[feature request] joy2key with custom mappings for different controllers

meleu

UPDATE

The feature requested here was implemented. Those who like to update frequently may have noticed. The PR 1980 was merged, and now the "a button" means "A button".

This feature would be able to make me say "This is the most perfect software system I've ever seen in my entire life!". OK, OK... maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's something that would make me really really very very happy.

I would like to control RetroPie-Setup/runcommand menus using the same button mappings I use in emulationstation.

(As a positive side effect the number of people questioning about which button to press to access runcommand menu would decrease. :) )

BuZz taught me a nice trick to work around this problem, but it's useful only when using always the same controller, then it's useful only for setups where you don't change the controllers frequently (i.e.: arcade cabinet).

I've started 2017 with this resolution in mind:

learn python and make joy2key.py read custom configs for each controller

But real life has started to get in my way a lot since mid January...

Is there already any intention of working on it?

BuZz

@meleu yes, I plan on implementing it at some point (as time permits). It's not a high priority for me compared to other things though.

If you want to create a input configuration script to output a config for it which it can read, or make it use the retroarch configs directly, I would accept a PR for that.

dankcushions

i always wondered, why not just 'Any button' ? as in, any js pressed acts as 'enter'?

meleu

@dankcushions said in [feature request] joy2key with custom mappings for different controllers:

any js pressed acts as 'enter'?

It's not true. The button 0 is <enter> and the button 1 is <tab>.

BuZz

@dankcushions currently we map 2 buttons - enter and tab for example (needed for full navigation). For wikiviewer it maps differently. Ideally it would map additional buttons too, such as esc (if enough buttons are available).

meleu

@BuZz said in [feature request] joy2key with custom mappings for different controllers:

If you want to create a input configuration script to output a config for it which it can read, or make it use the retroarch configs directly, I would accept a PR for that

I think I can work on that. I'm thinking on getting configs from es_input.cfg.

What would be the expected format?

Something like this?:

/dev/input/jsN kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 <button0> <button1> [<button2> ...]

where <buttonN> is one of those hexadecimal codes.

dankcushions

ah i see. well, for my use (runcommand and setup script) i have only ever used the enter button and dpad, but i tend to do a lot of it via SSH so maybe tab is neccesary some places and i've just not noticed!

meleu

@dankcushions said in [feature request] joy2key with custom mappings for different controllers:

tab is neccesary some places and i've just not noticed!

Here is an example where tab is needed:

manual_edit_configeditor

If you accidentally enter this dialog --editbox with no keyboard and no button mapped to tab, there's no way to select OK or Cancel.

meleu

@BuZz said in [feature request] joy2key with custom mappings for different controllers:

If you want to create a input configuration script to output a config for it which it can read, or make it use the retroarch configs directly, I would accept a PR for that.

Hey @BuZz , just as a proof of concept I've made a script that looks if each of the connected joysticks have a config in $HOME/.emulationstation/es_input.cfg, and, if yes, output the arguments for joy2key making the button A be the <enter> and the button B be the <tab>.

Here is the script: https://github.com/meleu/share/blob/master/joy2key_input_config.sh

Copy'n'paste shortcut to download it:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/meleu/share/master/joy2key_input_config.sh

Output example from my system with several joysticks connected:

/dev/input/js4 kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 "" 0x0a 0x09 
/dev/input/js3 kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 "" 0x0a 0x09 
/dev/input/js2 kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 0x0a 0x09 
/dev/input/js1 kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 "" "" "" 0x09 0x0a
/dev/input/js0 kcub1 kcuf1 kcuu1 kcud1 "" "" "" 0x09 0x0a

I tested all of these with joy2key individually, directly in command line, and they work fine.

One question that may arise is: "Is the script able to handle the dynamics of connecting/disconnecting joysticks on different USB ports?"

The answer is yes. :-)

Not sure how I should integrate this on runcommand's start_joy2key() and helpers' joy2keyStart() to submit a PR, but I think we are one step closer to reaching the goal. :-)

meleu

Submitted a PR getting the button mappings from retroarch-joypads/JOYSTICK.cfg files.

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/pull/1958

meleu

I think it's worth to mention it was implemented. Those who like to update frequently may have noticed. The PR 1980 was merged, and now the "a button" means "A button".