CloneKeys - Mac Key Broadcasting application

[rjenkins8142]

CloneKeys is a simple Mac app that replicates keystrokes across multiple applications.

Current Release: 0.2 beta

Download at: http://code.google.com/p/clonekeys/

Instructions:

* Simply open up multiple WoW applications, start up CloneKeys, click Add, and then click the first WoW window, then click Add again, then click the next WoW window, etc...

* All system keystrokes will be sent to all windows you add. The exception is when you're on a password field. WoW puts the OS into a secure mode on the password field, so CloneKeys can't capture keystrokes while on the field. (Which is great, makes relogging in easier if you get disconnected.)

* Click the stop sign to stop broadcasting keys. You can also go into preferences and setup a hotkey to toggle broadcasting on/off.

Demo Movie:
Here's a very short movie showing CloneKeys in action...
http://files.filefront.com/clonekeysmov/;8585768;/fileinfo.html

[MyLock]

Awesome! Thanks again man... sent a little $ you're way... Hope we see this grow! I hope others will make a little donation too!

Here is mine in use... Running 4 accounts off of my MacBook Pro, so it's a bit laggy (on my end not the programs), but good. And the control for that is coming from Synergy controlled from my iMac.

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/jstnmlr/?action=view&current=Tirisfal_Glades_092607_004711.flv

EDIT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN4nXLKpWBk
In case the above doesn't work for you.

[shivetya]

I will have to give this a try when I get home...

thanks

[Mons]

The OP has single handedly made Macs multiboxing a breeze.

[shivetya]

Nice program.

Now for the suggestions :)


1. An ability to remove certain keys from being broadcasted. This way I can separate movement of my main at times from the "clones"

2. A simple key-stroke to temporarily suspend broadcasting, in WOW it would be great to stop broadcasting when I pressed "enter" so I could chat with people. Its the only time I do press Enter, to send messages. Basically let us assign a simple key that you can catch.

The thing to note about WOW is that for the most part the bulk of the alpha character keys are not needed for the clones, most of their work is controlled off of hotkeys that are usually numeric or function key related.

So, being able to remove keys from broadcasting would be very nice. Having the ability to toggle it on and off within the game by a specific key press also would be good....


Still, an amazing first attempt that waxes many of the other longer term items.

[rjenkins8142]

Thanks for the suggestions...

For #1, you can unbind keys in WoW, so it technically isn't necessary. For instance, I unbind the WASD/QE keys on all my WoWs except my main one, so I can drive the main toon with the WASD keys and it won't break follow. I keep the normal arrow keys bound, just in case they need to turn to face an add during combat, etc... I do plan to put in blacklists and whitelists eventually however.

For #2, in preferences you can already assign a hotkey to override broadcasting on/off. By default it's bound to the "F15" or pause/break key. You could easily go into preferences and bind that to ENTER instead.

[shivetya]

Silly me didn't look very deep into your program. I am still trying to get used to my Mac (first one I ever owned)

I didn't realize that I could unbound a key in WOW and not have you send... but I will need to use that second feature you mentioned, bound to F15, because chat would still get caught up in lots of dancing/etc of the alts.

[rjenkins8142]

Just to be clear, unbinding the keys in WoW on the clone(s) doesn't make CloneKeys not send those keys, but just makes WoW ignore them. :)

The Toggle of broadcasting with F15 is probably the feature you were looking for. BTW... that's the major difference between 0.1 (that only 2 others saw) and 0.2... Better preferences, the override hotkey works now, and a better about box.

[shivetya]

Really stupid question, since its more "Mac" oriented than your program...

If I am running my clones in windows, with the main in a window, how do I use F15 to disable or enable your problem? OS X is intercepting it.

Since I rarely use the other function keys the problem of playing WOW in a window isn't, well a problem

[shivetya]

Small issue.

Clonekeys keeps broadcasting keystrokes even when WOW is not the foreground application.... as in no WOW sessions are foreground.

Is there any way to determine when this condition is not true? Reason I ask is that I occasionally drop out to do mail

[rjenkins8142]

The best way is to just remember to either hit the 'override' hotkey when you switch out, or manually press the stop sign.

It sounds like your F15 key isn't working to stop broadcasting for you. Go into preferences (click the CloneKeys menu in the top left of your screen, and choose Preferences), then click the 'Edit Override Hotkey' button, then press the key you want to set to toggle broadcasting off/on. I recommend a button that you wouldn't normally press. By default it should be the Pause/Break key or the F15 key.

