Stack shortcuts

Quick start

npm

npm i stack-shortcuts --save

browser

<script src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BusinessDuck/stack-shortcuts/master/lib/shortcuts.umd.js"></script>

Sandbox

The problem

Initial data:

Imagine, you have an application with small picture, you can move it along x and y axis by the keyboard arrows. Mouse click on the picture, should open a modal dialogue with full sized picture. And now for example you need to use arrowUp and arrowDown buttons for navigate to related images (prev, next)

Lets see the task problems:

Problem 1: To handle keypress event you should use inconvenient and not clear contract

element.addEventListener('keydown', handler);
 
function handler(event) {
    event.key; // does not supported to any browsers
    event.keyIdentifier ; // deprecated
    event.keyCode; // supports all browsers but inconvenient
 
    event.keyCode === 27 // ESC (should google it every time)
}

Problem 2: When you have a different controllers for picture and modal dialogue you should resolve hotkey press in two different controllers, they are shouldn't to know about each other. The best solution will be create third control (or use parent control) for manage hotkeys depend from child controllers state. Its a big problem for big apps.

Problem 3: If you want yo handle key pressing in different controllers you will be depends from DOM positions of elements. Because events is bubbling. That mean yuo may solve this problem by useCapture it's works, but not clean. That will produce refactoring and debugging processes as well.

Greet the solution!

Diagram of the concept

Abstract layer is a controller. By using stack-shortcuts you can create a layers with handlers and condition statement and handle hotkeys pressing or pass to next layer if condition is false

// controller 1
...
this.shortuts = shortcuts({
    'CMD+F': (event, next) => {
        // event - native event
        // next - call pass event to next in stack layer handler
        // like a express controller
 
        if (event.target === myDOMElement) {
            alert('its works');
        } else {
            next();
        }
    }
});
 
// controller 2
this.shortuts = shortcuts({
    'CMD+F': (event, next) => {
        // event - native event
        // next - call pass event to next in stack layer handler
        // like a express controller
 
        if (event.target === mySecondDOMElement) {
            alert('its works');
        } else {
            next();
        }
    }
});

Getting Started

npm i stack-shortcuts --save

Features

1. DOM element position independent

2. Human shortcuts names

   shortcuts({
       'ALT+SHIFT+T': () => null, //handle ALT+SHIFT+T
       'ALL': () => null, // handle aall kedon
   });

3. Platform auto mapping CMD to CTRL

   shortcuts({
       'CMD+F': (event, next) => null, //handle CTRL+F on windows
   });

4. Destructor

   const hotkeys = shortcuts({
       'CMD+F': () => null
   });
    
   hotkeys.destroy(); // remove shortcuts layer

5. Next callback

   shortcuts({
       'CMD+F': (event, next) => {
           next(); // pass to next in stack layer
       },
   });

6. Easy to debugging call stack in stacktrace

   You will see the all chain of stack layers calls in debugger stacktrace

7. Dynamically add and remove shortcuts

   const layer = shortcuts({ // init config
       'CMD+F': (event, next) => {
           next(); // pass to next in stack layer
       },
   });
    
   layer.add('CMD+V', (event, next) => null);
   layer.remove('CMD+V', (event, next) => null);
    

8. Order free, both is the same

   const layer = shortcuts();
    
   layer.add('SHIFT+CMD+V', (event, next) => null);
   layer.remove('SHIFT+CMD+V');
    
   layer.add('CMD+SHIFT+V', (event, next) => null);
   layer.remove('CMD+SHIFT+V');

9. No dependencies and small size (less than 3 kb)

See example in examples

Works fine with react and other frameworks out of the box.