Re: keyIdentifier and key events

The keyIdentifier field was replaced in the spec with the "key" field,
which uses similar values to represent keys, but has different behaviour
with respect to modifier keys.

Wez
On Nov 24, 2011 5:29 AM, "João Eiras" <joaoe@opera.com> wrote:

>
> Hi.
>
> I see the latest drafts of DOM 3 Events no longer have keyIdentifier in
> key events.
>
> Why was the feature dropped ?
>
> There are very important use cases that it covers, mostly related with not
> relying on magic key codes which even are different between different event
> types (keydown vs. keypress).
>
> Currently, content pretty much expects a set of standard key codes for the
> standard computer keyboard we use. However, this is not a reliable long
> term strategy if new keyboard like devices need new key codes or key types.
>
> For instance, with the rise of content for TV, there is the need to
> identify the keys on a remote (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Play, Pause, Stop,
> Menu, etc) and that would be far more achievable if it did not rely on
> hardware or platform specific virtual key codes. There are also people
> talking about interest in the Gamepad API and it makes sense to have
> keyIdentifier as well (A, B, Z, X, Select, Start, Circle, Square, Triangle,
> L1, R1, etc.). And there can be some overlap with the already popular media
> keys on desktop keyboard (play, pause, open email). I did see some time ago
> that the specification had the keyIdentifier values for TV remotes, but not
> anymore.
>
> Thank you.
>
>