Keyboard handling

Keyboard Event Handling


To handle KeyPress events:

(1) in Form1.Designer.cs, place the following:

this.KeyPress += new System.Windows.Forms.KeyPressEventHandler(Form1_KeyPress);

(2) in Form1.cs, place the  following delegate immediately after the form's constructor:

public delegate void KeyPressEventHandler(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e);

(3) in Form1.cs, add the following method:

private void Form1_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e) {
            MessageBox.Show("A key was pressed.");
        }

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To handle KeyDown events:

(1) in Form1.Designer.cs, place the following:

this.KeyDown += new System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventHandler(Form1_KeyDown);

(2) in Form1.cs,  place the following immediately after the form's constructor:

public delegate void KeyEventHandler(object sender, KeyEventArgs e);

(3) in Form1.cs, add  the following method:

       private void Form1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e) {
            if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Enter) {
                MessageBox.Show("Enter key pressed.");
            }
            if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Escape) {
                MessageBox.Show("Escape key pressed.");
            }
        }


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To handle KeyUp events:

(1) in Form1.Designer.cs, place the following:

this.KeyUp+= new System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventHandler(Form1_KeyUp);

(2) in Form1.cs, place the following immediately after the form's constructor:

public delegate void KeyEventHandler(object sender, KeyEventArgs e);

(3) in Form1.cs, add the following method:

Key	KeyDown	KeyUp	KeyPress
Tab	yes	no	yes
Shift	yes	no	no
Caps	yes	no	no
Esc	yes	no	yes
F1 to F12	yes	no	no
Ctrl	yes	no	no
WinKey	yes	no	no
Alt	yes	no	no
Space	yes	no	yes
AppsKey	yes	no	no
Enter	yes	no	yes
Back	yes	no	yes
arrow keys	yes	no	no
PrintScreen	no	yes	no
Scroll	yes	no	no
Pause	yes	no	no
Insert	yes	no	no
Home	yes	no	no
PageUp	yes	no	no
Delete	yes	no	no
End	yes	no	no
Next (i.e., PageDown	yes	no	no
NumLock	yes	no	no

The numeric keypad behaves one way when the NumLock is on, and another when it is off. When the numeric keyboard is locked into numbers mode, pressing one of the numeral keys will trigger both a KeyPress and a KeyDown event. However, when not locked into numbers mode, i.e., when the "4" key means Left, and the "3" key means Next, etc., only a KeyDown event is triggered, and each key's alternate meaning is applies. For instance, "7" is Home, "1" is End, and "0" is Insert.