libratbag - a library for configurable mice

Many modern mice have the ability to store profiles, customize button mappings and actions and switch between several hardware resolutions. A number of those mice are targeted at gamers, but the features are increasingly common in standard mice. Under Linux, support for these device is spotty, though there are a few projects dedicated to supporting parts of the available device range. [1] [2] [3]

Benjamin Tissoires and I started a new project: libratbag. libratbag is a library to provide a generic interface to these mice,enabling desktop environments to provide configuration tools without having to worry about the device model. As of the time of this writing, we have partial support for the Logitech HID++ 1.0 (G500, G5) and HID++ 2.0 protocols (G303), the Etekcity Scroll Alpha and Roccat Kone XTD. Thomas H. P. Anderson already added the G5, G9 and the M705.

git clone http://github.com/libratbag/libratbag

The internal architecture is fairly simple, behind the library's API we have a couple of protocol-specific drivers that access the mouse. The drivers match a specific product/vendor ID combination and load the data from the device, the library then exports it to the caller as a struct ratbag_device. Each device has at least one profile, each profile has a number of buttons and at least one resolution. Where possible, the resolutions can be queried and set, the buttons likewise can be queried and set for different functions. If the hardware supports it, you can map buttons to other buttons, assign macros, or special functions such as DPI/profile switching. The main goal of libratbag is to unify access to the devices so a configuration application doesn't need different libraries per hardware. Especially short-term, we envision using some of the projects listed above through custom backends.

We're at version 0.1 at the moment, so the API is still subject to change. It looks like this:

#include <libratbag.h>

struct ratbag *ratbag;
struct ratbag_device *device;
struct ratbag_profile *p;
struct ratbag_button *b;
struct ratbag_resolution *r;

ratbag = ratbag_create_context(...);
device = ratbag_device_new_from_udev(ratbag, udev_device);

/* retrieve the first profile */
p = ratbag_device_get_profile(device, 0);

/* retrieve the first resolution setting of the profile */
r = ratbag_profile_get_resolution(p, 0);
printf("The first resolution is: %dpi @ %d Hz\n",
       ratbag_resolution_get_dpi(r),
       ratbag_resolution_get_report_rate(r));

ratbag_resolution_unref(r);

/* retrieve the fourth button */
b = ratbag_profile_get_button(p, 4);

if (ratbag_button_get_action_type(b) == RATBAG_BUTTON_ACTION_TYPE_SPECIAL &&
    ratbag_button_get_special(b) == RATBAG_BUTTON_ACTION_SPECIAL_RESOLUTION_UP)
    printf("button 4 selects next resolution");

ratbag_button_unref(b);
ratbag_profile_unref(p);
ratbag_device_unref(device);
ratbag_unref(device);

For testing and playing around with libratbag, we have a tool called ratbag-command that exposes most of the library:

$ ratbag-command info /dev/input/event8
Device 'BTL Gaming Mouse'
Capabilities: res profile btn-key btn-macros
Number of buttons: 11
Profiles supported: 5
  Profile 0 (active)
    Resolutions:
      0: 800x800dpi @ 500Hz
      1: 800x800dpi @ 500Hz (active)
      2: 2400x2400dpi @ 500Hz
      3: 3200x3200dpi @ 500Hz
      4: 4000x4000dpi @ 500Hz
      5: 8000x8000dpi @ 500Hz
    Button: 0 type left is mapped to 'button 1'
    Button: 1 type right is mapped to 'button 2'
    Button: 2 type middle is mapped to 'button 3'
    Button: 3 type extra (forward) is mapped to 'profile up'
    Button: 4 type side (backward) is mapped to 'profile down'
    Button: 5 type resolution cycle up is mapped to 'resolution cycle up'
    Button: 6 type pinkie is mapped to 'macro "": H↓ H↑ E↓ E↑ L↓ L↑ L↓ L↑ O↓ O↑'
    Button: 7 type pinkie2 is mapped to 'macro "foo": F↓ F↑ O↓ O↑ O↓ O↑'
    Button: 8 type wheel up is mapped to 'wheel up'
    Button: 9 type wheel down is mapped to 'wheel down'
    Button: 10 type unknown is mapped to 'none'
  Profile 1
      ...

And to toggle/query the various settings on the device:

$ ratbag-command dpi set 400 /dev/input/event8
$ ratbag-command profile 1 resolution 3 dpi set 800 /dev/input/event8
$ ratbag-command profile 0 button 4 set action special doubleclick

libratbag is in a very early state of development. There are a bunch of FIXMEs in the code, the hardware support is still spotty and we'll appreciate any help we can get, especially with the hardware driver backends. There's a TODO in the repo for some things that we already know needs changing. Feel free to browse the repo on github and drop us some patches.

Eventually we want this to be integrated into the desktop environments, either in the respective control panels or in a standalone application. libratbag already provides SVGs for some devices we support but we'll need some designer input for the actual application. Again, any help you want to provide here will be much appreciated.