alt-shift toggles keymap when part of a shortcut

Setting

setxkbmap "ara,us" -option grp:alt_shift_toggle

causes all shortcuts of the form alt+shift+[anykey] to break.

Earliest notice of this issue is from 2016 SE post.

Of course using the option grp:alt_shift_toggle will make all shortcuts that use Alt+Shift stop working -- a single key combination cannot have two meanings.

closed

I'm referring to shortcuts of type alt+shift+[any_key] not a "single key combination".

For example, alt+shift on its own switches language, but alt+shift+f opens the file menu on Google docs, and alt+shift+5 apply strike-through in another program.

That's not the case. If alt+shift is used then all alt+shift+... are disabled.

That's what I mean: as soon as Alt+Shift is seen, this is recognized as a key combination with a meaning, which automatically means all Alt+Shift+somekey shortcuts become untypable. If the user needs these shortcuts, they should not give Alt+Shift by itself a meaning. In other words: don't use the alt_shift_toggle for group switching, but pick another option that does not get in your way: both Shifts, both Ctrls, whatever.

Then I think the issue is a valid issue, and I wasn't the only one raising it.

It makes no sense for xkb to "consume" a shortcut so that it can't be used as part of other shortcuts. In Windows this is handled well since alt+shift was the default layout switcher before Win10.

What you're suggesting is a temporary workaround. There's also a better workaround I posted in response to a SE post, which does not "consume" alt+shift.

reopened

The X server does not know about any shortcuts -- shortcuts are the domain of the desktop environment. Maybe in Windows layout-switching and shortcut-recognition happen in the same component, so it can hold off switching layouts until Shift and/or Alt is released to see if maybe another key will be pressed. But in X, layout switching happens in the server, and as soon as the switching combo is seen, the layout is switched and the combo is dropped. It cannot be helped.

(Please do not link to off-site things in order to understand what you're saying. If there is relevant information, copy it here -- also to prevent link rot.)

Why can't one delay switching until the combo is released?

closed