{"id":3710,"date":"2021-11-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/felipemateus.com\/?p=3710"},"modified":"2025-10-19T10:43:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T13:43:32","slug":"sonoff-keyboard-key-reuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/felipemateus.com\/en\/blog\/2021\/11\/sonoff-keyboard-key-reuse","title":{"rendered":"sonoff: Keyboard key reuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I decided to make a sonoff project to fix a silly problem I was having on my positive notebook. It uses 3 extra keys to open netflix, youtube or create a custom command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However I had never found a function for the custom command until today when I decided to create a function for it. So I decided to turn the sonoff switch on this key so that every time I press it, it turns the room light on or off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will come in handy when entering a meeting and having to turn the light off or on to help the camera. Soon I won't need to get up and I don't even need to have a cell phone in hand, just press the key and it turns on or off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting the Sonoff Button Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before anything else to start the project I started looking for classes or libraries that connect with the sonoff platform I found some classes in python that didn't work as it should. In this sense I found this class in a project that was a sonoff ui on linux and best of all it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the code of the class I noticed that the base of the system is websocket this makes me wonder if in the future I can receive notifications about status changes on the computer. It would be interesting since the program also put a notification to let me know what action was sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, the project is very simple, in addition to the sonofff class, there is the main file that turns the light on and off.<\/p>\n\n\n

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project notification<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Configuring sonoff project on key<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To configure I created a folder with the executable file, and the project icon which is a light bulb, executable that I use to trigger the command to sonoff when I press the target key. Remembering that this file will be executed every time the target button is pressed <\/p>\n\n\n

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Image of the folder containing the executable file<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For Windows to recognize the executable as a program, I added a folder to the system PATH environment variable. However, this step is important because the path of all Windows programs needs to be in this variable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Environment variable with project path<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then I created an executable shortcut in the programs folder of the start menu so you can create the keyboard shortcut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs
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Project and key shortcut properties<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The image above doesn't show but in the shortcut key this is the target key which is a key that does not appear because it is a special key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creation Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Amazingly, I didn't have many challenges in creating the executable, it was very simple to find the libraries and create the project. The hard part was working with Windows because I had some difficulties that I overcame with a lot of patience and research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first one was with the positive program I removed the program that was running when I pressed the target key. However, removing this program was not all because the program kept being called giving an error since it had removed the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was then after some time searching the internet I found the process of the program that was listening to the target key, it was then that I stopped that program and removed it from the computer. After I solved this problem I researched how to create a keyboard shortcut, a process that I mentioned earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However the code is very simple, the level of difficulty to make this project was low, it took me longer to publish this text than to do the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upcoming Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Now I'm creating a new version of the project that works as a service like the positive program that was installed. Then this service will be running in the background listening for the target key, to execute the function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'm currently having a problem with the service it's not running and when it runs it doesn't hear this is the problem I'm having.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technologies Used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n