txiao/footswitch

Footswitch

Command line utility for programming foot switches sold by PCsensor. It works for both single pedal devices and three pedal devices. All supported devices have vendorId:productId = 0c45:7403 and can be listed with lsusb:

$ lsusb -d 0c45:7403
Bus 002 Device 051: ID 0c45:7403 Microdia

The same kind of foot switches are used for building the popular VIM Clutch.

Building

The program is using the hidapi library and should work on Linux and OSX. To build on Linux:

sudo apt-get install libhidapi-dev
git clone https://github.com/rgerganov/footswitch.git
cd footswitch
make
sudo make install

To build on OSX:

brew install hidapi
git clone https://github.com/rgerganov/footswitch.git
cd footswitch
make
sudo make install

Usage

footswitch [-123] [-r] [-s <string>] [-S <raw_string>] [-ak <key>] [-m <modifier>] [-b <button>] [-xyw <XYW>]
   -r          - read all pedals
   -1          - program the first pedal
   -2          - program the second pedal (default)
   -3          - program the third pedal
   -s string   - append the specified string
   -S rstring  - append the specified raw string (hex numbers delimited with spaces)
   -a key      - append the specified key
   -k key      - write the specified key
   -m modifier - ctrl|shift|alt|win
   -b button   - mouse_left|mouse_middle|mouse_right
   -x X        - move the mouse cursor horizontally by X pixels
   -y Y        - move the mouse cursor vertically by Y pixels
   -w W        - move the mouse wheel by W

You cannot mix -sSa options with -kmbxyw options for one and the same pedal

Examples

footswitch -r
    read the persisted function in each pedal and print it on the console
footswitch -k a
    program the second pedal to print the letter 'a' (also work for single pedal devices);
    as a general rule you don't need to specify -1, -2 or -3 if you have only one pedal
footswitch -1 -k a -2 -k b -3 -k c
    program the first pedal to print 'a', second pedal to print 'b' and third pedal to print 'c'
footswitch -1 -k esc -2 -k enter
    program the first pedal as Escape key and the second pedal as Enter key
footswitch -1 -m ctrl -k a -3 -m alt -k f4
    program the first pedal as Ctrl+a and the third pedal as Alt+F4
footswitch -m ctrl -b mouse_middle
    program the second pedal as Ctrl+<middle_mouse_click>
footswitch -s 'hello world'
    program the second pedal to print 'hello world'
footswitch -s 'hello' -s ' ' -s 'world'
    this will also program the second pedal to print 'hello world';
    you can specify multiple -s options and each option will append to the resulting string
footswitch -a esc -a i
    program the second pedal to produce Escape and then the letter 'i'
footswitch -s ls -a enter
    program the second pedal to print 'ls' and then hit Enter
footswitch -S '29 C'
    program the second pedal with the specified 'raw' string (hex numbers delimited with spaces);
    you can find the hex code for each key at http://www.freebsddiary.org/APC/usb_hid_usages.php
footswitch -1 -x 10 -2 -w 15 -3 -y -10
    program first pedal to move the mouse cursor 10 pixels left;
    second pedal to move mouse wheel 15 units up;
    third pedal to move the mouse cursor 10 pixels right

Author

Radoslav Gerganov

Contributors

Daniel Manjarres
Meng Zhang (wsxiaoys)

txiao / footswitch