| Package | flash.events | 
| Class | public class KeyboardEvent | 
| Inheritance | KeyboardEvent  Event  Object | 
| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN and 
 KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP
Because mappings between keys and specific characters vary by device and operating system, use the TextEvent event type for processing character input.
To listen globally for key events, listen on the Stage for the capture and target or bubble phase.
More examples
Learn more
Related API Elements
| Property | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| altKey : Boolean 
	Indicates whether the Alt key is active (true) or inactive (false) on Windows; 
	indicates whether the Option key is active on Mac OS. | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | bubbles : Boolean [read-only] 
	Indicates whether an event is a bubbling event. | Event | |
|  | cancelable : Boolean [read-only] 
	Indicates whether the behavior associated with the event can be prevented. | Event | |
| charCode : uint 
	Contains the character code value of the key pressed or released. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| commandKey : Boolean 
	Indicates whether the Command key is active (true) or inactive (false). | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | constructor : Object 
	 A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance. | Object | |
| controlKey : Boolean 
	Indicates whether the Control key is active (true) or inactive (false). | KeyboardEvent | ||
| ctrlKey : Boolean 
	On Windows and Linux, indicates whether the Ctrl key is active (true) or inactive (false);
	On Mac OS, indicates whether either the Ctrl key or the Command key is active. | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | currentTarget : Object [read-only] 
	The object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener. | Event | |
|  | eventPhase : uint [read-only] 
	The current phase in the event flow. | Event | |
| keyCode : uint 
	The key code value of the key pressed or released. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| keyLocation : uint 
	Indicates the location of the key on the keyboard. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| shiftKey : Boolean 
	Indicates whether the Shift key modifier is active (true) or inactive 
	(false). | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | target : Object [read-only] 
	The event target. | Event | |
|  | type : String [read-only] 
	The type of event. | Event | |
| Method | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| KeyboardEvent(type:String, bubbles:Boolean = true, cancelable:Boolean = false, charCodeValue:uint = 0, keyCodeValue:uint = 0, keyLocationValue:uint = 0, ctrlKeyValue:Boolean = false, altKeyValue:Boolean = false, shiftKeyValue:Boolean = false, controlKeyValue:Boolean = false, commandKeyValue:Boolean = false) 
	Creates an Event object that contains specific information about keyboard events. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| [override] 
	Creates a copy of the KeyboardEvent object and sets the value of each property to match that of the original. | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | 
	 A utility function for implementing the toString() method in custom 
	 ActionScript 3.0 Event classes. | Event | |
|  | 
	 Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined. | Object | |
|  | 
	Checks whether the preventDefault() method has been called on the event. | Event | |
|  | 
	 Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified 
	 as the parameter. | Object | |
|  | 
	Cancels an event's default behavior if that behavior can be canceled. | Event | |
|  | 
	 Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable. | Object | |
|  | 
     Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations. | Object | |
|  | 
	Prevents processing of any event listeners in the current node and any subsequent nodes in 
	the event flow. | Event | |
|  | 
	Prevents processing of any event listeners in nodes subsequent to the current node in the 
	event flow. | Event | |
|  | 
	 Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions. | Object | |
| [override] 
	Returns a string that contains all the properties of the KeyboardEvent object. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| 
	Indicates that the display should be rendered after processing of this event completes, if the display 
	list has been modified
	
	 | KeyboardEvent | ||
|  | 
	 Returns the primitive value of the specified object. | Object | |
| Constant | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| KEY_DOWN : String = "keyDown" [static] 
	The KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN constant defines the value of the type property of a keyDown event object. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| KEY_UP : String = "keyUp" [static] 
	The KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP constant defines the value of the type property of a keyUp event object. | KeyboardEvent | ||
| altKey | property | 
altKey:Boolean| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9 | 
	Indicates whether the Alt key is active (true) or inactive (false) on Windows; 
	indicates whether the Option key is active on Mac OS.
	
	
Implementation
    public function get altKey():Boolean    public function set altKey(value:Boolean):void| charCode | property | 
charCode:uint| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
	Contains the character code value of the key pressed or released.
	The character code values are English keyboard values. For example,
	if you press Shift+3, charCode is # on a Japanese keyboard,
	if you press Shift+2, charCode is 
Implementation
    public function get charCode():uint    public function set charCode(value:uint):voidRelated API Elements
| commandKey | property | 
commandKey:Boolean| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Lite 4 | 
	Indicates whether the Command key is active (true) or inactive (false).
	Supported for Mac OS only. On Mac OS, the commandKey property has the same
	value as the ctrlKey property.
	
