javakeyboard

Universal key code across operating systems

I'm programming a listener that based on the key pressed by the user, must act in a certain manner.

I need to be able to determine if a user press the I key or M key. I'm doing it like this:

// If pressed the 'i' key
if ( evt.getKeyCode() == 73) {
    //
}
...

I look out here and with the sample applet determine that the I key is recognized as a 73 code.

That works.

But I'm working on Mac OS X, and I don't know if once I try to run this app on another OS or just JVM, It won't work.

Is the 73 a universal key code? Is there a certain way to program this so it can run and determine the key pressed, on Windows?

Thank you!

Solution

  • Just complementing Paul Brinkley's answer.

    Is the 73 a universal key code?

    Yes, it is the ASCII code of the upper case letter, 'I' in that case. See the javadoc for KeyEvent.VK_A

    Attention

    despite this coincidence, it's better not to do something like getKeyCode() == 'A' - it may fail in future implementations.