Caps Lock off

Question

In Visual Basic, how do I check if the Caps Lock key is locked (on) ?

The following do not work

1. If Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(VirtualKey.CapitalLock).Locked Then... evaluated as True always
2. If Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(VirtualKey.CapitalLock).HasFlag(VirtualKey.Down) Then... throws an error

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Micorsoft Q&A!

You need to check both VirtualKey.state and CoreVirtualKeyStates to confirm if the Caps Lock button is on.

And for another question - switch the caps lock key's states, you need to add InjectedInputKeyOptions for the InputInjector object

You could use the following code:

        // detect the caps lock key state  
        Dim keystate = Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(VirtualKey.CapitalLock)  
        Dim isNumLocked = (keystate And CoreVirtualKeyStates.Locked) <> 0  


        // inject a caps lock key press no matter what's the state of it.  
    Dim inputInjector As InputInjector = InputInjector.TryCreate()  

    Dim info = New InjectedInputKeyboardInfo()  
    info.VirtualKey = VirtualKey.CapitalLock  

    'press the key  
    info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.ExtendedKey  
    inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})  
    Await Task.Delay(100)  

    'release the caps lock key. If you do not release the key, the cap lock will remain pressed state  
    info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.KeyUp  
    inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})  
    Await Task.Delay(100)  

Thank you!

Answer 2

For me it does not work. If I have the Caps Lock on and run the following code by pressing Button1 the Caps Lock, The Caps Lock continues as On.

It will start working fine from them on.

It is as if the app does not capture the initial state of the Caps Lock key. Only after it has been refreshed by the app.

Private Async Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)

    Dim inputInfo As New InjectedInputKeyboardInfo
    Dim info As New InjectedInputKeyboardInfo()
    Dim inputInjector As InputInjector = InputInjector.TryCreate()


    Dim keystate = Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(VirtualKey.CapitalLock)
    Dim isNumLocked = (keystate And Windows.UI.Core.CoreVirtualKeyStates.Locked) <> 0


    If isNumLocked Then

        info.VirtualKey = VirtualKey.CapitalLock

        'press the key
        info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.ExtendedKey
        inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})
        Await Task.Delay(100)

        'release the caps lock key. If you do not release the key, the cap lock will remain pressed state
        info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.KeyUp
        inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})
        Await Task.Delay(100)

    End If

End Sub

Answer 3

I've found (almost) a solution, to put the code in the MainPage loaded event. It is not ideal because the timing of the Caps Lock status change is not exactly when needed

Why does it not work if it is in the Button clicked event? Hard to understand

Private Async Sub MainPage_Loaded(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs) Handles Me.Loaded

    Dim inputInfo As New InjectedInputKeyboardInfo
    Dim info As New InjectedInputKeyboardInfo()
    Dim inputInjector As InputInjector = InputInjector.TryCreate()

    If Window.Current.CoreWindow.GetKeyState(VirtualKey.CapitalLock).HasFlag(Windows.UI.Core.CoreVirtualKeyStates.Locked) Then

        info.VirtualKey = VirtualKey.CapitalLock

        info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.None
        inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})
        Await Task.Delay(100)


        info.KeyOptions = InjectedInputKeyOptions.KeyUp
        inputInjector.InjectKeyboardInput({info})
        Await Task.Delay(100)

    End If


End Sub

Answer 4

I've found the reason for my trouble.

Before the Caps Lock check I had:

Await Task.Delay(5000).ConfigureAwait(False)

I've changed it to:

Await Task.Delay(5000).ConfigureAwait(True)

And all is working fine. This is due to True continuing on Captured Context. With False it did not capture the Window.Current.CoreWindow status.

I've found this out, because I wrote my project in C# and C# alerted me that there was no instance of Window.Current.CoreWindow, which brought my attention to the ConfigureAwait above.

The Visual Basic compiler did not alert me of the problem.