	
Implementation
    public function get commandKey():Boolean    public function set commandKey(value:Boolean):void| controlKey | property | 
controlKey:Boolean| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Lite 4 | 
	Indicates whether the Control key is active (true) or inactive (false). 
	On Windows and Linux, this is also true when the Ctrl key is active.
	
	
Implementation
    public function get controlKey():Boolean    public function set controlKey(value:Boolean):void| ctrlKey | property | 
ctrlKey:Boolean| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9 | 
	On Windows and Linux, indicates whether the Ctrl key is active (true) or inactive (false);
	On Mac OS, indicates whether either the Ctrl key or the Command key is active.
	
	
Implementation
    public function get ctrlKey():Boolean    public function set ctrlKey(value:Boolean):void| keyCode | property | 
keyCode:uint| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
The key code value of the key pressed or released.
Note: When an input method editor (IME) is running,
	keyCode does not report accurate key codes.
Implementation
    public function get keyCode():uint    public function set keyCode(value:uint):voidRelated API Elements
| keyLocation | property | 
keyLocation:uint| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
	Indicates the location of the key on the keyboard. This is useful for differentiating keys 
	that appear more than once on a keyboard. For example, you can differentiate between the 
	left and right Shift keys by the value of this property: KeyLocation.LEFT 
	for the left and KeyLocation.RIGHT for the right. Another example is 
	differentiating between number keys pressed on the standard keyboard
	(KeyLocation.STANDARD) versus the numeric keypad (KeyLocation.NUM_PAD).
	
	
Implementation
    public function get keyLocation():uint    public function set keyLocation(value:uint):void| shiftKey | property | 
| KeyboardEvent | () | Constructor | 
public function KeyboardEvent(type:String, bubbles:Boolean = true, cancelable:Boolean = false, charCodeValue:uint = 0, keyCodeValue:uint = 0, keyLocationValue:uint = 0, ctrlKeyValue:Boolean = false, altKeyValue:Boolean = false, shiftKeyValue:Boolean = false, controlKeyValue:Boolean = false, commandKeyValue:Boolean = false)| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Creates an Event object that contains specific information about keyboard events. Event objects are passed as parameters to event listeners.
Parameters| type:String—  The type of the event. Possible values are:KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWNandKeyboardEvent.KEY_UP | |
| bubbles:Boolean(default =true)— Determines whether the Event object participates in the bubbling stage of the event flow. | |
| cancelable:Boolean(default =false)— Determines whether the Event object can be canceled. | |
| charCodeValue:uint(default =0)— The character code value of the key pressed or released. The character code values returned are English keyboard values. For example, if you press Shift+3, theKeyboard.charCode()property returns # on a Japanese or a German keyboard, just as it does on an English keyboard. | |
| keyCodeValue:uint(default =0)— The key code value of the key pressed or released. | |
| keyLocationValue:uint(default =0)— The location of the key on the keyboard. | |
| ctrlKeyValue:Boolean(default =false)— On Windows, indicates whether the Ctrl key is activated. On Mac, indicates whether either the Ctrl key or the Command key is activated. | |
| altKeyValue:Boolean(default =false)— Indicates whether the Alt key modifier is activated (Windows only). | |
| shiftKeyValue:Boolean(default =false)— Indicates whether the Shift key modifier is activated. | |
| controlKeyValue:Boolean(default =false)— Indicates whether the Control key is activated on Mac, and whether the Control or Ctrl keys are activated on WIndows and Linux. | |
| commandKeyValue:Boolean(default =false)— Indicates whether the Command key is activated (Mac only). | 
Related API Elements
| clone | () | method | 
override public function clone():Event| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Creates a copy of the KeyboardEvent object and sets the value of each property to match that of the original.
Returns| Event— A new KeyboardEvent object with property values that match those of the original. | 
| toString | () | method | 
override public function toString():String| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Returns a string that contains all the properties of the KeyboardEvent object. The string is in the following format:
[KeyboardEvent type=value bubbles=value cancelable=value ... shiftKey=value]
| String— A string that contains all the properties of the KeyboardEvent object. | 
| updateAfterEvent | () | method | 
 public function updateAfterEvent():void| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9 | 
Indicates that the display should be rendered after processing of this event completes, if the display list has been modified
| KEY_DOWN | Constant | 
public static const KEY_DOWN:String = "keyDown"| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
	The KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN constant defines the value of the type property of a keyDown event object. 
	
