getkey

Introduction

getkey.py is a Python 3 module that allows the user to read key presses immediately, as the keys are typed, without having to press the Enter key. It provides just one function, getkey(), which blocks until the user presses a key. This function returns a 2-tuple containing the bytes representation of the key being pressed, followed by a developer-friendly name of the key. Developed and tested on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Goals

• Does not require superuser privileges.
• Uses only standard Python libraries.

Limitations

• Requires Python 3; does not support Python 2.
• Works only for those Unix versions that support POSIX termios style tty I/O control configured during installation.

Usage

The getkey.py script can be run directly from the command line:

$ python3 getkey.py
Press ESCAPE or CTRL-C to quit.
b'\x1bOP', (27, 79, 80), len=3, keyname=f1
b'\x1b[15~', (27, 91, 49, 53, 126), len=5, keyname=f5
b'\x1b[24~', (27, 91, 50, 52, 126), len=5, keyname=f12
b'\t', (9,), len=1, keyname=tab
b'\n', (10,), len=1, keyname=return
b' ', (32,), len=1, keyname=space
b'$', (36,), len=1, keyname=$
b'0', (48,), len=1, keyname=0
b'A', (65,), len=1, keyname=A
b'a', (97,), len=1, keyname=a
b'\x1b[A', (27, 91, 65), len=3, keyname=up
b'\x1b[B', (27, 91, 66), len=3, keyname=down
b'\x1b[C', (27, 91, 67), len=3, keyname=right
b'\x1b[D', (27, 91, 68), len=3, keyname=left
b'\x7f', (127,), len=1, keyname=backspace
b'\x1b[3~', (27, 91, 51, 126), len=4, keyname=delete
b'\x1b[H', (27, 91, 72), len=3, keyname=home
b'\x1b[F', (27, 91, 70), len=3, keyname=end
b'\x1b[5~', (27, 91, 53, 126), len=4, keyname=pageup
b'\x1b[6~', (27, 91, 54, 126), len=4, keyname=pagedown
b'\x1b', (27,), len=1, keyname=esc
bye.

License

The software contained herein is released into the public domain under the Unlicense. In layman's terms, there are no restrictions and you are free to do whatever you want with it.