UEFI Simple Text Input Ex Protocol Wrapper

This library provides a safe, idiomatic Rust wrapper for the EFI_SIMPLE_TEXT_INPUT_EX_PROTOCOL. Unlike the standard SimpleTextInput, this protocol allows for advanced key tracking, including shift state (Ctrl, Alt, Shift) and toggle state (Caps Lock, Num Lock).

Purpose

• Seamless Migration: Designed as a drop-in, painless replacement for the standard uefi::system::with_stdin.
• Safe Resource Management: Uses the with_stdin pattern to ensure the protocol is opened exclusively and closed automatically.
• Extended Key Data: Access to KeyShiftState and KeyToggleState.
• No-Std Compatible: Designed specifically for UEFI environments.

Feature List

• alloc: Enables Vec support. For example, with_stdins requires the alloc feature to more than 8 multiple input handles via find_handles.

Minimal Example

Simply replace your import and use the same closure-based pattern:

#![no_main]
#![no_std]
use uefi::prelude::*;
use uefi::{print, println};
use uefi::proto::console::text::Key::{Printable, Special};
use uefi::proto::console::text::ScanCode;
use uefi::boot::check_event;

#[entry]
fn main() -> Status {
    uefi::helpers::init().unwrap();

    uefi_input2::with_stdin(|input| {
        loop {
            // Performance Note: Using wait_for_key_event + check_event conforms to UEFI best practices 
            // by reducing CPU overhead and bus traffic. However, for maximum loop throughput 
            // (e.g., high-frequency GOP rendering), consider calling read_key_stroke_ex directly 
            // to save the extra protocol call.
            let Some(event) = input.wait_for_key_event() else { continue };
            if !check_event(event)? { continue }
            
            if let Some(data) = input.read_key_stroke_ex() {
                if data.shift() { println!("Shift is being held!") }
                match data.key {
                   Printable(c) if u16::from(c) == 0x0D => print!("\r\n"),
                   Printable(c) => print!("{}", c),
                   Special(code) if code == ScanCode::ESCAPE => {
                       println!("Exiting...");
                       return Ok(())
                   },
                   _ => {}
               }
            }
        }
        Ok(())
    }).unwrap();

    Status::SUCCESS
}

Manual Build

reference example:

git clone https://github.com/Bemly/uefi-input2.git
cd uefi-input2
# enable all features on x64 platform
cargo build --release --target x86_64-unknown-uefi --all-features
# enable alloc feature on arm64 platform
cargo build --release --target aarch64-unknown-uefi --features alloc 
# disable default feature on x32 platform for debug mode
cargo build --target i686-unknown-uefi --no-default-features 

then use this crate in your project

[dependencies]
uefi-input2 = { version = "", path = "../uefi-input2" }

Test

Due to a reverse-execution bug in the RustRover README runner, this script is intentionally authored in reverse order for compatibility.

qemu-system-x86_64 -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=qemu/OVMF.fd -drive format=raw,file=fat:rw:qemu -m 4G -device usb-ehci -device usb-tablet -smp 4 -cpu max -monitor stdio
mv -Force .\target\x86_64-unknown-uefi\release\examples\*.efi .\qemu\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI
rm .\qemu\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI
cargo build --example test_polling_hotplug --all-features --release

About Version

Major/Minor semver follows Minor/Patch for uefi-rs crate version. Patch semver is for uefi-input2 own version.

such as: uefi-input2 36.1.x <=dependency= uefi-rs 0.36.1

License

This project is licensed under the Zed License.