Robotjs: Keyboard modifiers remain pressed down after calling keyTap or keyToggle

Created on 24 Jun 2016 · 18Comments · Source: octalmage/robotjs

Passing a modifier (shift/alt) in keyTap() or keyToggle() results in keeping the
modifier down for any subsequent keyboard API call.

Example:

const robot = require('robotjs');
robot.moveMouseSmooth(70, 130);
robot.mouseClick();
robot.keyTap('a', 'shift');
robot.typeString('bc');

Web listener:

<body>
  <input type="text" id= "input-1">
</body>
<script>
  document.getElementById('input-1').onkeydown = function(e) {
    const msg = "Key Pressed: " + e.key + "\n"
    + "SHIFT?: " + e.shiftKey + "\n"
    + "ALT?: " + e.altKey + "\n";
    console.log(msg);
  }
</script>

Output:

Key Pressed: A
SHIFT?: true
ALT?: false
+++++++++++++
Key Pressed: b
SHIFT?: true
ALT?: false
+++++++++++++
Key Pressed: c
SHIFT?: true
ALT?: false

This was on OSX 10.10, node version 6, robotjs version 0.4.4

bug mac

Source

kalharbi

👍2

Most helpful comment

@octalmage Could you please look into this issue?

waylaidwanderer on 14 Oct 2016

👍5

All 18 comments

Thanks for the report! This is similar to #208. It should be pretty easy to resolve, I'll look into it!

octalmage on 25 Jun 2016

Is there a timeline for this one?

jonaslund on 6 Jul 2016

I've been busy and haven't been able to look into it yet, but you should be able to explicitly "up" the modifier to work around this. I'll try to look into it this weekend.

octalmage on 6 Jul 2016

Despite triggering

robot.keyToggle("s", "down", ["shift", "alt"]);

the keys still become 'sticky' even after triggering

robot.keyToggle("s", "up", ["shift", "alt"]);

so a fix on this issue would be super

jonaslund on 8 Jul 2016

How about triggering shift and alt up like so:

robot.keyToggle("shift", "up");

When I was originally looking into this I thought this would resolve it.

octalmage on 8 Jul 2016

Will check and update

jonaslund on 8 Jul 2016

@octalmage I'm using Windows 10 and am experiencing the same or similar issue. Seems like whatever key I press with either keyTap or keyToggle is held down until I physically press the same key again.

For example, in an application I'm working with, pressing Enter brings up the chat box. Pressing enter again closes it. If I use the following code, this is what happens:

robot.keyTap('enter'); // chat box opens
setTimeout(function() {
    robot.keyTap('enter'); // chat box closes
}, 10);

However if I physically press enter, the chat box will stay closed until I press it one more time.

The application also allows you to draw pictures by holding control and click-dragging your mouse. If I use the following code, this is what happens:

robot.keyTap('enter'); // chat box enters
    setTimeout(function() {
        robot.keyTap('v', 'control'); // text is pasted
        setTimeout(function() {
            robot.keyTap('enter'); // message is sent and chat box is closed
        }, 10);
}, 10);

However this time I am able to draw pictures without holding down control, as if it's still being held down. This is fixed if I physically press the control key. Adding robot.keyToggle('control', up') like you suggested (I tried it with different timeouts) does not fix it.

waylaidwanderer on 27 Aug 2016

@octalmage Could you please look into this issue?

waylaidwanderer on 14 Oct 2016

👍5

We've been running into this issue lately and seems we need to spam the modifier key after each keyTap with a modifier just for safety. Is there anyone looking into fixing this?

codycuellar on 3 Sep 2019

👍2

I seem to be experiencing this issue as well on windows. Any chance we can get this looked at?

Here is my code:

const command = "6";
robot.keyTap(command, ['control']);

elijah-penney on 27 Nov 2019

👍1

Same issue here on win10 ! I must physically press the key after robotjs, or it will remaining pressed down!

L1cardo on 29 Mar 2020

It’s been almost 4 years! Any solution?

L1cardo on 29 Mar 2020

Hey guys, I know its been 4 years but I have created a makeshift solution. I believe robot.js has been abandoned but the work-around for it is something like this:

let m = ["control"] //put your modifiers in here
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"down");
}
robot.keyToggle(key,"up");//up or down here, you can also use keyTap
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"up");
}

I really hope octalmage comes back to this project.

lino-levan on 6 Apr 2020

Hey guys, I know its been 4 years but I have created a makeshift solution. I believe robot.js has been abandoned but the work-around for it is something like this:
let m = ["control"] //put your modifiers in here
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"down");
}
robot.keyToggle(key,"up");//up or down here, you can also use keyTap
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"up");
}
I really hope octalmage comes back to this project.

I made it into a quick usable function

/**
 * Attempts to fix RobotJS messed up keyTap function
 * @param {Array} modifiers - The modifiers that need to be used during the key tap
 * @param {String} key - The key that should be pressed 
 */
function keyTap(modifiers = [], key = '') {
  modifiers.forEach(mod => robot.keyToggle(mod, 'down'));
  robot.keyToggle(key, 'up');
  modifiers.forEach(mod => robot.keyToggle(mod, 'up'));
}

elijah-penney on 6 Apr 2020

👍1

Nice, that is really clean actually. I think that is going to be the solution for a while.

lino-levan on 6 Apr 2020

Hey guys, I know its been 4 years but I have created a makeshift solution. I believe robot.js has been abandoned but the work-around for it is something like this:
let m = ["control"] //put your modifiers in here

for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){

    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"down");

}

robot.keyToggle(key,"up");//up or down here, you can also use keyTap

for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){

    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"up");

}
I really hope octalmage comes back to this project.

Thanks for your solution!
You said robotjs has been abandoned, what do you mean? If this has been abandoned, is there any js automation else other than robotjs?

L1cardo on 7 Apr 2020

Thanks for your solution!
You said robotjs has been abandoned, what do you mean? If this has been abandoned, is there any js automation else other than robotjs?

There's really nothing better out there. As far as "abandoned", well that update was 2 months ago. Generally if issues have stopped being address and there's no more updates, something is considered abandoned. Depending on the license someone could fork it and try to maintain it, but it's a hell of a code base, and most people use it for other types of automations so there's not really anyone interested in doing that.

elijah-penney on 7 Apr 2020

Hey guys, I know its been 4 years but I have created a makeshift solution. I believe robot.js has been abandoned but the work-around for it is something like this:
let m = ["control"] //put your modifiers in here
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"down");
}
robot.keyToggle(key,"up");//up or down here, you can also use keyTap
for(let i =0;i<m.length;i++){
    robot.keyToggle(m[i],"up");
}
I really hope octalmage comes back to this project.

I made it into a quick usable function

/**
 * Attempts to fix RobotJS messed up keyTap function
 * @param {Array} modifiers - The modifiers that need to be used during the key tap
 * @param {String} key - The key that should be pressed 
 */
function keyTap(modifiers = [], key = '') {
  modifiers.forEach(mod => robot.keyToggle(mod, 'down'));
  robot.keyToggle(key, 'up');
  modifiers.forEach(mod => robot.keyToggle(mod, 'up'));
}

'shift' key still remains pressed in league of legends, I quit :(

L1cardo on 7 Apr 2020

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