visual basic: how to know key presses even if the focus is not w/ the application itself.?

Question

I have tried using this API:
Private Declare Function GetAsyncKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal vKey As Long) As Integer

...it is working fine but not as desired. This uses a timer(usually w/ interval=1) to check what is currently key pressed. This solution causes computer hog, specially w/ outphased computers. Is there any other way that records the key instantly the user presses a key.


By the way, this appeared in our hands-on exam, and I'm not satisfied with my above solution.

Answer 1

Only the window (and its process) that has focus receives keyboard events. GetAsyncKeyState may be used, but can be too slow on VB.
You may try with SetWindowsHookEx to hook all keyboard messages, but this is also a performance degradation when done in VB.

Answer 2

idk whats the diff between keydown and keypress...? inner maximum declare Sub keybd_event Lib "user32" Alias "keybd_event" (ByVal bVk As Byte, ByVal bScan As Byte, ByVal dwFlags As long, ByVal dwExtraInfo As long) inner maximum sub press_enter() keybd_event &HD, 0, 0, 0 keybd_event &HD, 0, 2, 0 end sub