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eventtap

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Tap into input events (mouse, keyboard, trackpad) for observation and possibly overriding them It also provides convenience wrappers for sending mouse and keyboard events. If you need to construct finely controlled mouse/keyboard events, see hs.eventtap.event
This module is based primarily on code from the previous incarnation of Mjolnir by Steven Degutis.

Submodules

API Overview

API Documentation

Functions

Signature
hs.eventtap.checkKeyboardModifiers([raw]) -> table
Type
Function
Description
Returns a table containing the current key modifiers being pressed or in effect at this instant for the keyboard most recently used.
Parameters
  • raw - an optional boolean value which, if true, includes the _raw key containing the numeric representation of all of the keyboard/modifier flags.
Returns
  • Returns a table containing boolean values indicating which keyboard modifiers were held down when the function was invoked; The possible keys are:
    • cmd (or ⌘)
    • alt (or ⌥)
    • shift (or ⇧)
    • ctrl (or ⌃)
    • capslock
    • fn and optionally
    • _raw - a numeric representation of the numeric representation of all of the keyboard/modifier flags.
Notes
  • This is an instantaneous poll of the current keyboard modifiers for the most recently used keyboard, not a callback. This is useful primarily in conjuction with other modules, such as hs.menubar, when a callback is already in progress or waiting for an event callback is not practical or possible.
  • the numeric value returned is useful if you need to detect device dependent flags or flags which we normally ignore because they are not present (or are accessible another way) on most keyboards.
Signature
hs.eventtap.checkMouseButtons() -> table
Type
Function
Description
Returns a table containing the current mouse buttons being pressed at this instant.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • Returns an array containing indicies starting from 1 up to the highest numbered button currently being pressed where the index is true if the button is currently pressed or false if it is not.
  • Special hash tag synonyms for left (button 1), right (button 2), and middle (button 3) are also set to true if these buttons are currently being pressed.
Notes
  • This is an instantaneous poll of the current mouse buttons, not a callback. This is useful primarily in conjuction with other modules, such as hs.menubar, when a callback is already in progress or waiting for an event callback is not practical or possible.
Signature
hs.eventtap.doubleClickInterval() -> number
Type
Function
Description
Returns the system-wide setting for the delay between two clicks, to register a double click event
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A number containing the maximum number of seconds between two mouse click events, for a double click event to be registered
Signature
hs.eventtap.isSecureInputEnabled() -> boolean
Type
Function
Description
Checks if macOS is preventing keyboard events from being sent to event taps
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A boolean, true if secure input is enabled, otherwise false
Notes
  • If secure input is enabled, Hammerspoon is not able to intercept keyboard events
  • Secure input is enabled generally only in situations where an password field is focused in a web browser, system dialog or terminal
Signature
hs.eventtap.keyRepeatDelay() -> number
Type
Function
Description
Returns the system-wide setting for the delay before keyboard repeat events begin
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A number containing the number of seconds before repeat events begin, after a key is held down
Signature
hs.eventtap.keyRepeatInterval() -> number
Type
Function
Description
Returns the system-wide setting for the interval between repeated keyboard events
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • A number containing the number of seconds between keyboard events, if a key is held down

​keyStroke​

Signature
hs.eventtap.keyStroke(modifiers, character[, delay, application])
Type
Function
Description
Generates and emits a single keystroke event pair for the supplied keyboard modifiers and character
Parameters
  • modifiers - A table containing the keyboard modifiers to apply ("fn", "ctrl", "alt", "cmd", "shift", or their Unicode equivalents)
  • character - A string containing a character to be emitted
  • delay - An optional delay (in microseconds) between key down and up event. Defaults to 200000 (i.e. 200ms)
  • application - An optional hs.application object to send the keystroke to
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • This function is ideal for sending single keystrokes with a modifier applied (e.g. sending ⌘-v to paste, with hs.eventtap.keyStroke({"cmd"}, "v")). If you want to emit multiple keystrokes for typing strings of text, see hs.eventtap.keyStrokes()
Signature
hs.eventtap.keyStrokes(text[, application])
Type
Function
Description
Generates and emits keystroke events for the supplied text
Parameters
  • text - A string containing the text to be typed
  • application - An optional hs.application object to send the keystrokes to
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • If you want to send a single keystroke with keyboard modifiers (e.g. sending ⌘-v to paste), see hs.eventtap.keyStroke()

