HotKey Control

Provides the Windows standard hot key input control, allowing users to select shortcut key combinations.

Enumerations

HkeInvalidKeyCombinationConstants

Constant	Value	Description
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationNone	1	Invalid combination: no modifier
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationShift	2	Invalid combination: Shift only
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationCtrl	4	Invalid combination: Ctrl only
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationAlt	8	Invalid combination: Alt only
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationShiftCtrl	16	Invalid combination: Shift+Ctrl
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationShiftAlt	32	Invalid combination: Shift+Alt
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationCtrlAlt	64	Invalid combination: Ctrl+Alt
HkeInvalidKeyCombinationShiftCtrlAlt	128	Invalid combination: Shift+Ctrl+Alt

Properties

Name

Property Get Name() As String

Returns the name of the control.

Tag

Property Get/Let Tag() As String

Returns/sets the tag value of the control.

Parent

Property Get Parent() As Object

Returns the parent object of the control.

Container

Property Get/Set Container() As Object

Returns/sets the container of the control.

Left

Property Get/Let Left() As Single

Returns/sets the position of the left edge of the control.

Top

Property Get/Let Top() As Single

Returns/sets the position of the top edge of the control.

Width

Property Get/Let Width() As Single

Returns/sets the width of the control.

Height

Property Get/Let Height() As Single

Returns/sets the height of the control.

Visible

Property Get/Let Visible() As Boolean

Returns/sets whether the control is visible.

ToolTipText

Property Get/Let ToolTipText() As String

Returns/sets the tooltip text of the control.

HelpContextID

Property Get/Let HelpContextID() As Long

Returns/sets the help context ID of the control.

WhatsThisHelpID

Property Get/Let WhatsThisHelpID() As Long

Returns/sets the "What's This" help ID of the control.

DragIcon

Property Get/Let/Set DragIcon() As IPictureDisp

Returns/sets the icon displayed during drag operations.

DragMode

Property Get/Let DragMode() As Integer

Returns/sets the drag mode (manual or automatic).

hWnd

Property Get hWnd() As LongPtr

Returns the window handle of the HotKey control.

hWndUserControl

Property Get hWndUserControl() As LongPtr

Returns the window handle of the UserControl.

Font

Property Get/Let/Set Font() As StdFont

Returns/sets the font used by the control.

VisualStyles

Property Get/Let VisualStyles() As Boolean

Returns/sets whether visual styles are enabled.

Enabled

Property Get/Let Enabled() As Boolean

Returns/sets whether the control is enabled.

OLEDropMode

Property Get/Let OLEDropMode() As OLEDropModeConstants

Returns/sets the OLE drop mode. See common enumerations.

MousePointer

Property Get/Let MousePointer() As CCMousePointerConstants

Returns/sets the mouse pointer type. See common enumerations.

MouseIcon

Property Get/Let/Set MouseIcon() As IPictureDisp

Returns/sets the custom mouse icon.

MouseTrack

Property Get/Let MouseTrack() As Boolean

Returns/sets whether mouse enter/leave tracking is enabled.

BackColor

Property Get/Let BackColor() As OLE_COLOR

Returns/sets the background color of the control.

BorderStyle

Property Get/Let BorderStyle() As CCBorderStyleConstants

Returns/sets the border style of the control. See common enumerations.

Value

Property Get/Let Value(Optional ByRef Modifiers As Integer) As VBRUN.KeyCodeConstants

Returns/sets the key code of the hot key. The Modifiers parameter receives modifier key flags (Shift=1, Ctrl=2, Alt=4).

RawValue

Property Get/Let RawValue() As Long

Returns/sets the raw numeric value of the hot key (low byte is the key code, high byte is the modifier key flags).

Text

Property Get Text() As String

Returns the display text of the hot key. Read-only.

Methods

OLEDrag

Public Sub OLEDrag()

Initiates an OLE drag operation.