	
This event has the following properties:
| Property | Value | 
|---|---|
| bubbles | true | 
| cancelable | truein AIR,falsein Flash Player; 
			in AIR, canceling this event prevents the character from being entered into a text field. | 
| charCode | The character code value of the key pressed or released. | 
| commandKey | trueon Mac if the Command key is active. Otherwise,false | 
| controlKey | trueon Windows and Linux if the Ctrl key is active.trueon Mac if either the Control key is active. Otherwise,false | 
| ctrlKey | trueon Windows and Linux if the Ctrl key is active.trueon Mac if either the Ctrl key or the Command key is active. Otherwise,false. | 
| currentTarget | The object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener. | 
| keyCode | The key code value of the key pressed or released. | 
| keyLocation | The location of the key on the keyboard. | 
| shiftKey | trueif the Shift key is active;falseif it is inactive. | 
| target | The InteractiveObject instance with focus. 
	The targetis not always the object in the display list 
	that registered the event listener. Use thecurrentTargetproperty to access the object in the display list that is currently processing the event. | 
Related API Elements
| KEY_UP | Constant | 
public static const KEY_UP:String = "keyUp"| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
	The KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP constant defines the value of the type property of a keyUp event object. 
	
This event has the following properties:
| Property | Value | 
|---|---|
| bubbles | true | 
| cancelable | false; there is no default behavior to cancel. | 
| charCode | Contains the character code value of the key pressed or released. | 
| commandKey | trueon Mac if the Command key is active. Otherwise,false | 
| controlKey | trueon Windows and Linux if the Ctrl key is active.trueon Mac if either the Control key is active. Otherwise,false | 
| ctrlKey | trueon Windows if the Ctrl key is active.trueon Mac if either the Ctrl key or the Command key is active. Otherwise,false. | 
| currentTarget | The object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener. | 
| keyCode | The key code value of the key pressed or released. | 
| keyLocation | The location of the key on the keyboard. | 
| shiftKey | trueif the Shift key is active;falseif it is inactive. | 
| target | The InteractiveObject instance with focus. 
	The targetis not always the object in the display list 
	that registered the event listener. Use thecurrentTargetproperty to access the object in the display list that is currently processing the event. | 
Related API Elements
KeyboardEventExample class to show 
 keyboard events and their listener functions. The example carries out the following tasks:
 - It creates a new Sprite instance named child.
- It declares properties for later use in setting a square's background color and size.
- Using methods of Sprite, it draws a light-blue square that it displays on the Stage
     at default coordinates (0,0) by calling the addChild()method.
- It adds one mouse event and two keyboard type event listeners:
     - click/- clickHandlerwhich is dispatched when you click on the square to set focus on the- childsprite so it can listen for keyboard events.
- keyDown/- keyDownHandlerwhich is dispatched whenever any key is pressed. The subscriber method prints information about the event using the- trace()statement.
- keyUp/- keyUpHandlerwhich is dispatched when a key is released.
 
When you test this example, you need to click the square first for the keyboard events to work.
Also, if you are using the Test Movie command in Flash, the authoring interface may respond to certain keys instead of the event listeners attached to the child sprite.
package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.events.*;
    public class KeyboardEventExample extends Sprite {
        private var child:Sprite = new Sprite();
        private var bgColor:uint = 0x00CCFF;
        private var size:uint = 80;
        public function KeyboardEventExample() {
            child.graphics.beginFill(bgColor);
            child.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, size, size);
            child.graphics.endFill();
            addChild(child);
            child.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);
            child.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDownHandler);
            child.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, keyUpHandler);
            
        }
        private function clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void {
            stage.focus = child;
        }
        private function keyDownHandler(event:KeyboardEvent):void {
            trace("keyDownHandler: " + event.keyCode);
            trace("ctrlKey: " + event.ctrlKey);
            trace("keyLocation: " + event.keyLocation);
            trace("shiftKey: " + event.shiftKey);
            trace("altKey: " + event.altKey);
        }
        private function keyUpHandler(event:KeyboardEvent):void {
            trace("keyUpHandler: " + event.keyCode);
        }
        
        
    }
}
Thu Dec 4 2014, 05:50 PM -08:00