what do the parameter values in AppleSymbolicHotKeys plist dict represent?
hotkeys, macos, plist
Solution
It is the ascii code of the letter on the key, or -1 (65535) if there is no ascii code. Note that letters are lowercase, so D is 100 (lowercase d).
Sometimes a key that would normally have an ascii code uses 65535 instead. This appears to happen when the control key modifier is used, for example with hot keys for specific spaces.
There is a nice list of keys and values from 2011 here, along with some other good details:
http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=114785
Problem
tl;dr what does the first `parameters` value in `com.apple.symbolichotkeys:AppleSymbolicHotKeys` represent? details... the AppleSymbolicHotKeys structure the OS X symbolic hotkeys plist file at ``` ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist ``` stores hotkeys in a dict called as 'AppleSymbolicHotKeys' with entries that look like ``` <action:int> = Dict { enabled = <enabled:bool> value = Dict { type = <type:string> parameters = Array { <param_1:int> <param_2:int> <param_3:int> } } } ``` example: ``` 10 = Dict { enabled = true value = Dict { type = standard parameters = Array { 56 28 1572864 } } } ``` pro tip: you can take a look with ``` /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :AppleSymbolicHotKeys" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist ``` the values `action:int` this is the id of the action the hotkey will take. there are reasonably complete lists around the net, do some googling 'cause i don't have enough points to post links or whatever. `enabled:bool` whether the hotkey is enabled. `type:string` always seems to be 'standard'. `param_1:int` this is the one i can't get. it doesn't seem necessarily connected to params 2 and 3, though it often changes when the other params are changed. for instance... i can click `Restore Defaults` in the `System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Mission Control` view, and it will set "Switch to Desktop 1" to "ctrl + 1". reading the value for that action (number 118), i see that `param_1` is set to `65535`. if i manually set the key combo to "ctrl + 1" in the UI, i get `param_1` set to `49`. the values of `param_2` and `param_3` stay the same throughout. `param_2:int` this seems to be key codes from ``` /System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Headers/Events.h ``` for the non-modifier key to be pressed, except for the value `65535`, which is very common in `param_1`, and shows up in `param_2` on my local machine for actions 160, 163 and 175. `param_3:int` seems to indicate the modifier key to be depressed, as according to ``` MODS = { 0=>"No modifier", 131072=>"Shift", 262144=>"Control", 524288=>"Option", 1048576=>"Command", 393216=>"Shift + Control", 655360=>"Shift + Option", 1179648=>"Shift + Command", 786432=>"Control + Option", 1310720=>"Control + Command", 1572864=>"Option + Command", 917504=>"Shift + Control + Option", 1441792=>"Shift + Control + Command", 1703936=>"Shift + Option + Command", 1835008=>"Control + Option + Command", 1966080=>"Shift + Control + Option + Command", } ``` where you will notice the numbers representing multiple modifiers are the sum of the modifiers they represent, e.g. ``` "Shift + Control" = 393216 = 131072 + 262144 = "Shift" + "Control" ``` so... any insight would be greatly appreciated, and hope this can serve as a reference for the info i dug up to anyone else approaching the subject.