a mnemonic keyboard layout is used.
Keyboard Repository
In the Keyman keyboards repository, keyboards are grouped into one of the three folders:
- release: keyboards with full source that pass our stringent quality checks, Unicode only, generally no PUA
- legacy: binary distributions of keyboards, migrated from Tavultesoft servers, Unicode and non-Unicode
- experimental: keyboards that have not yet passed the quality check, available from the 'experimental' category in Keyman apps with Keyman 10 and later. Unicode only, but PUA is acceptable.
Find out how to distribute your keyboard and work with Keyman Keyboard Repository.
L
Language Structure
The Keyman keyboard programming language is a language designed around transforming inputs to outputs, through rules rather than through static tables. Please refer to the overview of the Keyman language.
Lexical Model
A wordlist and a set of rules of how the word is interpreted. The way your keyboard knows how to suggest predictions and corrections for your language is through its lexical model. Visit the Lexical Model page.
M
Mnemonic Keyboard Layout store(&mnemoniclayout)
In a mnemonic keyboard layout, contrary to a positional keyboard layout, keys are identified by the character it prints out. For example, the key that prints out the character 'z':
- On a US English Keyboard, 'z' is printed out by pressing K_Z (labeled 'Z' : the leftmost character key on the bottom row)
- On a German Keyboard, 'z' is printed out by pressing K_Y (labeled 'Z' : a key somewhat in the middle of the first row)
- On a French Keyboard, 'z' is printed out by pressing K_W (labeled 'Z' : the second key to the left of the first row)
If we, for example, specified a Keyboard rule in Keyman Developer for a US layout (+ K_Z > 'z') and used that mnemonic layout with a German physical keyboard, then to print out 'z' the key K_Y (where the keycap is labeled 'Z') will have to be pressed.
This means when we specify a key in a mnemonic layout we talk about a key that produces a certain output (e.g. 'z') no matter where it is positioned at in different keyboard layouts.
Modifier Keys
Keys on a Computer Keyboard like Shift, Ctrl, Alt, AltGr, Option etc. Modifier Keys may be pressed simultaneously with certain other keys to activate predefined functions. They may also be used to produce different characters. For example, on a German keyboard pressing the Q-Key produces 'q', Shift + Q-Key produces 'Q' whereas AltGr + Q-Key produces '@'. More on Modifier Key.
P
Positional Keyboard Layout store(&mnemoniclayout)
In a positional keyboard layout, contrary to a mnemonic keyboard layout, keys are identified by the position on the keyboard. For example, the leftmost character key on the bottom row is always called K_Z:
- On a US English Keyboard, the key is called K_Z, the keycap is labeled 'Z' and it prints out 'z'
- On a German Keyboard, the key is called K_Z, the keycap is labeled 'Y' and it prints out 'y'
- On a French Keyboard the key is called K_Z, the keycap is labeled 'W' and it prints out 'w'
If we, for example, specified a Keyboard rule in Keyman Developer for a US layout (+ K_Z > 'z') and used that positional layout with a German physical keyboard, then to print out 'z' the key K_Z (where the keycap is labeled 'Y') will have to be pressed.
This means when we specify a key in a positional layout we talk about a certain position (e.g. K_Z) no matter what is written on a keycap for a specific keyboard layout.
Another way of identifying positional layouts is virtual keys.
W
Word list
A TSV file or tab-separated values file to store the words in your language for the Lexical Model. This is an example of a word list.
