SimpleHotkeys

Python library for creating keyboard shortcuts based on pynput and keyboard library.

Usage

Simple

import simplehotkeys

number = 0
def do_something ():
  global number
  number+=1
  print("key press number", number)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey([simplehotkeys.pynput.keyboard.Key.ctrl_l, simplehotkeys.pynput.keyboard.Key.alt_l], do_something)
input()

Prints message every time you press left ctrl and left alt key.

key press number 1
key press number 2
key press number 3
key press number 4
key press number 5
key press number 6
key press number 7
...

More advanced

import simplehotkeys
import time

time.sleep(1)
print ("now press your desired hotkey")
keys = simplehotkeys.catch_hotkey()
print("\t", keys)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys, 
  lambda: print("single press"), 
  lambda: print("long press"), 
  lambda: print("too long press"), 
  lambda: print("double press")
  )

time.sleep(30)

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys)
input("from now no keypresses are handled")

Inputs key combination and for 30 seconds react to its events, then removes all the callbacks.

now press your desired hotkey
         [<Key.caps_lock: <20>>]
single press
double press
long press
too long press
from now no keypresses are handled

Choosing whether to utilize pynput or keyboard

I ran into problems when using both libraries on Windows (keyboard misdetects numpad * as print screen; with pynput hotkeys stops working after some time) so i decided to implement both. The choice of pynput or keyboard depends on what is given as keys to simplehotkeys.add_hotkey method:

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(["print screen"], lambda: print("keyboard"))  # use keyboard backend since keyboard accepts bare strings

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey([pynput.keyboard.Key.print_screen], lambda: print("pynput"))  # use pynput backend

Instalation

Currently no option to install via pip.
Simply add the simplehotkeys.py to your project directory.

Library methods

simplehotkeys.add_hotkey(keys_list, callback_on_press=None, callback_on_longpress=None, callback_on_toolongpress=None, callback_on_doublepress=None)

Sets up callbacks for given key combination. Note that there is little reaction delay that depends on what callbacks are set ( when only callback_on_press is set, the callback is called on keydown; when callback_on_longpress or callback_on_toolongpress is set, it waits for the key release; when callback_on_doublepress is set, waits for next keypress).
Calling this function for the second time with same key_list will remove the old callbacks.
To prevent blocking keypress detection, callbacks are always called as threads.

simplehotkeys.catch_hotkey(timeout=10)

Waits for key combination being pressed and returns it as list of keys. If no key is pressed within the timeout nothing is returned.

Todos

• Use key strings list instead of list of pynput key objects.
• Add hotkey handler that will return keypress duration, keypress number, ... (customizable mode)