getchlib - library for reading key presses

Overview

getchlib is library for reading key presses and assigning hotkeys. Warning: update 2.0.0 introduced breaking changes. Please update your code or revert to an earlier version if problems arise.

Features

• Full Unicode support (Linux only)
• Blocking and non-blocking key press reading
• Cross-platform support
• Support for modifier keys: CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, META.
• Support for special and function keys.
• Non-interruptable key press reading support ( cannot be interrupted by CTRL-C, returns the key instead)
• Fully typed

Installation

pip install getchlib

Usage

Key Presses

Blocking

import getchlib
key=getchlib.getkey()

Waits until user presses a key.

Non-Blocking

import getchlib
key=getchlib.getkey(blocking=False)

Returns the currently pressed key. On Linux, you can also specify a timeout for the key using the tout argument.

Non-interruptable

import getchlib
key=getchlib.getkey(catch=True)

Buffering

If multiple key presses are registered at the same time, they are stored into an internal buffer. Subsequent calls to getkey() read from this buffer. In case this behaviour is not desired, you can force getkey() to read a new key using the buffer=False argument.

KeyboardEvent

getkey() returns a KeyboardEvent object. For backwards compatibility, it subclasses str - this means that you likely won't have to change your code, if it relied on the old API. It has the following attributes:

• code: str: the raw key code outputted by the terminal
• key: getchlib.Key | str: a member of the getchlib.Key enum if it's a special key, a string otherwise.
• modifiers: set[getchlib.KeyboardModifier]: a set of one of getchlib.KeyboardModifier.SHIFT, getchlib.KeyboardModifier.CTRL, getchlib.KeyboardModifier.ALT, getchlib.KeyboardModifier.META

Windows Disclaimer

The Windows version of this package has only been tested on Wine. Bugs are possible.

License

getchlib is licensed under the GPL License