OSX, different keyboards with different input methods possible

input-sourcekeyboard

I was wondering if it were possible to tie in a different input method for each keyboard on a computer with multiple keyboards?

The reason I ask is I use a wireless keyboard with my macbook pro and thus have two keyboards available, and I use both English and Chinese for input.

One hassle I have switching between the input methods, even with an assigned hotkey.

Since I have two keyboards, wouldn't it be nice to have one keyboards input for one of the input methods and the second keyboard for the second input.

Is there a way to do this so I can change input methods by typing on a different keyboard?

Thanks.

Best Answer

Based on Tom Gewecke's input, I've done the following:

Installed Karabiner from: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/index.html.en
(note that Karabiner 10.22.0 does not work with macOS 10.12.x at the time of this reply)

Installed this mapping into private.xml from: https://gist.github.com/ylorn/43b589daf6d621a7fc47 (I've changed it to left shift key and control space to match my preferred international input keybindings)

This approach does not allow me to set default language inputs per keyboard, but does allow me to more quickly switch between them. An acceptable compromise until I can find something better.

After asking Karabiner to reload the xml files, I can now tap the left shift key to switch inputs quickly.

In macOS 10.12, you can achieve the same functionality with the caps log key, without Karabiner, by enabling the "Use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from US"

Related Solutions

Using two keyboards, different layouts

The Mac won't do key combinations across keyboards, even with an Apple external and a MacBook Pro internal.

I know of no utility to allow this, either.

MacOS – Keyboard shortcut for jumping directly to a specific input method

One option would be to download changeInput and assign shortcuts to shell commands like changeInput U.S..

You could also use KeyRemap4MacBook:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <vkchangeinputsourcedef>
    <name>KeyCode::VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_HIRAGANA</name>
    <inputsourceid_equal>com.apple.inputmethod.Kotoeri.Japanese</inputsourceid_equal>
  </vkchangeinputsourcedef>
  <vkchangeinputsourcedef>
    <name>KeyCode::VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_KATAKANA</name>
    <inputsourceid_equal>com.apple.inputmethod.Kotoeri.Japanese.Katakana</inputsourceid_equal>
  </vkchangeinputsourcedef>
  <item>
    <name>change_inputsources</name>
    <identifier>change_inputsources</identifier>
    <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, VK_CONTROL | VK_OPTION | VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_ENGLISH</autogen>
    <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, VK_CONTROL | VK_OPTION | VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_HIRAGANA</autogen>
    <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, VK_CONTROL | VK_OPTION | VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_KATAKANA</autogen>
  </item>
</root>

See the private.xml documentation.

VK_CHANGE_INPUTSOURCE_ENGLISH is defined in vkchangeinputsourcedef.xml. You can see the IDs of input sources from EventViewer.app. Without | ModifierFlag::NONE for example the first setting would also apply to control-option-shift-command-E. See the source for the key code values and predefined settings.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Using two keyboards, different layouts

MacOS – Keyboard shortcut for jumping directly to a specific input method

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