Get keypress events

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[hidden email]
March 22, 2011 8:42 AM

I have been struggling for a long time with getting keystrokes into my application. First I read that I must create a keyboardProcessor instance variable in my custom controller, and create access methods for that variable, but I must not initiate the instance variable: that will be handled by the framework. Then I read that that arrangement is deprecated.

I tried investigating how Tools.FileBrowser openOnFileNamed: 'tempfile' does its work, but it turns out that it operates in an entirely different way.

Surely there is a small set of steps. All I want to do is get the keypresses delivered to a suitable method, something like View>>keyPressed: or Controller>>keyPressed: The framework can't be that hard.

Is there a little application somewhere, called "Noisy," that just exercises all the features and logs what it's doing?

 

           Regards,

 

           Rick

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On Mar 22, 2011, at 5:42 AM, Rick Hedin wrote:

I have been struggling for a long time with getting keystrokes into my application. First I read that I must create a keyboardProcessor instance variable in my custom controller, and create access methods for that variable, but I must not initiate the instance variable: that will be handled by the framework. Then I read that that arrangement is deprecated.

I tried investigating how Tools.FileBrowser openOnFileNamed: 'tempfile' does its work, but it turns out that it operates in an entirely different way.

Surely there is a small set of steps. All I want to do is get the keypresses delivered to a suitable method, something like View>>keyPressed: or Controller>>keyPressed: The framework can't be that hard.

Is there a little application somewhere, called "Noisy," that just exercises all the features and logs what it's doing

Rick, what version of VisualWorks are you using?

I'm going a bit from memory here, I'm hoping this is right, but might make an error, hope not.

To do keyboard in pre 7.8, your controller needs to

a) have a keyPressedEvent:

b) have the related view added as a keyboardConsumer in the KeyboardProcessor object held by the Window's keyboardProcessor instance variable

c) focus your controller with yourWindow keyboardProcessor setActive: yourController.

It has been common to store a reference to the keyboardProcessor in your controller with a setter/accessor. But you never needed to, and we are now discouraging it. You can get at the keyboardProcessor by walking the parent (container) tree up to the window.

Without (b) and (c) though, keypress events will never find there way to your controller. There may be some other methods your controller needs to implement once it becomes a keyboard savvy one.

You need to make sure that YourController>>release method removes itself from the keyboardConsumers list as well (self keyboardProcessor removeKeyboardConsumer: self).

In 7.8, (b) is gone. The keyboardConsumers is inferred from the view tree in 7.8, so you don't have to register them and unregister them. And while you can still send setActive: in 7.8, it is deprecated, and instead you should send focusedView: with the view as the argument (rather than the event handler (controller)).

--

Travis Griggs

Objologist

"I did not have time to write you a short program, so I wrote you a long one instead."

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