C# Actively detect Lock keys

Question

I have a wireless keyboard and mouse that doesn\'t have any lock indicators, nor any software bundled to provide a visual aid, so I\'m making my own.

I got it so that if

Answer 1

You can use Control.IsKeyLocked(...) method as described here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.control.iskeylocked%28v=vs.100%29.aspx.

The method is available since .NET 2.0 and can be used like this:

bool capsLock = Control.IsKeyLocked(Keys.CapsLock);
bool numLock = Control.IsKeyLocked(Keys.NumLock);
bool scrollLock = Control.IsKeyLocked(Keys.Scroll);

This solution doesn't require importing WinApi functions or manually tracking keys states.

Update

In order to track changes of the lock keys, I can suggest You to try one of those solutions:

• Adding a global hook to catch all key presses and then check if the key pressed was one of the lock keys. This would, however, make Your hook run each time any key is pressed. You can find more information about global hooks for keyboard keys here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/toub/archive/2006/05/03/589423.aspx.
• You can also implement a timer executing once in a while, check the key states and inform the user, if state of any of them was changed. If You don't run the timer too often, it shouldn't take much resources.