KeyCodes in VB

Instead of storing the keycodes in an array, you could store the status of each key in a boolean array.
The KeyDown event is still called repeatedly, but I don't know of any ways around that...

Let me know if you find a better method!

Dim Keys(3) As Boolean
 
Private Sub Form_Load()
    Form1.KeyPreview = True
End Sub
 
Private Sub Form_KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
    Select Case KeyCode
        Case Is = vbKeyW
            Keys(0) = True
        Case Is = vbKeyA
            Keys(1) = True
        Case Is = vbKeyS
            Keys(2) = True
        Case Is = vbKeyD
            Keys(3) = True
    End Select
End Sub
 
Private Sub Form_KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
    Select Case KeyCode
        Case Is = vbKeyW
            Keys(0) = False
        Case Is = vbKeyA
            Keys(1) = False
        Case Is = vbKeyS
            Keys(2) = False
        Case Is = vbKeyD
            Keys(3) = False
    End Select
End Sub
 

Edited by - dmc on January 18, 2002 3:06:52 PM

Edited by - dmc on January 18, 2002 3:08:18 PM

Use GetKeyState. Actually, from memory, there was a bit more to it than for me to just say look it up...

You need these two constants:

''Keys
Const KEY_TOGGLED As Long = &H1
Const KEY_PRESSED As Long = &H1000

And this declare:

Declare Function GetKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal nVirtKey As Long) As Integer

Then you use it like this:

If GetKeyState(vbMyKey) And KEY_PRESSED Then
''MyKey is pressed
End If
If GetKeyState(vbKeyNumLock) And KEY_TOGGLED Then
''NumLock is on
End If

Trying is the first step towards failure.

It''s been a while since I programmed in VB. I''ve always thought KeyDown was only done on the way down, and vice versa for KeyUp. KeyPress I thought was the wacky one. Oh well, it''s been a long time.

I would do something similar to dmc (although ragonastick''s idea is good too), but if vbKeyA, vbKeyB are small, define an array booleans for all the keys. It will save you the case statement.

Dim Keys[256] as boolean

Private Sub KeyDown(...)
Keys[keyCode] = TRUE
End

Private Sub KeyUp(...)
Keys[keyCode] = FALSE
End

If the keycodes are big, you can probably subtract a big number off them to transpose them to 0-255

Beware if you use those Key_Up/Key_Down events because they don''t happen if your form doesn''t have focus (from memory at least, I''m not sure if KeyPreview fixes that). Using GetKeyState is a lot simpler and faster.

Trying is the first step towards failure.

Or you can just use DirectInput. It can be used under VB without TOO much hassle, and will do anything you want it to, with nice little examples and tutorials.