Programmer Guide/General Descriptions/KEY message parameters

When a key is pressed in a dialog, graph or display, a KEY message is sent to the controlling shell. The message parameter describes which key was pressed, and whether the control and/or shift keys were up or down at the time. A description of the parameter follows.

Please note that the KEY message parameter is case sensitive.

Alpha characters

e.g. for the character 'a'

key	control	shift	message	notes
a	no	no	'a'
a	yes	no	'Ca'
a	no	yes	'A'
a	yes	yes	'CA'

Numerical characters

e.g. for the number '1'

key	control	shift	message	notes
1	no	no	'1'
1	yes	no	'C1'
1	no	yes	'1'	same as without shift
1	yes	yes	'C1'	same as without shift

key

control

shift

controlshift

keyname	key - description and comment
normal
chlowercase	Cchlower	chupper	Cchupper	ch is any character key (a – z); e.g.: [control][c] -> 'Cc', [shift][s] -> 'S', [a] -> 'a'
num	Cnum	snum	*	num is a numeric key and snum the corresponding symbol if pressed with shift (depends on keyboard layout); e.g. [8] -> '8', [shift][4] -> '$'
sym	*	ssym	*	sym is a symbol key and ssym the corresponding symbol if pressed with shift (depends on keyboard layout); e.g. [+] -> '+', [shift][-] -> '_'

control

shift

controlshift

keyname	key - description and comment
normal
Fn	CFn	SFn	CSFn	Function key[Fn]; with: n = 1 .. 12
left	CS	cursor left [<-]
right	CS	cursor right Right Arrow
up	CS	cursor up Up Arrow
down	CS	cursor down Down Arrow
previous	CS	page up [PgUp]
next	CS	page down [PgDn]
home	CS	cursor home [Home]
end	CS	cursor end [End]
insert	CS	insert [INS]
delete	CS	delete [DEL]
space	CS	space bar (blank) [ ]
add	CS	numeric pad add [+]
subtract	CS	numeric pad subtract [-]
multiply	CS	numeric pad multiply [*]
divide	CS	numeric pad divide [/]
enter	CS	enter / return RETURN

Notes: The key [ESC] (Escape) is never sent as a key message. It is always translated into the message itemtype itemname CANCEL.Not all [control][key] codes are defined in the ASCII character set and some are directly processed by the system. Therefore some combinations can not be translated and keyname is set to '*'. For the special keys (replaced with name strings) not all [control] and/or [shift] states are defined.