Can I have a Cyrillic layer?

[veyxov]

As a solution I'm using а "qwerty" layer + XKB for changing the layout to Cyrillic, which is not optimal. Would be great if I can configure the Cyrillic layout in kanata. The XKB configuration is a little bit non-intuitive.
Can I have a Cyrillic using the Unicode codes?

[veyxov]

I read about deflocalkeys

(deflocalkeys-linux
 ч 32
)

(deflayer main
  ч
)

When I press the key, it sends d. The code 32 is d.
I don't want to alias ч, but send ч on d press.

Is this possible? Thanks

[veyxov]

Tried the unicode feature. It has two flaws:

• Doesn't work on all applications (wayland, linux)
• Doesn't send the key right away, types the code, when the sequence ends, backspaces and types the actual unicode character.

[rszyma]

Just a thought, I don't know if what I'm going to suggest is possible:
You could try mapping higher (unused) keycodes (like 600) in english XKB layout to the Cyrylic unicode characters. After you map Cyrillic_che to code 600 in XKB, (in theory) you have could then define (deflocalkeys-linux ч 600) in kanata and have ч actually output ч.

After this is done and works, you would need to set the xkb keymap to the "english with Cyrylic at higher codes". This way when running kanata you would have d key on d in defsrc, and ч defined by (deflocalkeys-linux ч 600)

[veyxov]

I already have a working XKB configuration for Cryllic:

...
    key <AC03> { [     Cyrillic_che,     Cyrillic_CHE, Cyrillic_che_descender,     Cyrillic_CHE_descender                                   ] };
...

I want to know if it's possible to send unicode characters (without the C-S-U sequence) from kanata.
Like:

(deflayer а б в ...)

without relying on XKB

Thank you for your response.

[rszyma]

I've updated my comment to make it more clear, please take a look at it again.

[rszyma]

Another solution: define custom Compose Keys in XKB and to use them in kanata with macro actions. It will 100% work in X11, and most likely in wayland too, depending on the compositor you use. I managed to make it work with wayland Hyprland compositor. Steps:

1. Create ~/.XCompose file with the following content:

# ~/.XCompose
<Multi_key> <q> <a> : "а"
<Multi_key> <q> <b> : "б"
<Multi_key> <q> <c> : "в"
# ... and so on

You might need to relogin for XKB to load the file. Also there might be a setting in the wayland compositor you use to enable XCompose files. In Hyprland they are enable out-of-the box.

2. Set compose key in your wayland compositor settings. You didn't tell us what copositor you use, so I can't help with this step. For my tests I've set it to Right Control.

3. Use this kanata config:

(defsrc caps a b c)
(deflayer english @cr a b c)
(deflayer cyrylic XX @ч @б @в)
(defalias
    cr (layer-while-held cyrylic)
    compose-key rctl ;; change this accordingly to the compose-key you've set
    ч (macro @compose-key q a)
    б (macro @compose-key q b)
    в (macro @compose-key q c)
    ;; repeat for every cyrylic key
)

Edit: Unfortunately it appears that it uses the same underlying mechanism as unicode or C-S-u and has the same downsides.

[veyxov]

Thank you very much. Using XKB works for now, looking forward to further updates and features.