[ Fast Keyboard/Mouse Test ]

In this short snippet, I will show you a Win32 function that checks whether a button is pressed or not. The good thing is that you don't need to handle the WM_KEYDOWN message. The second advantage is that it is really easy to use and that it can be used everywhere in the code. Here is the function-definition:

SHORT GetAsyncKeyState(
   int vKey // virtual-key code
);

vKey is the virtual key code of the keyboard or mouse button you want to test. GetAsyncKeyState(..) returns true if this button is pressed and false if not. I always use GetAsyncKeyState(..) for my games and demos because it can be used simply like this without a long message handle. Here is a little example how to use it:

void CheckKeyboard()
{
   //Escape is down
   if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_ESCAPE))
   {
      PostMessage(hWnd,WM_CLOSE,0,0);
   }
  
   //Right mouse is down
   if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_RBUTTON))
   {
      //..
      //Do something
      //..
   }
}

In this function, we will check what keys are down. You could now use this function in your main loop or somewhere else in your code. Here is a list of the most important virtual key codes:

That's it! If you run into problems, simply m@il me. Happy Coding!