Why is this immediately sending release?

[bogorad]

I press+hold DEL and then press+hold J. I need it to send a backslash and nothing else while I'm holding it; release when I release it. Without macro, it repeats. With macro it releases immediately.

If I make it (macro (unicode \)) it sends two backslashes.

How do I fix it?

(defalias
  nav    (layer-while-held U_NAV)
  backsl (macro \)
)

(defsrc
  del   j
)

(deflayer U_BASE
  @nav  j
)

(deflayer U_NAV
  XX  @backsl
)

Here's the log:

2024-02-24T20:04:16.331692+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.3318979+01:00 [INFO] Entered layer:

(deflayer U_NAV
  XX  @backsl
)
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8311682+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8320993+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8322915+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8638252+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8647476+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8649016+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8746158+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8751956+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8766872+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key press     Bslash
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8774986+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key release   Bslash
2024-02-24T20:04:16.878788+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata::windows: lsft-arrowkey workaround: removing Bslash at its typical coordinate
2024-02-24T20:04:16.8790642+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata::windows: removing Bslash from pressed keys
2024-02-24T20:04:17.3745502+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.3750232+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.375253+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:17.3753858+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key outs for default layer: [KEY_J];
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4083899+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4103109+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4104072+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4106065+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key outs for default layer: [KEY_J];
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4405142+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4424122+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4425008+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4426295+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key outs for default layer: [KEY_J];
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4740589+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Press }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.476039+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Repeat }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4763029+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: empty layer-while-held outputs, probably transparent
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4766009+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: key outs for default layer: [KEY_J];
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4826491+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Release }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.4835426+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_J, value: Release }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.5227275+01:00 [DEBUG] (1) kanata::kanata::windows::llhook: event loop: KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Release }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.5242103+01:00 [DEBUG] (2) kanata::kanata: process recv ev KeyEvent { code: KEY_DELETE, value: Release }
2024-02-24T20:04:17.5245278+01:00 [INFO] Entered layer:

(deflayer U_BASE
  @nav  j
)

[jtroo]

This seems somewhat like an X-Y problem.

To explain the behaviour though, Kanata tries to follow native key repeat where possible. macro explicitly does not though and immediately releases, by design. On Windows sending a single press without releasing will type only a single character. But Linux DEs will trigger key repeat even with one press event, without kanata explicitly asking for repeats, until release.

A workaround you can try is sending a key that no-ops like f24, to keep the key held but cancel the key repeat.

E.g. (multi \ (macro 10 f24))

[bogorad]

It worked, thank you again! And special thanks for taking time to explain.