Support colemak keyboard layout

[ar1a]

Planning on trying out new layouts soon, figured maybe we should have a support module.

Might be based off https://github.com/wbolster/evil-colemak-basics ?

[JonathanReeve]

A big +1 for this. There is also the way Spacemacs does it.

[HaoZeke]

I've been using colemak for a year without needing any changes to the bindings, but I guess these might be better?

[JonathanReeve]

The Spacemacs method is just to swap out the keybindings hjkl for hnei. That way, you maintain the directional keys on the home row, like vim does.

[JonathanReeve]

FWIW, this is what's preventing me from switching to Doom from Spacemacs.

[wis]

I remap n e i o to h j k l, o+O to l+L, i+I to t+T and n+N to f+F

$ touch ~/.doom.d/bindings.el

(setq doom-leader-key ","
      doom-leader-alt-key ",")
(map! :n "t" 'evil-insert
      :n "T" 'evil-insert-line
      :n "l" 'evil-open-below
      :n "L" 'evil-open-above
      :n "f" 'evil-ex-search-next
      :n "F" 'evil-ex-search-previous
      :n "n" 'evil-backward-char
      :n "e" 'evil-next-line
      :n "i" 'evil-previous-line
      :n "o" 'evil-forward-char
      )

load it at the end of ~/doom.d/config.el $ echo '(load! "bindings")' >> ~/.doom.d/config.el I couldn't find docs on the web for these special strings, but I could find them by emacs's describe-key, ctrl+h then press k, then the key you want to find the special string for.

@JonathanReeve

[pauldub]

IMO evil-colemak-basics has the best keybindings for vim like colemak experience, if anyone is interesed in setting it up until there is a keyboard layout support, here is how I do it.

config.el

(use-package! evil-colemak-basics
  :after evil
  :config
  (setq evil-colemak-basics-rotate-t-f-j t))

(after! evil (global-evil-colemak-basics-mode))

packages.el

(package! evil-colemak-basics)

[neeasade]

I'm a colemak-DH user with my own key rotation going on -- I think a flexible option would be if I could redirect bindings in the map! macro itself somehow (something similar to how evil-collection does it)

[AnthonyDiGirolamo]

About to take the doom plunge myself. What is the recommended way to remap keys? Is wis's suggestion above the way to go?

I haven't met another colemak user who uses my bindings. It's sort of like half of what https://github.com/wbolster/evil-colemak-basics does. Here's what I do in vim

" h/l stay in default colemak locations
" n/e remapped to down up
nnoremap n gj|xnoremap n gj|onoremap n gj|
nnoremap e gk|xnoremap e gk|onoremap e gk|
" Use k/K for next/previous search hits
nnoremap k n|xnoremap k n|onoremap k n|
nnoremap K N|xnoremap K N|onoremap K N|

[HaoZeke]

About to take the doom plunge myself. What is the recommended way to remap keys? Is wis's suggestion above the way to go?

I haven't met another colemak user who uses my bindings. It's sort of like half of what https://github.com/wbolster/evil-colemak-basics does. Here's what I do in vim

" h/l stay in default colemak locations
" n/e remapped to down up
nnoremap n gj|xnoremap n gj|onoremap n gj|
nnoremap e gk|xnoremap e gk|onoremap e gk|
" Use k/K for next/previous search hits
nnoremap k n|xnoremap k n|onoremap k n|
nnoremap K N|xnoremap K N|onoremap K N|

I do have the k/K setup, along with the down/up; some details here

[fosskers]

@pauldub 's setup works like a charm as-is. Let's get that into a flag for the layout module.

[fosskers]

I spoke too soon about it working perfectly. I have had to rewire some muscle memory on a few bindings (which is fine), and it seems that undo functionality (by pressing l) doesn't work at all.

