happens

A keyboard layout switcher. Just highlight the text and press a preconfigured hotkey to switch the layout.

Installation

1. Install xdotool:

sudo apt install xdotool

2. Grab the binary from releases and put it in any folder that is visible in $PATH.

Note:

If there is no pre-built binary for your platform, you may build it yourself from source like this (Rust tooling is required):

git clone https://github.com/v-spassky/happens.git

cd happens

cargo build --release

cp target/release/happens ~/.local/bin/

chmod u+x ~/.local/bin/happens

3. Bind the binary to a hotkey in your desktop environment.

You may set up the binding in two distinct modes:

Using one of the precompiled tables:

happens --table [ru-to-eng | eng-to-ru]

Example:

happens --table ru-to-eng

With such configuration, the program will work like this:

Using your own custom table:

happens --from-file /<...>/table.txt

In this case, the table.txt file should be formatted as follows:

<key1_before>: <key1_after>
<key2_before>: <key2_after>
...
<keyN_before>: <keyN_after>

Example:

a: R
s: R
d: R
f: R
g: R

With the configuration above using the custom table shown above, the program will work like this:

Development notes

To set up the program up and running, first set up a hotkey binding to call such command:

happens --from-file /<...>/happens/samples/custom_table.txt --logfile-name /<...>/happens/logs.txt

Alternatively, if you want to use the a precompiled table:

happens --table [ru-to-eng | eng-to-ru] --logfile-name /<...>/happens/logs.txt

Then, copy the binary from project folder to a folder, visible in $PATH and make it executable:

cargo build

cp target/debug/happens ~/.local/bin/

chmod u+x ~/.local/bin/happens

Or, as a shortcut:

cargo build && cp target/debug/happens ~/.local/bin/ && chmod u+x ~/.local/bin/happens

It is also possible to run the program via a terminal like this:

cargo run -- --from-file /<...>/happens/samples/custom_table.txt