Add support for rebinding/remapping keys

[alfonsrv]

In Terminal on macOS Ctrl + d closes processes, while everything including the Meta key (aka Alt) is translated to a special character instead – making Alt + Enter not possible to use, hence making the zulip-terminal client a read-only client on macOS if the native Terminal configuration is not altered.

This could also help prevent tmux collisions by giving users the freedom to choose their key-bindings freely.

[neiljp]

This is actually possible by editing the keys.py file in the source distribution, though granted this is not straightforward or sustainable with upgrades. We have discussed the issue in the context of an appropriate key for sending messages previously, including in #294 . Do you have any thoughts given that discussion?

[alfonsrv]

Editing the keys.py file indeed does not seem sustainable over the long run. If you ask for my opinion, I think a seperate [keybindings] section within the config would be desirable.

We could either work with a prefix – such as tmux, e.g. C-z (^Z) (is not used by default for any application I know of) – and then s for send. I think that behavior while indeed having a steeper learning curve would be desirable as it would give way more flexibility instead of having to battle with previously existing shortcuts. Or we just work with static keyboard bindings, however I think the collisions are too likely given what terminal power users such as the one using zulip-terminal use on a regular basis.

As for a default shortcut for sending messages, I think C-Space (^@) could work?

[neiljp]

I agree that making keybindings configurable outside of the source is the long term solution, and we could reserve this issue for that.

Given the ongoing debate over #294, setting sending keys in particular seems like the priority for now, whether as a configuration option or resolving the problem in another way. I recommend we discuss this aspect in that issue, and also in #zulip-terminal. There are past topics in that stream on chat.zulip.org such as "Key for sending msg" and "Contributing & Send Message shortcut". Looking back in the history I'm wondering if we want to re-try using a modifier with enter.

Re MacOS I believe other known ZT users use alternative emulators due to issues with eg. color support, as per #662, which could be a workaround to the keyboard issue for you.

[sumanthvrao]

@alfonsrv A hack which makes Alt + Enter work for me with Mac OS was to toggle this setting under Terminal > preferences > Profiles > Keys from Meta to ESC+

Note: I use iTerm2 terminal emulator and not the default one.

[alfonsrv]

@sumanthvrao as mentioned initially, I do not want to adapt my native Terminal to a product; it should be the other way around. Thanks for the suggestion tho!

@neiljp well as mentioned regarding #294, ^z or ^l could be a god global alternative. regarding #662; colors work fine in native Terminal under tmux – automatically choosing dark theme even.

[neiljp]

@alfonsrv ctrl + L is a readline key (clear text) and also is known as a screen-redraw key in terminals. ctrl + Z is the suspend key which we don't support right now but could support in future, so I'm wary of using it for such a significant key as sending messages. Selecting a good 'standard' is not as easy as it appears!

[neiljp]

@alfonsrv We're currently discussing the keys on chat.zulip.org, but it does seem like the use of mac Terminal is currently limited by the keybindings it has chosen compared to other systems. ctrl <space> seemed reasonable but itself fails under iterm2 based on reports so far (closing the terminal!), and presumably platform-specific combinations with cmd on mac are unwise much like use of the windows keys on windows/linux systems (and cmd <space> reportedly is taken).

This is continuing off-topic, but do the colors look like the screenshot at https://github.com/zulip/zulip-terminal for you in Terminal/tmux? That's great if they do, but we had reports they didn't work in mac Terminal before I think (as per #662)

[alfonsrv]

I see. Well as previously suggested I think life would be much easier if shortcuts were prefixed or if keys were more accessibly rebindable using the .zuliprc config.

As for the theme – whenever I am in tmux it seems to default to the zt_dark theme, even though it is not specified in the configuration file. Sorry I had to blur most of it out, but I'm sure you get the idea https://imgur.com/ox6iRUU

alfons@NullX ~ % zulip-term
Loading with:
   theme 'zt_dark' specified with no config.
   autohide setting 'no_autohide' specified with no config.
Welcome to Zulip.
Loading -

[neiljp]

For the record, with #662 merged we've recorded the state of various emulators that we know so far.

[zulipbot]

Hello @zulip/server-hotkeys members, this issue was labeled with the "area: hotkeys" label, so you may want to check it out!