Listening to keyboard events in C#

c# events keyboard keystrokes
RobertPitt picture RobertPitt · Mar 29, 2011 · Viewed 9.4k times · Source

Im building a small application for my employer where hitting a certain keystroke will display a model box containing information that one of our technicians would require when providing one to one support.

its a very simple application but tracking the keyboard events without causing any issues for the user is puzzling me.

Basically I need to write a class that I can rely on to send me an event when CTRLALT + H are fired.

what's the best methods of completing this without having tons of events fired through my application, for example, ask windows to inform me when the keystroke has been entered.

Regards.

Answer

Daniel Hilgarth picture Daniel Hilgarth · Mar 29, 2011

Use a global hotkey. The link contains a class that encapsulates the P/Invoke stuff required to use global hotkeys in .NET.

Related questions

How to remove all event handlers from an event

To create a new event handler on a control you can do this c.Click += new EventHandler(mainFormButton_Click); or this c.Click += mainFormButton_Click; and to remove an event handler you can do this c.Click -= mainFormButton_Click; …

Read More
Understanding events and event handlers in C#

I understand the purpose of events, especially within the context of creating user interfaces. I think this is the prototype for creating an event: public void EventName(object sender, EventArgs e); What do event handlers do, why are they needed, …

Read More
What is the use of "object sender" and "EventArgs e" parameters?

In case of Page_Load, Init and other page events, what is the use of these (object sender, EventArgs e) parameters? Examples would be more helpful.

Read More