What is a .KL file?
A .KL file is a special kind of file used by Android devices, like smartphones and tablets, to understand what to do when you press a key on a keyboard or another input device connected to it. Think of it as a map that tells your Android device, "When this button is pressed, do this action." It's written in a simple text format that can be read by humans, using UTF-8 text. This means you can open and read it with any program that lets you look at text files.
Inside a .KL file, you'll find several important pieces of information. There's the SCANCODE, which is a unique number for each key on the keyboard. Then there's the KEYCODE, which tells the device what action to perform when that key is pressed. FLAGS are also included, which give extra instructions, like making the device wake up from sleep mode when a certain key is pressed. To help organize and explain what's in the file, comments can be added by starting a line with the pound character (#).
You can open a .KL file with any text editor. This means programs like Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac, or more advanced ones like Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Since it's just a text file, you don't need any special software to look at it or make changes.
Android devices already have some .KL files installed in specific folders, such as /system/usr/keylayout and /data/usr/keylayout. These folders can contain different .KL files for various input devices. For example, the keyboard might use one .KL file, while a game controller connected to the device uses another. This system allows Android to support a wide range of keyboards and other input devices by having a specific .KL file for each one.
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