This code is based off an article entitled 'Handling Keyboard Shortcuts in JavaScript' by Benny V A, which outlines a dependency free hotkey solution that just works. For more information on the methodology, please refer to the original article located at:
http://www.openjs.com/scripts/events/keyboard_shortcuts/
The changes I made bring things up to date, but the real credit goes to the original author. Thanks for keeping knowledge open!
This source is not currently packaged and is only available at the link above, or with my personal modifications included here on GitHub. I will include a compressed archive with both the minified code as well as the prettified code in the releases. From there, just include it in your project in the section as follows:
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A quick example of usage</title>
<script src="./shortcut.js"></script>
</head>(This documentation was pulled from the original source and is attributed to Benny V A)
First Argument : The Shortcut Key Combination - String The shortcut key combination should be specified in this format ... Modifier[+Modifier..]+Key. More about this in the Supported Keys section.
Second Argument : Function to be called - Function Specify the function here. This function will be called if the shortcut key is pressed. The event variable will be passed to it.
Third Argument[OPTIONAL] : Options - Associative Array This argument must be an associative array with any of these three options...
The event type - can be 'keydown','keyup','keypress'. Default: 'keydown'
If this is set to true, keyboard capture will be disabled in input and textarea fields. If these elements have focus, the keyboard shortcut will not work. This is very useful for single key shortcuts. Default: false
The element that should be watched for the keyboard event. Default : document
Allow the event to propagate? Default : false
Watch for this keycode. For eg., the keycode '65' is 'a'.
shortcut.add("Ctrl+B",function() {
alert("The bookmarks of your browser will show up after this alert...");
},{
'type':'keydown',
'propagate':true,
'target':document
});Just one argument - the shortcut combination that was attached to a function earlier. Make sure that this is exactly the same string that you used while adding the shortcut.
The shortcut keys should be specified in this format ...
Modifier[+Modifier..]+Key
Example...
Ctrl+A
The valid modifiers are:
Ctrl Alt Shift Meta
You can specify a sequence without a modifier as well - like this...
shortcut.add("X",function() {
alert("Hello!");
});The valid Keys are...
- All alpha/numeric keys - abc...xyz,01..89
- Special Characters - Every special character on a standard keyboard can be accessed.
- Special Keys...
- Tab
- Space
- Return
- Enter
- Backspace
- Scroll_lock
- Caps_lock
- Num_lock
- Pause
- Insert
- Home
- Delete
- End
- Page_up
- Page_down
- Left
- Up
- Right
- Down
- F1
- F2
- F3
- F4
- F5
- F6
- F7
- F8
- F9
- F10
- F11
- F12
These keys are case insensitive - so don't worry about using the correct case.