Keybinding Management Library

A comprehensive .NET library for managing keyboard shortcuts and keybindings with support for multiple profiles, command registration, and persistent storage.

Features

• Multi-Profile Support: Create and manage multiple keybinding profiles
• Command Registry: Register and organize commands with categories
• Flexible Key Combinations: Support for complex key combinations with multiple modifiers
• Persistent Storage: Automatic saving and loading of profiles and commands
• Thread-Safe Operations: Concurrent access support for multi-threaded applications
• SOLID Architecture: Clean, extensible design following SOLID principles
• Comprehensive API: Full-featured interfaces for all operations

Quick Start

Installation

Add a reference to the Keybinding.Core project in your application.

Basic Usage

using ktsu.Keybinding.Core;
using ktsu.Keybinding.Core.Models;

// Initialize the keybinding manager
var manager = new KeybindingManager("./keybinding-data");
await manager.InitializeAsync();

// Create a default profile if none exist
manager.CreateDefaultProfile();

// Register some commands
var commands = new[]
{
    new Command("file.new", "New File", "Create a new file", "File"),
    new Command("file.save", "Save File", "Save the current file", "File"),
    new Command("edit.copy", "Copy", "Copy selected text", "Edit")
};

manager.RegisterCommands(commands);

// Set chord bindings
manager.Keybindings.BindChord("file.new", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+N"));
manager.Keybindings.BindChord("file.save", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+S"));
manager.Keybindings.BindChord("edit.copy", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+C"));

// Find commands by chord
var chord = manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+S");
var commandId = manager.Keybindings.FindCommandByChord(chord);

// Save changes
await manager.SaveAsync();

Core Concepts

Commands

Commands represent actions that can be bound to keyboard shortcuts:

var command = new Command(
    id: "file.save",           // Unique identifier
    name: "Save File",         // Display name
    description: "Save the current file",  // Optional description
    category: "File"           // Optional category for organization
);

Chords (Key Combinations)

Chords represent musical-style key combinations using the Note and Chord classes:

// Parse from string
var chord = manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+Alt+S");

// Create programmatically
var chord = new Chord([
    new Note("CTRL"),
    new Note("ALT"), 
    new Note("S")
]);

// Supported modifiers: Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Meta (Windows/Cmd key)

Profiles

Profiles allow different keybinding configurations:

// Create a new profile
var profile = new Profile("gaming", "Gaming Profile", "Keybindings for gaming");
manager.Profiles.CreateProfile(profile);

// Switch active profile
manager.Profiles.SetActiveProfile("gaming");

// Duplicate a profile
var newProfile = manager.Profiles.DuplicateProfile("default", "custom", "Custom Profile");

Architecture

The library follows a clean architecture with clear separation of concerns:

Models

• Command: Represents a named action that can be bound to keys
• Chord: Represents a keyboard shortcut with modifiers and primary key using musical paradigm
• Note: Represents individual keys in a chord
• Phrase: Represents sequences of chords for complex key combinations
• Profile: Contains a set of chord bindings for commands

Contracts (Interfaces)

• ICommandRegistry: Command management operations
• IProfileManager: Profile management operations
• IKeybindingService: Keybinding coordination and validation
• IKeybindingRepository: Persistence operations

Services

• CommandRegistry: Thread-safe command storage and retrieval
• ProfileManager: Profile lifecycle management
• KeybindingService: Coordinates keybinding operations across profiles and commands
• JsonKeybindingRepository: JSON-based persistence implementation

Main Facade

• KeybindingManager: Main entry point that coordinates all services

Advanced Usage

Custom Repository

Implement your own storage mechanism:

public class DatabaseKeybindingRepository : IKeybindingRepository
{
    // Implement async persistence methods
    public async Task SaveProfileAsync(Profile profile) { /* ... */ }
    public async Task<IEnumerable<Profile>> LoadAllProfilesAsync() { /* ... */ }
    // ... other methods
}

// Use with custom repository
var manager = new KeybindingManager(
    new CommandRegistry(),
    new ProfileManager(),
    new DatabaseKeybindingRepository()
);

Batch Operations

// Register multiple commands at once
var commands = new[]
{
    new Command("edit.cut", "Cut", "Cut to clipboard", "Edit"),
    new Command("edit.copy", "Copy", "Copy to clipboard", "Edit"),
    new Command("edit.paste", "Paste", "Paste from clipboard", "Edit")
};
int registered = manager.RegisterCommands(commands);

// Set multiple chord bindings
var chords = new Dictionary<string, Chord>
{
    { "edit.cut", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+X") },
    { "edit.copy", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+C") },
    { "edit.paste", manager.Keybindings.ParseChord("Ctrl+V") }
};
int set = manager.SetChords(chords);

Profile Management

// Create specialized profiles
var vimProfile = new Profile("vim", "Vim Emulation", "Vim-style keybindings");
manager.Profiles.CreateProfile(vimProfile);

// Switch between profiles
manager.Profiles.SetActiveProfile("vim");
// ... set vim-style keybindings

manager.Profiles.SetActiveProfile("default");
// ... back to default keybindings

// Duplicate and customize
var customProfile = manager.Profiles.DuplicateProfile("default", "custom", "My Custom Profile");

Command Organization

// Search commands by name
var fileCommands = manager.Commands.SearchCommands("file");

// Filter by category
var editCommands = manager.Commands.GetCommandsByCategory("Edit");

// Check if command exists
if (manager.Commands.CommandExists("file.save"))
{
    // Command is registered
}

Sample Application

Interactive Demo (Keybinding.Demo)

An interactive console application demonstrating all library features:

dotnet run --project Keybinding.Demo

The demo includes:

• Status overview
• Profile management
• Command registration
• Keybinding configuration
• Phrase binding and lookup
• Profile switching demonstration

Data Storage

By default, the library stores data in JSON format in the specified directory:

data-directory/
├── commands.json          # Registered commands
├── active-profile.json    # Currently active profile ID
└── profiles/
    ├── default.json       # Default profile keybindings
    ├── gaming.json        # Gaming profile keybindings
    └── custom.json        # Custom profile keybindings

Thread Safety

All services are designed to be thread-safe:

• CommandRegistry uses ConcurrentDictionary for command storage
• ProfileManager uses locking for profile operations
• KeybindingService coordinates safely across services

Error Handling

The library provides comprehensive error handling:

• Invalid key combinations are rejected during parsing
• Duplicate command IDs are prevented
• Profile operations validate existence and constraints
• Repository operations handle I/O errors gracefully

Testing

The solution includes comprehensive unit tests in the Keybinding.Test project:

dotnet test

Tests cover:

• Key combination parsing and validation
• Command registration and retrieval
• Profile management operations
• Keybinding service coordination
• Repository persistence operations

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add tests for new functionality
4. Ensure all tests pass
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details.

Architecture Principles

This library follows SOLID principles:

• Single Responsibility: Each class has a focused purpose
• Open/Closed: Extensible through interfaces without modification
• Liskov Substitution: Implementations are interchangeable
• Interface Segregation: Focused, specific interfaces
• Dependency Inversion: Depends on abstractions, not concretions

The design also follows DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principles with consistent patterns across the codebase.