Theres got to be a better way
Author
There has to be a better way to do this, or more efficeint (spelling?) way.
Right now, to get input for a chat program im writing, i check each and every key for a press through DirectInput; if a key is pressed, it returns the character for that key. ie.
if (KeyDown(DIK_A)) return 'A';
if (KeyDown(DIK_B)) return 'B';
if (KeyDown(DIK_LSHIFT)) shift_down = true;
if ((KeyDown(DIK_COMMA) && (shift_down)) return '<';
...
KeyDown is a is just a dummy function to return a keypress.
is there someother way to quickly check the keys and return the character? Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
For text input, Microsoft recommends using Windows messages (WM_CHAR/WM_KEYDOWN), instead of DirectInput. The WM_CHAR message covers all of the "regular" text keys. You would only need WM_KEYDOWN for cursor keys.
If you really wanted to do something like that, you could set up a map of some sort, that mapped DIK constants to VK constants (VK is the set of constants used in the Windows API WM_KEYxxx messages and related places). It would tidier, I suppose.
But like Dave Hunt says, you'll make your life a lot easier if you use a regular message proc for this. The TranslateMessage part of the TranslateMessage/DispatchMessage loop will take care of all that shift logic for you, for example.
But like Dave Hunt says, you'll make your life a lot easier if you use a regular message proc for this. The TranslateMessage part of the TranslateMessage/DispatchMessage loop will take care of all that shift logic for you, for example.
Inside your WndProc function, you'd do something like this:
switch( msg ){ case WM_KEYDOWN: keyPressedID = wParam; break;}// later use keyPressedID to find out which key was pressed
Author
Thanks for the input. Would the wm_char be decent for text input in a game? Basically, i am just making this chat program as a learning experience for a multiplayer game im wanting to develop.
Yes, you can use WM_CHAR for text input in a game. You would not want to use it for keyboard game controls, but if you are doing things like getting the player's name, etc., then WM_CHAR is the way to go.
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