[fosskers]

And now a question (I just installed Doom today): how do I make custom bindings apply after ones defined by a package? For instance, the following doesn't work:

;; Colemak
(use-package! evil-colemak-basics
  :after evil
  :config
  (setq evil-colemak-basics-rotate-t-f-j t))

(after! evil (global-evil-colemak-basics-mode))

;; Flip what evil-colemak-basics applies.
(map! :n "u" 'evil-undo
      :n "l" 'evil-insert)

Namely, my two custom bindings at the bottom don't seem to be respected.

[fosskers]

In the meantime, to restore undo functionality, I'm avoiding evil-colemak-basics and hand-rolling my bindings. I'm attempting to emulate what the settings of colemak-hnei from Spacemacs:

(after! evil
  (map! :n "l" 'evil-insert
        :n "L" 'evil-insert-line
        :nv "h" 'evil-backward-char
        :nv "i" 'evil-forward-char
        :nv "n" 'evil-next-line
        :nv "e" 'evil-previous-line
        :nv "k" 'evil-forward-word-end
        :n "N" 'evil-join
        :n "j" 'evil-ex-search-next))

(after! magit
  (map! :map magit-mode-map
        :n "n" 'magit-next-line
        :n "e" 'magit-previous-line))

(map! :map org-agenda-mode-map
      :m "n" 'org-agenda-next-line
      :m "e" 'org-agenda-previous-line
      )

Work-in-progress. Not sure if the afters are necessary.

[pauldub]

it seems that undo functionality (by pressing l) doesn't work at all.

I do not have that issue but my setup has changed a little:

(use-package! evil-colemak-basics
  :after evil
+ :hook (after-init . global-evil-colemak-basics-mode)
  :config
  (setq evil-colemak-basics-rotate-t-f-j t))

(after! evil (global-evil-colemak-basics-mode t))

It is not clear to me how the initialisation of evil-colemak-basics should be handled :\

[RobertoGoAm]

Not sure if this is the right way to do it, far from an emacs expert, but adding this to config.el seems to work well:

;; Colemak DH Evil binds

;; Unbinds
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "i" nil)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "I" nil)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "J" nil)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "gi" nil)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "gJ" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "j" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "J" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "k" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "K" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "l" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "L" nil)
(define-key evil-window-map "n" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "e" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "E" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "j" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "k" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "l" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "K" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "L" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "n" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "N" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "ge" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gE" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gj" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gk" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "C-e" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gn" nil)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gN" nil)
(define-key evil-visual-state-map "I" nil)
(define-key evil-visual-state-map "i" nil)
(define-key evil-operator-state-map "i" nil)

;; Normal state
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "l" 'evil-insert)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "L" 'evil-insert-line)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "N" 'evil-join)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "gl" 'evil-insert-resume)
(define-key evil-normal-state-map "gN" 'evil-join-whitespace)

;; Window commands
(define-key evil-window-map "n" 'evil-window-down)
(define-key evil-window-map "N" 'evil-window-move-very-bottom)
(define-key evil-window-map "e" 'evil-window-up)
(define-key evil-window-map "E" 'evil-window-move-very-top)
(define-key evil-window-map "i" 'evil-window-right)
(define-key evil-window-map "I" 'evil-window-move-far-right)
(define-key evil-window-map "j" 'evil-window-new)

;; Motion state
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "k" 'evil-forward-word-end)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "K" 'evil-forward-WORD-end)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "n" 'evil-next-line)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "e" 'evil-previous-line)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "i" 'evil-forward-char)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "E" 'evil-lookup)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "I" 'evil-window-bottom)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "j" 'evil-search-next)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "J" 'evil-search-previous)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gk" 'evil-backward-word-end)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gK" 'evil-backward-WORD-end)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gn" 'evil-next-visual-line)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "ge" 'evil-previous-visual-line)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "C-k" 'evil-scroll-line-down)

;; Text objects
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gj" 'evil-next-match)
(define-key evil-motion-state-map "gJ" 'evil-previous-match)

;; Visual state
(define-key evil-visual-state-map "L" 'evil-insert)
(define-key evil-visual-state-map "l" evil-inner-text-objects-map)

;; Operator-Pending statea
(define-key evil-operator-state-map "l" evil-inner-text-objects-map)

It switches jkl for nei and viceversa, which is what I prefer

[azzamsa]

I want to migrate to doom from vanilla emacs after 5+ year. Unfortunately, I am type in Colemak-DH.

