VB:Tutorials:WINAPI:GetKeyState API

"Even a perfect program still has bugs."

In order for a game to function, there must be a user, and that user must be able to input his will into the game. He or she will do this by using usually a combination of mouse and keyboard and maybe other devices. This text will show you how to check for keypresses using a Windows API call called:

  Private Declare Function GetKeyState Lib "user32" Alias "GetKeyState" (ByVal nVirtKey As Long) As Integer
         
  'You'll also need these
  Private Const KEY_TOGGLED As Integer = &H1
  Private Const KEY_PRESSED As Integer = &H1000

The way to use this API to test for keypresses is like so:

  If GetKeyState(vbKeyUp) And KEY_PRESSED Then _ 
       'the key was pressed
  if GetKeyState(vbkeyCapital) and KEY_TOGGLED Then _
       'Caps lock is ON

Notice that the toggled flag is used for keys that can have a state, like Numlock etc..

--IGTHORN

Thanks to Andy for giving me the Key_* constant values.