Customize sorting of modifiers in the hotkeys popup

lib/awful/hotkeys_popup/widget.lua

@@ -109,11 +109,60 @@ local widget = {
     group_rules = {},
 }
 
+-- To use special sortingm for hotkey modifiers, add the following line 
+-- your rc.lua file, after `local hotkeys_popup = require("awful.hotkeys_popup")`:
+--
+-- hotkeys_popup.widget.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort = true
+--
+-- And optionally, to customize the order, add, for example: 
+--
+-- hotkeys_popup.widget.special_hotkey_mod_order = {
+--         Shift = 1,
+--         Ctrl = 2,
+--         Super = 3,
+--         Alt = 4,
+-- }
+-- 
+-- Setting 2 or more modifiers to the same number will cause their relative
+-- sorting order to be undefined.
+
+
+--- Use special order for hotkey modifier sorting
+-- @tfield boolean use_special_hotkey_mod_sort
+-- @param boolean
+widget.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort = false
+
+--- Special modifier sort order.
+-- Defines the order in which modifier keys are displayed.
+--
+-- @tfield table awful.hotkeys_popup.widget.special_hotkey_mod_order
+--
+-- @tfield[opt=1] int Super
+-- @tfield[opt=2] int Ctrl
+-- @tfield[opt=3] int Alt
+-- @tfield[opt=4] int Shift
+widget.special_hotkey_mod_order = {
+    Super = 1,
+    Ctrl  = 2,
+    Alt   = 3,
+    Shift = 4,
+}
+
 --- Don't show hotkeys without descriptions.
 -- @tfield boolean widget.hide_without_description
 -- @param boolean
 widget.hide_without_description = true
 
+
+
+local function special_hotkey_join_plus_sort(modifiers)
+    if #modifiers<1 then return "none" end
+    table.sort(modifiers, function(a,b)
+            return widget.special_hotkey_mod_order[a] < widget.special_hotkey_mod_order[b]
+        end)
+    return table.concat(modifiers, '+')
+end
+
 --- Merge hotkey records into one if they have the same modifiers and
 -- description. Records with five or more keys will abbreviate them.
 --
@@ -316,6 +365,9 @@ function widget.new(args)
         merge_duplicates = (
             args.merge_duplicates == nil
         ) and widget.merge_duplicates or args.merge_duplicates,
+        use_special_hotkey_mod_sort = (
+            args.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort == nil
+        ) and widget.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort or args.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort,
         group_rules = args.group_rules or gtable.clone(widget.group_rules),
         -- For every key in every `awful.key` binding, the first non-nil result
         -- in this lists is chosen as a human-readable name:
@@ -326,6 +378,7 @@ function widget.new(args)
         -- be presented to the user as-is. (This is useful for cheatsheets for
         -- external programs.)
         labels = args.labels or widget.labels,
+        special_mod_order = args.special_hotkey_mod_order or widget.special_hotkey_mod_order,
         _additional_hotkeys = {},
         _cached_wiboxes = {},
         _cached_awful_keys = {},
@@ -394,7 +447,13 @@ function widget.new(args)
         for _, mod in ipairs(data.mod) do
             table.insert(readable_mods, self.labels[mod] or mod)
         end
-        local joined_mods = join_plus_sort(readable_mods)
+        local joined_mods = {}
+
+        if widget.use_special_hotkey_mod_sort then
+            joined_mods = special_hotkey_join_plus_sort(readable_mods)
+        else
+            joined_mods = join_plus_sort(readable_mods)
+        end
 
         local group = data.group or "none"
         self._group_list[group] = true