Anyone use this PR https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs/pull/5835 so far? Is it works well and don't conflict with default doom keys?

Thanks.

[Lord-Valen]

@azzamsa Until #5835 is merged, this should work fine for colemak-DH:

;; ~/.doom.d/packages.el
(package! evil-colemak-basics) ; colemak remaps

;; ~/.doom.d/config.el
(use-package! evil-colemak-basics
  :after evil
  :init
  (setq evil-colemak-basics-layout-mod `mod-dh) ; Swap "h" and "m"
  :config
  (global-evil-colemak-basics-mode) ; Enable colemak rebinds
  )

[azzamsa]

@Lord-Valen Thanks for the info.

I tried it a day as a vim beginner and it works well for me.

[azzamsa]

Using the following config:

(use-package! evil-colemak-basics
  :after evil
  :init
  (setq evil-colemak-basics-layout-mod `mod-dh) 
  :config
  (global-evil-colemak-basics-mode))

Is anyone having an issue with magit keybindings?

1. magit-log (default to l) doesn't work. It is even not assigned to any key

2. During rebase

• gk/ge and gj/gn do not work, but M-p works to move to commit up.
• f for fixup does not work (I am rather stuck now, cause I never use git directly for 4 years :) ). When I press f, instead of fixup, it moves the cursor forward

[azzamsa]

The issue disappears in a newer version of doom. I upgraded (reinstalled) and the issue disappears.

f for fixup still moves the cursor forward, to make it change the status to fixup. Switch to insert mode (U) then press f.

~  5s
❯ ~/.emacs.d/bin/doom info
> Executing 'doom info' with Emacs 29.0.50 at 2022-02-16 17:38:51
    generated    Feb 16, 2022 17:38:51
      system       Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) Linux 5.10.0-11-amd64 x86_64
      emacs        29.0.50 master 2ab73286b ~/.emacs.d/ -> ~/.emacs.d/
      doom         21.12.0-alpha grafted, HEAD -> master, origin/master, origin/HEAD 26d5163 2022-02-16 02:13:35 +0100 ~/.doom.d/ -> ~/.doom.d/
      shell        /usr/bin/fish
      features     ACL CAIRO DBUS FREETYPE GIF GLIB GMP GNUTLS GPM GSETTINGS HARFBUZZ JPEG JSON LCMS2 LIBOTF LIBSELINUX LIBSYSTEMD LIBXML2 MODULES NATIVE_COMP NOTIFY INOTIFY PDUMPER PGTK PNG RSVG SECCOMP SOUND THREADS TIFF TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS XIM GTK3 ZLIB
      traits       batch server-running envvar-file
      modules      :completion company vertico :ui doom doom-dashboard doom-quit hl-todo indent-guides ligatures (modeline +light) nav-flash ophints (popup +defaults) vc-gutter vi-tilde-fringe workspaces :editor (evil +everywhere) file-templates fold multiple-cursors snippets :emacs (dired +ranger) electric undo vc :checkers syntax (spell +flyspell) :tools editorconfig (eval +overlay) lookup lsp magit:lang emacs-lisp javascript lua markdown org (python +lsp) (rust +lsp) sh web yaml :app everywhere :config (default +bindings +smartparens)
      packages     (evil-colemak-basics) (super-save)

[fosskers]

Can I finally remove my custom colemak hacks?

[azzamsa]

This is all my config: https://github.com/azzamsa/doom.d/blob/b2c25cddfd5bb8f1595fcd19eb04a36dae49e9dc/config.el#L74

[azzamsa]

Update:

The same thing for magit-log in magit status buffer. It is bound to l by default. So it doesn't work. The workaround is to enter insert mode (U) in magit-status buffer then hit l.