@discourse/itsatrap

ItsATrap

ItsATrap is a simple library for handling keyboard shortcuts in Javascript.

It is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

It is around 2kb minified and gzipped and 4.5kb minified, has no external dependencies, and has been tested in the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer 6+
• Safari
• Firefox
• Chrome

It has support for keypress, keydown, and keyup events on specific keys, keyboard combinations, or key sequences.

Getting started

1. Include itsatrap on your page before the closing </body> tag

   <script src="/path/to/itsatrap.min.js"></script>
   

   or install itsatrap from npm and require it

   var ItsATrap = require('itsatrap');
   

2. Add some keyboard events to listen for

   <script>
       // single keys
       ItsATrap.bind('4', function() { console.log('4'); });
       ItsATrap.bind("?", function() { console.log('show shortcuts!'); });
       ItsATrap.bind('esc', function() { console.log('escape'); }, 'keyup');
   
       // combinations
       ItsATrap.bind('command+shift+k', function() { console.log('command shift k'); });
   
       // map multiple combinations to the same callback
       ItsATrap.bind(['command+k', 'ctrl+k'], function() {
           console.log('command k or control k');
   
           // return false to prevent default browser behavior
           // and stop event from bubbling
           return false;
       });
   
       // gmail style sequences
       ItsATrap.bind('g i', function() { console.log('go to inbox'); });
       ItsATrap.bind('* a', function() { console.log('select all'); });
   
       // konami code!
       ItsATrap.bind('up up down down left right left right b a enter', function() {
           console.log('konami code');
       });
   </script>
   

Why ItsATrap?

There are a number of other similar libraries out there so what makes this one different?

• There are no external dependencies, no framework is required
• You are not limited to keydown events (You can specify keypress, keydown, or keyup or let ItsATrap choose for you).
• You can bind key events directly to special keys such as ? or * without having to specify shift+/ or shift+8 which are not consistent across all keyboards
• It works with international keyboard layouts
• You can bind Gmail like key sequences in addition to regular keys and key combinations
• You can programatically trigger key events with the trigger() method
• It works with the numeric keypad on your keyboard
• The code is well documented/commented

Tests

Unit tests are run with mocha.

Running in browser

View it online to check your browser compatibility. You may also download the repo and open tests/itsatrap.html in your browser.

Running with Node.js

1. Install development dependencies

   cd /path/to/repo
   npm install
   

2. Run tests

   npm test
   

Documentation

Full documentation can be found at https://craig.is/killing/mice