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Determining the status of the Insert key, caps lock and num lock

How do I determine the status of the several toggle keys (nums lock, caps lock, insert/delete keys) on the keyboard in MS VB 2005? I'm guessing that it is a simple, striaght forward matter of querying the property of an object, but I don't know which one to query.

Thanks

Guy Hengel [angelIII / a3]

this should give you what you need:
http://www.a1vbcode.com/snippet-3541.asp

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PaulHews

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Mike Tomlinson

For querying CapsLock:
(this is a READ-ONLY property...to set the state you need to use APIs such as in angelIII's link)

    If My.Computer.Keyboard.CapsLock Then
        Debug.Print("CapsLock ON")
    Else
        Debug.Print("CapsLock OFF")
    End If

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andrewneely

ASKER

What's interesting is that I've been using IBM compatable computers for several decades, and have never noticed that behavior!

TomL2

It looks like the BIOS does track the insert status. Unfortunately it appears that Windows ignores the status. Take a look at http://www.thescripts.com/forum/thread380429.html

The relevent parts of his code are attached:


    Private Declare Function GetKeyboardState Lib "user32" (ByRef pbKeyState As Byte) As Integer
    Const VK_INS As Short = &H2DS
 
    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim InsState As Boolean
        Dim keys(255) As Byte
 
        GetKeyboardState(keys(0))
 
        InsState = keys(VK_INS)
        If InsState <> True Then
            Label1.Text = "Overtype"
        Else
            Label1.Text = "Insert On"
        End If
    End Sub

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