Drag

Public Sub Drag(Optional ByRef Action As Variant)

Starts, ends, or cancels a drag operation.

SetFocus

Public Sub SetFocus()

Moves the focus to the control.

ZOrder

Public Sub ZOrder(Optional ByRef Position As Variant)

Sets the Z-order position of the control within its layer.

Refresh

Public Sub Refresh()

Forces a complete repaint of the control.

SetRules

Public Sub SetRules(ByVal InvalidKeyCombinations As HkeInvalidKeyCombinationConstants, Optional ByVal DefaultModifiers As VBRUN.ShiftConstants)

Sets invalid key combination rules and default modifier keys. InvalidKeyCombinations specifies the modifier key combinations that are not allowed; DefaultModifiers specifies the default modifier key to substitute when the user enters an invalid combination.

SetApplicationHotKey

Public Function SetApplicationHotKey(Optional ByVal hWnd As LongPtr) As Long

Registers the current hot key as the application hot key for a window. The return value is the result of the WM_SETHOTKEY message.

Events

Click

Public Event Click()

Occurs when the control is clicked.

DblClick

Public Event DblClick()

Occurs when the control is double-clicked.

Change

Public Event Change()

Occurs when the hot key value changes.

PreviewKeyDown

Public Event PreviewKeyDown(ByVal KeyCode As Integer, ByRef IsInputKey As Boolean)

Occurs before the KeyDown event; IsInputKey can be set to mark whether the key is an input key.

PreviewKeyUp

Public Event PreviewKeyUp(ByVal KeyCode As Integer, ByRef IsInputKey As Boolean)

Occurs before the KeyUp event.

KeyDown

Public Event KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs when a keyboard key is pressed.

KeyUp

Public Event KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs when a keyboard key is released.

KeyPress

Public Event KeyPress(KeyChar As Integer)

Occurs when a character key is pressed and released.

MouseDown

Public Event MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when a mouse button is pressed.

MouseMove

Public Event MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when the mouse is moved.

MouseUp

Public Event MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when a mouse button is released.

MouseEnter

Public Event MouseEnter()

Occurs when the mouse enters the control.

MouseLeave

Public Event MouseLeave()

Occurs when the mouse leaves the control.

OLECompleteDrag

Public Event OLECompleteDrag(Effect As Long)

Occurs on the source control after an OLE drag-and-drop operation has been completed or canceled.

OLEDragDrop

Public Event OLEDragDrop(Data As DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when data is dropped onto the control via an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLEDragOver

Public Event OLEDragOver(Data As DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single, State As Integer)

Occurs when the mouse moves over the control during an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLEGiveFeedback

Public Event OLEGiveFeedback(Effect As Long, DefaultCursors As Boolean)

Occurs on the source control when the mouse cursor needs to be changed during an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLESetData

Public Event OLESetData(Data As DataObject, DataFormat As Integer)

Occurs on the source control when the drop target requests data.

OLEStartDrag

Public Event OLEStartDrag(Data As DataObject, AllowedEffects As Long)

Occurs when an OLE drag-and-drop operation is initiated.

Code Examples

Basic Usage

Private Sub Form_Load()
    With HotKey1
        .SetRules HkeInvalidKeyCombinationNone Or _
                   HkeInvalidKeyCombinationShift, vbCtrlMask
        .VisualStyles = True
    End With
End Sub

Private Sub HotKey1_Change()
    Dim Modifiers As Integer
    Dim KeyCode As VBRUN.KeyCodeConstants
    KeyCode = HotKey1.Value(Modifiers)
    Debug.Print "Hot key: " & HotKey1.Text
    Debug.Print "Raw value: " & HotKey1.RawValue
End Sub

Private Sub cmdRegisterHotKey_Click()
    Dim Result As Long
    Result = HotKey1.SetApplicationHotKey(Me.hWnd)
    If Result = 1 Then
        Debug.Print "Hot key registered successfully"
    Else
        Debug.Print "Hot key registration failed"
    End If
End Sub