C# Signature:
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
static extern short VkKeyScanEx(char ch, IntPtr dwhkl);
VB.Net Signature:
<DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet := CharSet.Unicode)> _
Private Shared Function VkKeyScanEx(ch As Char, dwhkl As IntPtr) As Short
End Function
User-Defined Types:
None.
Notes:
The CharSet.Unicode is needed on the DllImport declaration for the marshaler to correctly marshal unicode chars
Tips & Tricks:
Please add some!
Sample Code:
A sample program to explain usage (from: [http://stackoverflow.com/a/35094566/2721611]):
namespace KeyFinder
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
static extern short VkKeyScanEx(char ch, IntPtr dwhkl);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern bool UnloadKeyboardLayout(IntPtr hkl);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr LoadKeyboardLayout(string pwszKLID, uint Flags);
public class KeyboardPointer : IDisposable
{
private readonly IntPtr pointer;
public KeyboardPointer(int klid)
{
pointer = LoadKeyboardLayout(klid.ToString("X8"), 1);
}
public KeyboardPointer(CultureInfo culture)
:this(culture.KeyboardLayoutId){}
public void Dispose()
{
UnloadKeyboardLayout(pointer);
GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
~KeyboardPointer()
{
UnloadKeyboardLayout(pointer);
}
// Converting to System.Windows.Forms.Key here, but
// some other enumerations for similar tasks have the same
// one-to-one mapping to the underlying Windows API values
public bool GetKey(char character, out Keys key)
{
short keyNumber = VkKeyScanEx(character, pointer);
if(keyNumber == -1)
{
key = System.Windows.Forms.Keys.None;
return false;
}
key = (System.Windows.Forms.Keys)(((keyNumber & 0xFF00) << 8) | (keyNumber & 0xFF));
return true;
}
}
private static string DescribeKey(Keys key)
{
StringBuilder desc = new StringBuilder();
if((key & Keys.Shift) != Keys.None)
desc.Append("Shift: ");
if((key & Keys.Control) != Keys.None)
desc.Append("Control: ");
if((key & Keys.Alt) != Keys.None)
desc.Append("Alt: ");
return desc.Append(key & Keys.KeyCode).ToString();
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
string testChars = "Aéש";
Keys key;
foreach(var culture in (new string[]{"he-IL", "en-US", "en-IE"}).Select(code => CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(code)))
{
Console.WriteLine(culture.Name);
using(var keyboard = new KeyboardPointer(culture))
foreach(char test in testChars)
{
Console.Write(test);
Console.Write('\t');
if(keyboard.GetKey(test, out key))
Console.WriteLine(DescribeKey(key));
else
Console.WriteLine("No Key");
}
}
Console.Read();//Stop window closing
}
}
}
Output:
he-IL
A Shift: A
é No Key
ש A
en-US
A Shift: A
é No Key
ש No Key
en-IE
A Shift: A
é Control: Alt: E
ש No Key
(Though your own console might mess up ש and/or é depending on settings and fonts).
Alternative Managed API:
Do you know one? Please contribute it!
