Using a Hot Key Control

Overview

Typical usage of a hot key control follows the pattern below:

  • The control is created. If the control is specified in a dialog box template, creation is automatic when the dialog box is created. (You should have a member in your dialog class that corresponds to the hot key control.) Alternatively, you can use the member function to create the control as a child window of any window.

  • If you want to set a default value for the control, call the member function. If you want to prohibit certain shift states, call . For controls in a dialog box, a good time to do this is in the dialog box's function.

  • The user interacts with the control by pressing a hot key combination when the hot key control has focus. The user then somehow indicates that this task is complete, perhaps by clicking a button in the dialog box.

  • When your program is notified that the user has selected a hot key, it should use the member function to retrieve the virtual key and shift state values from the hot key control.

  • Once you know what key the user selected, you can set the hot key using one of the methods described in Setting a Hot Key.

  • If the hot key control is in a dialog box, it and the CHotKeyCtrl object will be destroyed automatically. If not, you need to ensure that both the control and the CHotKeyCtrl object are properly destroyed.

See Also   Windows Common Controls and MFC Classes