“I would like to run some code when users presses a combination of keys.”
Its tricky and to do it without any external dependencies resort to Keyboard hooking to achieve it with a VSTO Excel Add-in:
Imports System
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Friend Class KeyboardHooking
' Methods
<DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function CallNextHookEx(ByVal hhk As IntPtr, ByVal nCode As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
End Function
<DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function GetModuleHandle(ByVal lpModuleName As String) As IntPtr
End Function
Private Shared Function HookCallback(ByVal nCode As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As Integer
If ((nCode >= 0) AndAlso (nCode = 0)) Then
Dim keyData As Keys = DirectCast(CInt(wParam), Keys)
If (((BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ControlKey) AndAlso BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ShiftKey)) AndAlso BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(keyData)) AndAlso (keyData = Keys.D7)) Then
'DO SOMETHING HERE
End If
If ((BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ControlKey) AndAlso BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(keyData)) AndAlso (keyData = Keys.D7)) Then
'DO SOMETHING HERE
End If
End If
Return CInt(KeyboardHooking.CallNextHookEx(KeyboardHooking._hookID, nCode, wParam, lParam))
End Function
Public Shared Sub ReleaseHook()
KeyboardHooking.UnhookWindowsHookEx(KeyboardHooking._hookID)
End Sub
Public Shared Sub SetHook()
KeyboardHooking._hookID = KeyboardHooking.SetWindowsHookEx(2, KeyboardHooking._proc, IntPtr.Zero, Convert.ToUInt32(AppDomain.GetCurrentThreadId))
End Sub
<DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function SetWindowsHookEx(ByVal idHook As Integer, ByVal lpfn As LowLevelKeyboardProc, ByVal hMod As IntPtr, ByVal dwThreadId As UInt32) As IntPtr
End Function
<DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError:=True)> _
Private Shared Function UnhookWindowsHookEx(ByVal hhk As IntPtr) As <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)> Boolean
End Function
' Fields
Private Shared _hookID As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
Private Shared _proc As LowLevelKeyboardProc = New LowLevelKeyboardProc(AddressOf KeyboardHooking.HookCallback)
Private Const WH_KEYBOARD As Integer = 2
Private Const WH_KEYBOARD_LL As Integer = 13
Private Const WM_KEYDOWN As Integer = &H100
' Nested Types
Public Delegate Function LowLevelKeyboardProc(ByVal nCode As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As Integer
End Class
Public Class BindingFunctions
' Methods
<DllImport("user32.dll")> _
Private Shared Function GetKeyState(ByVal nVirtKey As Integer) As Short
End Function
Public Shared Function IsKeyDown(ByVal keys As Keys) As Boolean
Return ((BindingFunctions.GetKeyState(CInt(keys)) And &H8000) = &H8000)
End Function
End Class
C# version – the original that the above vb.net code was converted
from – but I had to use Reflector as CodeConverter & devfusion didn’t
do it correctly.
class KeyboardHooking
{
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
private static extern IntPtr SetWindowsHookEx(int idHook, LowLevelKeyboardProc lpfn, IntPtr hMod,
uint dwThreadId);
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
private static extern bool UnhookWindowsHookEx(IntPtr hhk);
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
private static extern IntPtr CallNextHookEx(IntPtr hhk, int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)]
private static extern IntPtr GetModuleHandle(string lpModuleName);
public delegate int LowLevelKeyboardProc(int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
private static LowLevelKeyboardProc _proc = HookCallback;
private static IntPtr _hookID = IntPtr.Zero;
//declare the mouse hook constant.
//For other hook types, you can obtain these values from Winuser.h in the Microsoft SDK.
private const int WH_KEYBOARD = 2; // mouse
private const int HC_ACTION = 0;
private const int WH_KEYBOARD_LL = 13; // keyboard
private const int WM_KEYDOWN = 0x0100;
public static void SetHook()
{
// Ignore this compiler warning, as SetWindowsHookEx doesn't work with ManagedThreadId
#pragma warning disable 618
_hookID = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD, _proc, IntPtr.Zero, (uint)AppDomain.GetCurrentThreadId());
#pragma warning restore 618
}
public static void ReleaseHook()
{
UnhookWindowsHookEx(_hookID);
}
//Note that the custom code goes in this method the rest of the class stays the same.
//It will trap if BOTH keys are pressed down.
private static int HookCallback(int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)
{
if (nCode < 0)
{
return (int)CallNextHookEx(_hookID, nCode, wParam, lParam);
}
else
{
if (nCode == HC_ACTION)
{
Keys keyData = (Keys)wParam;
// CTRL + SHIFT + 7
if ((BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ControlKey) == true)
&& (BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ShiftKey) == true)
&& (BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(keyData) == true) && (keyData == Keys.D7))
{
// DO SOMETHING HERE
}
// CTRL + 7
if ((BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(Keys.ControlKey) == true)
&& (BindingFunctions.IsKeyDown(keyData) == true) && (keyData == Keys.D7))
{
// DO SOMETHING HERE
}
}
return (int)CallNextHookEx(_hookID, nCode, wParam, lParam);
}
}
}
public class BindingFunctions
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern short GetKeyState(int nVirtKey);
public static bool IsKeyDown(Keys keys)
{
return (GetKeyState((int)keys) & 0x8000) == 0x8000;
}
}
You’ll need to put code in the HookCallback() method in the above code to trap events when key combinations are pressed, I’ve given you two examples Ctrl + Shift + 7 and Ctrl + 7 to get you going.
Then in your Excel AddIn wire it up:
Private Sub ThisAddIn_Startup() Handles Me.Startup
'enable keyboard intercepts
KeyboardHooking.SetHook()
And dont forget to disable it when your done:
Private Sub ThisAddIn_Shutdown() Handles Me.Shutdown
'disable keyboard intercepts
KeyboardHooking.ReleaseHook()