How to figure out which key was pressed on a BlackBerry

Question

What I want: To know when the user has pressed the button that has the number '2' on it, for example. I don't care whether "Alt" or "Shift" has been pressed. The user has pressed a button, and I want to evaluate whether this button has '2' printed on it.

Naturally, if I switch devices this key will change. On a Bold 9700/9500 this is the 'E' key. On a Pearl, this is the 'T'/'Y' key.

I've managed to get this working in what appears to be a roundabout way, by looking up the keycode of the '2' character with the ALT button enabled and using Keypad.key() to get the actual button:

// figure out which key the '2' is on:
final int BUTTON_2_KEY = Keypad.key(KeypadUtil.getKeyCode('2', KeypadListener.STATUS_ALT, KeypadUtil.MODE_EN_LOCALE));

protected boolean keyDown(int keycode, int time) {
    int key = Keypad.key(keycode);
    if ( key == BUTTON_2_KEY ) {
       // do something
       return true;
    }
    return super.keyDown(keycode,time);
}

I can't help but wonder if there is a better way to do this. I've looked at the constants defined in KeypadListener and Keypad but I can't find any constants mapped to the actual buttons on the device.

Would any more experienced BlackBerry devs care to lend a helping hand?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Rather than keyDown(), override keyChar() instead, like so:

public boolean keyChar(char key, int status, int time) 
{
    switch (key) 
    {
        case Characters.DIGIT_TWO:

            //do something
            return true;
    }
    return super.keyChar(key, status, time);
}

The Characters class gives you access to a well-known set of characters

Answer 2

Use keyChar to find the character, but in order to capture regardless of whether the character is alted, you would also need to use Keypad.getAltedChar:

public boolean keyChar(char key, int status, int time) 
{
    if (key == '2' || Keypad.getAltedChar(key) == '2') { 
    // Do your stuff here. 
    } 
}