BUG: IME KANA MS-DOS Key Activation Isn't Reflected in Win32

• Microsoft Windows Device Development Kit (DDK) for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

Activation of Kana keys in an MS-DOS box should affect system-wide Kana key activation. However, 32-bit applicatons are not notified of the Kana key activation.

CAUSE

The Input Method Manager (IMM) updates the KANA key status by using SetKeyboardState() in the System VM. However User.exe maintains the status for each 32-bit process, so the Input Method Manager KANA status is never reflected into other 32-bit processes. This does not affect 16-bit processes because the keyboard status is shared with all 16-bit processes.

RESOLUTION

Developers cannot maintain the KANA key status within applications. End users need to be aware this behavior.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.