Usage
User interface
Note: The following uses Qt terminology for modifier key names. The following table shows the mapping of modifier keys on different keyboards:
| Qt | Linux/Win | MacOS |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl | Ctrl | command /⌘ |
| Meta | Win | control /⌃ |
| Alt | Alt | option /⌥ |
Input line
Besides its primary function, the input line provides an input hint and contains the settings button.
The input hint, displayed after the entered text, varies based on the context. For empty triggered queries, it shows the query handler’s synopsis, if available, otherwise it shows the input action text of the selected item, if available, or is empty.
The settings button is located in the top right corner of the input line. It appears on mouse hover and also serves as busy indicator e.g. when the current query is processing. On click it opens the settings window.
The manually entered text of the input line is stored in the input history when the window is hidden. This input history can be used to search and browse your past input. When the results list is hidden or the first item is selected ⬆ iterates the input history in reverse order.
Holding Shift enables the input history navigation mode. In this mode the mentioned conditions for ⬆ to iterate the history are not required and ⬇ can be used for bidirectional iteration as well.
If enabled, the (manually set) input text is used for input history search. Input history navigation then only shows input history entries matching the input text.
Results list
The results list displays results items of a query. Hold and release Meta to switch between match items and fallback items.
Items can provide an input action text which is used to replace the input text on pressing Tab. Its semantic is loosely defined. It may be a completion but also an evaluation or something else.
Actions list
Result items can have multiple associated actions. The default action of an item is activated by pressing Return or Enter. To display and navigate the list of alternative actions of an item hold Alt .
Key map
As a reference the following table lists the keys you can use to control Albert:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Esc | Hide Albert. |
| Alt (Hold) | Activate action mode. |
| Meta (Hold) | Activate fallback mode. |
| Shift (Hold) | Activate history search mode. |
| Tab | Activate input action of the selected item (evaluation, completion, etc). |
| Return,Enter | Activate item. |
| Ctrl+, | Open settings window. |
| ⬆,⬇, PgUp,PgDn | Navigation in item lists. |
| Alt+F4,⌘+Q | Quit Albert (Depends on settings). |
| Ctrl+H/J/K/L | Vim bindings. Synthesize to arrows. |
| Ctrl+N/P | Emacs bindings. Synthesize to arrows. |
Plugins and extensions
A plugin is a physical module that can be loaded/unloaded at runtime. It could be native or provided by plugin provider plugins. Nested plugins are accessible when their provider is loaded.
Users can enable/disable or load/unload plugins via the plugins tab in the settings or using the built-in plugin query handler. Enabled plugins load automatically at launch. Plugins with graphical interfaces for configuration can be accessed via the plugins tab in the settings.
An extension is a logical module that can be used to add functionality to the app. Each plugin can provide multiple extension implementations or even expose its own extension interfaces. More on this topic can be found in the Extension section
Queries
The core of the app is the query engine which parses user input and determines the mode of a query.
If the input starts with a trigger of a trigger query handler, the query engine instantiates a trigger query execution that is exclusively handled by the corresponding handler. This allows the handler to asynchronously add matches and as such define their order.
If the user input does not start with a trigger of a trigger query handler, the query engine instantiates a global query execution that executes the enabled global query handlers in parallel and eventually gathers and sorts their matches.
Both query executions eventually yield a set of query matches which may be empty.
The fallback handlers of a query provide a separate set of result items, the query fallbacks, which can handle any string. They are displayed when no matches were found or when the user explicitly requests them.