​leftClick​

Signature
hs.eventtap.leftClick(point[, delay])
Type
Function
Description
Generates a left mouse click event at the specified point
Parameters
  • point - A table with keys {x, y} indicating the location where the mouse event should occur
  • delay - An optional delay (in microseconds) between mouse down and up event. Defaults to 200000 (i.e. 200ms)
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • This is a wrapper around hs.eventtap.event.newMouseEvent that sends leftmousedown and leftmouseup events)
Signature
hs.eventtap.middleClick(point[, delay])
Type
Function
Description
Generates a middle mouse click event at the specified point
Parameters
  • point - A table with keys {x, y} indicating the location where the mouse event should occur
  • delay - An optional delay (in microseconds) between mouse down and up event. Defaults to 200000 (i.e. 200ms)
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • This function is just a wrapper which calls hs.eventtap.otherClick(point, delay, 2) and is included solely for backwards compatibility.
Signature
hs.eventtap.otherClick(point[, delay][, button])
Type
Function
Description
Generates an "other" mouse click event at the specified point
Parameters
  • point - A table with keys {x, y} indicating the location where the mouse event should occur
  • delay - An optional delay (in microseconds) between mouse down and up event. Defaults to 200000 (i.e. 200ms)
  • button - An optional integer, default 2, between 2 and 31 specifying the button number to be pressed. If this parameter is specified then delay must also be specified, though you may specify it as nil to use the default.
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • This is a wrapper around hs.eventtap.event.newMouseEvent that sends otherMouseDown and otherMouseUp events)
Signature
hs.eventtap.rightClick(point[, delay])
Type
Function
Description
Generates a right mouse click event at the specified point
Parameters
  • point - A table with keys {x, y} indicating the location where the mouse event should occur
  • delay - An optional delay (in microseconds) between mouse down and up event. Defaults to 200000 (i.e. 200ms)
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • This is a wrapper around hs.eventtap.event.newMouseEvent that sends rightmousedown and rightmouseup events)
Signature
hs.eventtap.scrollWheel(offsets, modifiers, unit) -> event
Type
Function
Description
Generates and emits a scroll wheel event
Parameters
  • offsets - A table containing the {horizontal, vertical} amount to scroll. Positive values scroll up or left, negative values scroll down or right.
  • mods - A table containing zero or more of the following:
  • cmd
  • alt
  • shift
  • ctrl
  • fn
  • unit - An optional string containing the name of the unit for scrolling. Either "line" (the default) or "pixel"
Returns
  • None

Constructors

​new​

Signature
hs.eventtap.new(types, fn) -> eventtap
Type
Constructor
Description
Create a new event tap object
Parameters
  • types - A table that should contain values from hs.eventtap.event.types
  • fn - A function that will be called when the specified event types occur. The function should take a single parameter, which will be an event object. It can optionally return two values. Firstly, a boolean, true if the event should be deleted, false if it should propagate to any other applications watching for that event. Secondly, a table of events to post.
Returns
  • An event tap object
Notes
  • If you specify the argument types as the special table {"all"[, events to ignore]}, then all events (except those you optionally list after the "all" string) will trigger a callback, even events which are not defined in the Quartz Event Reference.

Methods

​isEnabled​

Signature
hs.eventtap:isEnabled() -> bool
Type
Method
Description
Determine whether or not an event tap object is enabled.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • True if the event tap is enabled or false if it is not.

​start​

Signature
hs.eventtap:start()
Type
Method
Description
Starts an event tap
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • The event tap object

​stop​

Signature
hs.eventtap:stop()
Type
Method
Description
Stops an event tap
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • The event tap object
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Last modified 1yr ago