[Now Supported on Windows NT]
The VkKeyScanEx function translates a character to the corresponding virtual-key code and shift state. The function translates the character using the input language and physical keyboard layout identified by the given keyboard layout handle.
SHORT VkKeyScanEx(
| CHAR ch, | // character to translate |
| HKL dwhkl | // keyboard layout handle |
| ); |
Parameters
ch
Specifies the character to be translated into a virtual-key code.
dwhkl
Identifies the keyboard layout to use to translate the character. This parameter can be any keyboard layout handle previously returned by the LoadKeyboardLayout function.
Return Values
If the function succeeds, the low-order byte of the return value contains the virtual-key code and the high-order byte contains the shift state, which can be a combination of the following flag bits:
| Bit | Meaning |
| 1 | Either SHIFT key is pressed. |
| 2 | Either CTRL key is pressed. |
| 4 | Either ALT key is pressed. |
If the function finds no key that translates to the passed character code, both the low-order and high-order bytes contain -1.
Remarks
For keyboard layouts that use the right-hand ALT key as a shift key (for example, the French keyboard layout), the shift state is represented by the value 6, because the right-hand ALT key is converted internally into CTRL+ALT.
Translations for the numeric keypad (VK_NUMPAD0 through VK_DIVIDE) are ignored. This function is intended to translate characters into keystrokes from the main keyboard section only. For example, the character "7" is translated into VK_7, not VK_NUMPAD7.
VkKeyScanEx is used by applications that send characters by using the WM_KEYUP and WM_KEYDOWN messages.
See Also
GetAsyncKeyState, GetKeyboardState, GetKeyNameText, GetKeyState, LoadKeyboardLayout, SetKeyboardState, ToAsciiEx, VkKeyScan