Read the NumLock and CapsLock key states

Author:

Steve McMahon(steve@vbaccelerator.com)

Keywords:

API,Keyboard

Updated:

01/08/98

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This sample demonstrates how to determine the state of the NumLock and CapsLock key (plus any other key on the keyboard at the same time).

Create a new project, and add a Label control and a Timer to the project's form. Set the timer's interval to 250, then add the following code:

Private Declare Function GetKeyboardState Lib "user32" (pbKeyState As Byte) As Long

Private Sub Timer1_Timer()
Dim b(0 To 254) As Byte
Dim sMsg As String
    GetKeyboardState b(0)
    If b(vbKeyNumlock) Then
        sMsg = "NUM"
    End If
    If b(vbKeyCapital) Then
        sMsg = sMsg & " CAPS"
    End If
    If (Label1.Caption <> sMsg) Then
        Label1.Caption = sMsg
    End If
End Sub

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• Get the state of a key at any time