I have a WinForms Form (C#/.Net) and it contains a PictureBox, MenuStrip, Panel and two Button controls.
I need to detect KeyDown event for the Arrow Keys for the whole window; i.e., when the window is in the foreground, regardless of which one of the child controls has the focus, I need to know when an arrow key is pressed and execute some code when it happens.
I don't want to go and attach an event handler for each control. Is there a better way? How can I do it?
Edit: Using KeyPreview as suggested by an answer below, I am able to detect other keys. Not able to detect arrow keys. I am able to detect arrow keys only when the buttons in my form are disabled. Or else, they take up focus back and forth and don't fire the event. How can I detect arrow keys with buttons on the form?
Override the ProcessCmdKey() method to detect the arrow keys.
protected override bool ProcessCmdKey(ref Message msg, Keys keyData) {
if (keyData == Keys.Left) {
Console.WriteLine("left");
return true;
}
// etc..
return base.ProcessCmdKey(ref msg, keyData);
}