Detecting Keystrokes While a Menu Is Pulled Down

Last reviewed: November 2, 1995
Article ID: Q35930

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) versions 3.0 and 3.1

Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) included with:

    - Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.5 and 3.51
    - Microsoft Windows 95 version 4.0

In the Windows environment, there are two methods that an application can use to receive notification that a key is pressed while a menu is dropped down:

The easier method is to process the WM_MENUCHAR message that is sent to an application when the user presses a key that does not correspond to any of the accelerator keys defined for the current menu.
The other method is to use a message filter hook specified with the SetWindowsHook function. The hook function can process a message before it is dispatched to a dialog box, message box, or menu.

The hook functions and the WM_MENUCHAR message are documented in the Microsoft Windows SDK "Reference: Volume 1" for version 3.0 and in "Programmer's Reference, Volume 3: Messages, Structures, and Macros" for version 3.1.

Additional reference words: 3.00 3.10 3.50 3.51 4.00 95
KBCategory: kbui
KBSubcategory: UsrInp

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Last reviewed: November 2, 1995
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