I'll probably add a preference setting that will make it only broadcast when one of the managed applications are foreground in the next version.

[Keytachi]

wow! ive been trying to find/do this! how did you do it? Applescript?

[rjenkins8142]

It's coded in C/C++ in Carbon, using the Accessibility API to do the keystroke sending.

[shivetya]

stay up on top. (should be stickied)

[Kaz]

How would I use this if I were using two computers via Synergy?

When I try to 'click the window' of the program on the other computer nothing happens.

:(

[shivetya]

How would I use this if I were using two computers via Synergy?

When I try to 'click the window' of the program on the other computer nothing happens.

:(

This is for a single computer multiple copy of wow setup.

I run three sessions of WOW on my iMac using this program. I do not use any other programs

[rjenkins8142]

How would I use this if I were using two computers via Synergy?

When I try to 'click the window' of the program on the other computer nothing happens.

:(If you're using 2 computers and only 2 wows, you'd probably use the broadcasting version of synergy.

http://mendax.org/?p=577

Also see:

http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?t=1175

[unionjack]

<3 great news! I don't have to write it myself. I'll check it out when I get home.

[Psyche_DH]

In hopes that the OP is still around...

I would sincerely love to have a feature or mode where I can connect a second keyboard to my mac, and then have all input from it go to the second copy of wow I am running.

I run two WOW clients on my MacPro and have a resto Druid and a Hunter. I don't really want to send a lot of keystrokes to both clients at the same time, but I would love to have a second keyboard to send only to the second WOW.

An alternative for use with a single keyboard would be to be able to have multiple states of relaying keys.
One would send all keystrokes to both WOWs.
A second state would send keystrokes to only the main WOW.
A third would send keystrokes only to the background WOW.

[shivetya]

Psyche_DH



what I do is have hotkeys for followers on the numberpad...

[Gruff]

Hello all... newbie dual-boxer (or attempting to become dual-boxer) and first time poster here.

First -- awesome looking program. Expect to save tons of headache from when I used to 2box EQ and alt-tabbing back and forth constantly...

I have downloaded v0.2 and I am able to run 2 instances of WoW game on my system (powerPC iMac with copies of main WoW folders). I add both WoW windows to CloneKeys and as long as I'm in CloneKeys as my focus window, keys are shared within the two WoW windows. However, as soon as I set my 'main' characters window as my focus, CloneKeys no longer shares keystrokes.

I have set my System Prefs to enable access for assistive devices, and I can get it to work (jumping). But, I'm having issues in using a main window and sharing keys to a secondary window.

I'm on Leopard if that's a difference.

Cheers,
Gruff

[Schwarz]

Are you playing in window mode or maximized mode? I had some of the same problems when i tried to maximize my mains window in hopes of making the fps jump up. What I do is have all 4 alt windows directly behind the main window. Long story short try playing in windowized mode and it should be all cheddar.

[Gruff]

Thanks for the reply. Windowed mode -- two game windows side by side.

After messing around more, I've found that as long as my focus 'window' is the Clone Keys window, then all keystrokes are broadcast to both WoW client windows. However, as soon as a WoW client window becomes my focus window, Clone Keys is not broadcasting those keystrokes to the other WoW client window.

Again, newbie here, but is this a symptom of my local settings or the way Clone Keys is designed?

Cheers,
Gruff

[shivetya]

Really strange problem you have there.

Some things to check. When you go full screen I assume you use opt-M (or whatever that keystroke combo is) and use the same to get out. At no time do you use F15, right? That will disable CloneKeys.

I use Leopard on an iMac and can run my main session fullscreen or not without any problems.



Now when you mention CloneKeys being in focus, if you slide the Clonekeys dialog to somewhere on the screen and watch the "stop sign" does it change when its not in focus? I still think it is something in your setup as I never had an issue.

[xcaine]

Hi.
I have had the same problem, a fresh install of Clonekeys worked with movement but as soon as an actionbar key was hit, Clonekeys stopped working. After reading the post about window focus I did a test and got this http://www.stage6.com/user/xcaine04/video/2161820/Clonekey-focus-error.

The hint is actionbar. So I turned off all mods and started with a fresh Clonekeys install and all works well so far.

I will be back to what mod, probably Bongos2 the actionpanel mod, when I find it out.

[xcaine]

So I have been testing a bit, and indeed on my machine it was the Bongos2 mod that broke the dual-window.
Now moved to Bartender3, without issues. CloneKeys works fine, so I can finally start dual-boxing.

