Native Hold Key

Native Hold Key is a cross-platform OpenTabletDriver binding plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It keeps a key or key combination pressed for as long as a tablet button is held, emits repeat events, and safely releases held keys.

This is useful for spring-loaded tools in applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, where a regular OpenTabletDriver key binding may be interpreted as a single tap instead of a physical key hold.

Requirements

• macOS, Windows, or Linux
• OpenTabletDriver 0.6.7 or newer within the 0.6.x plugin API

Installation

Plugin Manager

Once the plugin is accepted into the official OpenTabletDriver plugin repository, install Native Hold Key from the Plugin Manager and restart OpenTabletDriver.

Manual installation

1. Download NativeHoldKey-1.1.0.0.zip from the latest GitHub release.
2. Open the OpenTabletDriver Plugin Manager and use Open Plugins Folder.
3. Create a Native Hold Key folder there and extract HoldKeyPlugin.dll into it.
4. Restart OpenTabletDriver.

Usage

1. Open the Pen Settings or Auxiliary Settings tab.
2. Open the advanced editor for the desired button.
3. Select Native Hold Key.
4. Configure:
   • Keys: Z or a combination such as Application+Space.
   • Repeat interval: 40 milliseconds is a good starting point.
   • Safety release: 15 seconds prevents a key from remaining stuck after a device or application failure.
5. Apply and save the profile.

Application represents Command on macOS, the Windows key on Windows, and Meta on Linux. Other supported modifier names include Shift, Control, and Alt. The macOS aliases Command and Option are also accepted.

Platform behavior

• macOS: uses Quartz/CoreGraphics and marks repeated events as native autorepeat events.
• Windows: uses OpenTabletDriver's virtual keyboard, backed by the Windows SendInput API.
• Linux: uses OpenTabletDriver's virtual keyboard, backed by evdev/uinput, so it works independently of X11 or Wayland. The OpenTabletDriver installation must have permission to access /dev/uinput.

Safety behavior

• Duplicate press reports are ignored.
• Keys are released in reverse order.
• Partial failures roll back keys that were already pressed.
• Disposal and the configurable safety timeout release held keys.
• The plugin is declared for macOS, Windows, and Linux and selects the correct input backend automatically.

Building

Install the .NET 8 SDK, then run:

dotnet restore HoldKeyPlugin.sln
dotnet test HoldKeyPlugin.sln
dotnet build HoldKeyPlugin/HoldKeyPlugin.csproj --configuration Release

Create the release archive with:

./scripts/package.sh 1.1.0.0

The archive is written to artifacts/ with HoldKeyPlugin.dll at its root, as required by the OpenTabletDriver Plugin Repository.

License

MIT