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Detecting Arrow key press in IE via javascript/jQuery

Answer 1

+3 A:

Use the 'keydown' event

psychotik 2010-02-07 17:34:35

Answer 2

+4 A:

Try this:

$(document).keydown(function (e) {
    if(!e) {
        e = window.event;
    }
    switch(e.keyCode) {
    case 37:
        goLeft();
        break;
    case 39:
        goRight();
        break;
    }
});

Skilldrick 2010-02-07 17:39:02

Is the check for `window.event` necessary with jQuery? I understood that it removed the need to do that.

Tim Down 2010-02-07 23:36:08

Answer 3

A:

Because I sometimes do not want events to bubble for some keys, I use something like: Customize the codes/keys as you see fit.

/* handle special key press */
function checkCptKey(e)
{
    var shouldBubble = true;
    switch (e.keyCode)
    {
        // user pressed the Tab                                                                                                                                        
        case 9:
            {
                $(".someSelect").toggleClass("classSelectVisible");
                shouldBubble = false;
                break;
            };
            // user pressed the Enter    
        case 13:
            {
                $(".someSelect").toggleClass("classSelectVisible");
                break;
            };
            // user pressed the ESC
        case 27:
            {
                $(".someSelect").toggleClass("classSelectVisible");
                break;
            };
    };
    /* this propogates the jQuery event if true */
    return shouldBubble;
};

/* user pressed special keys while in Selector */
$(".mySelect").keydown(function(e)
{
    return checkCptKey(e);
});

Mark Schultheiss 2010-02-07 23:50:19

Answer 4

+4 A:

From the jQuery keypress documentation (the last paragraph of the introductory text):

Note that keydown and keyup provide a code indicating which key is pressed, while keypress indicates which character was entered. For example, a lowercase "a" will be reported as 65 by keydown and keyup, but as 97 by keypress. An uppercase "A" is reported as 97 by all events. Because of this distinction, when catching special keystrokes such as arrow keys, .keydown() or .keyup() is a better choice.

It even literally mentions about the arrow keys ;) Thus, you really need to hook on either the keydown or keyup events. Here's an SSCCE with keydown, just copy'n'paste'n'run it. No, you don't need to do a browser-compatible check on the event, this works in all browsers from IE6 up to with Firefox.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <title>SO question 2217553</title>
        <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
        <script>
            $(document).keydown(function(event) {
                switch (event.keyCode) {
                    case 37: alert('left'); break;
                    case 38: alert('up'); break;
                    case 39: alert('right'); break;
                    case 40: alert('down'); break;
                }
            });
        </script>
    </head>
    <body>
       <p>Press one of the arrow keys.</p> 
    </body>
</html>

BalusC 2010-02-08 00:04:52

+1 for you giving a thorough answer. -1 for me for not RTFMing. ;o)

DA 2010-02-08 15:36:57

You're welcome.

BalusC 2010-02-08 15:41:59

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Detecting Arrow key press in IE via javascript/jQuery

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