Move keyboard shortcuts to dedicated settings file with import/export

[ten9876]

What

Move keyboard shortcut bindings out of the main AetherSDR.settings XML file into a dedicated ~/.config/AetherSDR/shortcuts.settings file (same pattern as midi.settings for MIDI bindings). Add import/export functionality so users can share shortcut profiles.

Why

1. Separation of concerns — shortcut bindings are independent of radio/display settings and shouldn't be mixed in the main settings file
2. Profile sharing — operators want to share shortcut layouts (e.g. "Contest CW", "DX SSB", "Casual Ragchew") without exporting their entire settings file
3. Clean reset — deleting shortcuts.settings resets shortcuts to defaults without affecting any other settings
4. Consistency — follows the same pattern as MidiSettings which already uses a dedicated XML file

Current State

Bindings are stored as Shortcut_<actionId> keys in AppSettings (AetherSDR.settings). Loaded in ShortcutManager::loadBindings(), saved in ShortcutManager::saveBindings().

Proposed Changes

1. Dedicated ShortcutSettings file

• New: src/core/ShortcutSettings.h/.cpp (or extend ShortcutManager directly)
• File: ~/.config/AetherSDR/shortcuts.settings (XML, same format as midi.settings)
• Migrate existing Shortcut_* keys from AppSettings on first launch, then remove them

2. Import/Export in ShortcutDialog

• Export Profile button → QFileDialog::getSaveFileName() → writes JSON:

  {
    "name": "Contest CW",
    "version": "0.7.12",
    "bindings": {
      "tune_up_1": "Right",
      "mox_toggle": "T",
      "go_to_freq": "G"
    }
  }

• Import Profile button → QFileDialog::getOpenFileName() → reads JSON, applies bindings, rebuilds shortcuts
• File extension: .aethershortcuts (or .json)

3. ShortcutDialog UI additions

• Add "Import Profile..." and "Export Profile..." buttons to the bottom button row (already stubbed in the plan at Keyboard shortcut manager: customizable key bindings UI #239)
• Import shows a confirmation dialog listing what will change before applying

Files to modify

File	Change
src/core/ShortcutManager.cpp	Replace AppSettings read/write with dedicated XML file
src/gui/ShortcutDialog.cpp	Add import/export buttons and file dialogs
src/core/AppSettings.cpp	One-time migration of Shortcut_* keys (then remove them)

Priority

Low — current implementation works. This is a quality-of-life improvement for users who want to share profiles or maintain multiple shortcut layouts.

[aethersdr-agent]

Triage analysis

The proposal is concrete and the precedent (MidiSettings) is well-established. Confirmed the current state by reading the relevant files:

Current state (verified)

• src/core/ShortcutManager.cpp:65-110 — loadBindings() reads Shortcut_<id> keys from AppSettings::instance() and includes a duplicate-key normalization pass (preferring customized bindings over defaults).
• src/core/ShortcutManager.cpp:112-120 — saveBindings() writes the same Shortcut_<id> keys back and calls AppSettings::save(). Note this currently serializes the whole AetherSDR.settings file on every key-edit click in ShortcutDialog.
• src/core/MidiSettings.{h,cpp} — exact pattern to mirror: QStandardPaths::GenericConfigLocation + "/AetherSDR/midi.settings", QXmlStreamReader/Writer, plus a profile subdir (~/.config/AetherSDR/midi/*.xml) with availableProfiles()/saveProfile()/loadProfile()/deleteProfile().
• src/gui/ShortcutDialog.cpp:154-174 — bottom button row currently has "Reset All to Defaults" + "Close". This is where Import/Export buttons go.

Proposed implementation

1. New src/core/ShortcutSettings.{h,cpp} (mirror MidiSettings)

• Singleton with load()/save(), loadBindings() / saveBindings(const QHash<QString,QString>&) returning/accepting an id→keyText map.
• File: ~/.config/AetherSDR/shortcuts.settings (XML), root element <ShortcutSettings> with <Bindings><Binding action="..." key="..."/></Bindings>.
• Optionally add a built-in profile dir at ~/.config/AetherSDR/shortcuts/*.xml for parity with MIDI profiles (the issue only requires ad-hoc file-dialog export, so this is optional).

2. ShortcutManager.cpp changes

• Replace the AppSettings reads/writes in loadBindings() / saveBindings() with ShortcutSettings::instance(). Keep the existing duplicate-normalization pass — it's a real safety net when applying imported profiles too.
• Add a public applyBindings(const QHash<QString,QString>&) used by import; it re-runs normalization, calls saveBindings(), and emits bindingsChanged. Callers must then call rebuildShortcuts().

3. AppSettings.cpp one-time migration

• In AppSettings::load() (or a dedicated migrateShortcutKeys() called once early in startup), collect every key starting with "Shortcut_", hand them to ShortcutSettings::saveBindings(), then remove() them and save(). Idempotent: if no Shortcut_* keys exist, no-op.

4. ShortcutDialog.cpp import/export

• Add "Import Profile..." and "Export Profile..." buttons to the bottom row (line 154 area), left of the stretch.
• Export: QFileDialog::getSaveFileName(this, "Export Shortcut Profile", "", "AetherSDR Shortcuts (*.aethershortcuts)") → JSON with name, version (use the app's version string, not a hard-coded "0.7.12"), bindings map of id→key text.
• Import: QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(...) → parse JSON, build a diff preview ("12 bindings will change, 3 actions in the file are unknown"), confirm via QMessageBox, then m_mgr->applyBindings(...) + m_mgr->rebuildShortcuts(parent, guardFn). Since MainWindow owns the guard closure, either expose a "re-register shortcuts" hook on the manager or emit a new requestRebuild() signal that MainWindow already connects to.

Open questions for maintainer (not blockers)

• File format mismatch: the issue specifies XML for the on-disk settings (matching midi.settings) but JSON for the exported profile. That's a defensible split (XML for app state, JSON for shareable artifacts), but it does mean two parsers. Worth confirming before implementing — using XML throughout (with a <ShortcutProfile> root like MidiSettings::writeBindingsToXml) would be more consistent.
• Profile directory: issue doesn't mention a ~/.config/AetherSDR/shortcuts/ profile dir like MIDI has. Suggest skipping it for v1 — file-dialog export to anywhere is simpler and there's no in-dialog "Profiles..." menu being added.
• Version field: source it from the app version (QCoreApplication::applicationVersion()), not a string literal. Use it on import for a forward-compat warning only, not a hard reject.
• Migration timing: AppSettings::load() runs before ShortcutManager exists. Either (a) do the migration inside ShortcutManager::loadBindings() on first call (read old keys from AppSettings, write to ShortcutSettings, delete from AppSettings), or (b) add a top-level migrateLegacySettings() step in main.cpp after both singletons are reachable. (a) is more self-contained.

Handoff summary

Well-scoped, low-priority quality-of-life work. Pattern is fully established by MidiSettings. Recommend authorizing implementation with the answer to the XML-vs-JSON-for-export question (the rest are minor judgment calls that can be made in the PR).

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_{🤖 aethersdr-agent · cost: $4.3678 · model: claude-opus-4-7}