On a side note, while testing I found that as long as I did not touch any other window than the two that I had asked CloneKeys to broadcast to, the dual-broadcasting worked even after Clonekeys had been shut off.. :?:

[bballpaul]

Hey guys,

I'm relatively new to dual boxing, but i am interested in setting it up on my Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) iMac.

I have two instances of WoW running smoothly at the moment, and i'm attempting to set up CloneKeys but it isn't quite working out for me. My problem is described by the video that xcaine posted above me, and looks to be the same problem that Gruff was talking about.
Unlike xcaine, i don't use Bongos2 or Bartender3 or any other action bar mod.

CloneKey stops working as soon as I focus on one window even as soon as I am in the login screen. I've tried turning 'Spaces' Off and in windowed mode, but I can't seem to make it work.

Any suggestions? ?(

[kibbles]

Is CloneKeys still being actively developed? I'd hate to see a viable mac key broadcaster disappear. :(

I'm happy to throw a few bucks at it like KeyClone if the project is kept alive and I'm sure the other Mac folks would too.

[kibbles]

I heard back from the original author and he's lost drive/interest in CloneKeys. :(

He's hoping someone else picks up the project so any enterprising Mac programmers out there want to step up and take it on? please? :)

[alphaquam]

I've made an update that resolves the issue of sending keystrokes from applications that aren't in the programs list (i.e. typing in Adium sends to WoW). I've contacted the author to see if I can be added as a developer on the project. :thumbsup:

[Emtu]

I've made an update that resolves the issue of sending keystrokes from applications that aren't in the programs list (i.e. typing in Adium sends to WoW). I've contacted the author to see if I can be added as a developer on the project. :thumbsup:Wow, great timing! I again caused unfortunate guild drama when my typing of an e-mail was broadcast in guild chat, and someone decided that my incoherent babbling must be offensive....

I would have been happy with having it just disabled when I change spaces, but your solution is even better. Where do I find your version?

[griffin01]

One of my problems with clonekey to date is that the more windows I have in clonekey for broadcasting, the more chance I have that the keys will not be broadcast. For example, with 2 characters, no problem it seems pretty flawless in sending the keystroke to both windows. When I have 3 instances going I run into the problem more often. Yesterday I played 5 mages all level 1 just to see how well it would work, and basically every cast I would have to hit the cast button more than once to make sure they all casted. I run all instances in windowed mode, and I get pretty decent fps when I have all graphics turned down which is how it is set up. I use a wireless keyboard, but im not sure if that has much to do with it (who knows, maybe it does).

and to Alphaquam, I would be more than happy to donate some money to help out with the development if you were to take it on.

[lacitpo]

I'm also very interested in seeing development continue on this project. Especially the ability to blacklist certain keys so they are not sent.

Yes, unbinding in wow works to a degree, but in the event that your main toon dies and you switch to an alt to control, all of a sudden keys you may need are not bound.... Just raises problems.

[Kevin Su]

I'm completely new to dual-boxing, and when I say new I meant as in "just-started-and-is-completely-clueless" new. I downloaded CloneKey, but it doesn't send the keystroke to the secondary WoW window. Can someone help me out?

[alphaquam]

No luck getting in touch with the author. :S I plan on creating a new project on Google Code and and continuing the effort. I'll set something up soon and make the latest version available. It will also include a feature to block the WSAD movement keys. Please post any other feature suggestions or issues you guys have.

[wetstreet]

Key mapping or at least mod key mapping. This would allow for the 'focusless, targetless, leaderless' setup. It should work something like this (configurable is better):

Window 1: Echo all non-modded keypresses as modded with Alt (i.e. 'a' is sent to the other windows as ALT-A)
Window 2: Same as above except CTRL-ALT ('a' is sent as CTRL-ALT-A)
Window 3: Same as above except SHIFT-ALT

With a bit of macro work on the client, you can now switch between windows and still control the party.

[alphaquam]

http://code.google.com/p/clonedkeys/
This release contains the non-subscribed broadcasting fix. Working on blacklist functionality next.

[Gomotron]

Hey if you have a PayPal account or whatever, I'd be happy to contribute as I downloaded the program and am very happy with it so far. I'd like to support continued development.

[wetstreet]

Nice to see a continuation! When do you plan to release the source code for your changes?

[alphaquam]

Source is available... and is newer than the current .dmg. It includes the WASDQE hard-coded blacklist functionality. Man, does that make a huge difference! I'll upload a new .dmg to match the source before the end of the night.

Oh... there's a donation link now, too.

[alphaquam]

Please direct all posts to the new thread ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=108161') .