KeyEvent

java.lang.Object
- Event
- - javafx.scene.input.InputEvent
  - - javafx.scene.input.KeyEvent

```
public final class KeyEvent
extends InputEvent
```
An event which indicates that a keystroke occurred in a javafx.scene.Node.
This event is generated when a key is pressed, released, or typed. Depending on the type of the event it is passed to onKeyPressed, onKeyTyped or onKeyReleased function.
"Key typed" events are higher-level and generally do not depend on the platform or keyboard layout. They are generated when a Unicode character is entered, and are the preferred way to find out about character input. In the simplest case, a key typed event is produced by a single key press (e.g., 'a'). Often, however, characters are produced by series of key presses (e.g., SHIFT + 'a'), and the mapping from key pressed events to key typed events may be many-to-one or many-to-many. Key releases are not usually necessary to generate a key typed event, but there are some cases where the key typed event is not generated until a key is released (e.g., entering ASCII sequences via the Alt-Numpad method in Windows). No key typed events are generated for keys that don't generate Unicode characters (e.g., action keys, modifier keys, etc.).
The character variable always contains a valid Unicode character(s) or CHAR_UNDEFINED. Character input is reported by key typed events; key pressed and key released events are not necessarily associated with character input. Therefore, the character variable is guaranteed to be meaningful only for key typed events.
For key pressed and key released events, the code variable contains the event's key code. For key typed events, the code variable always contains KeyCode.UNDEFINED.
"Key pressed" and "key released" events are lower-level and depend on the platform and keyboard layout. They are generated whenever a key is pressed or released, and are the only way to find out about keys that don't generate character input (e.g., action keys, modifier keys, etc.). The key being pressed or released is indicated by the code variable, which contains a virtual key code.
For triggering context menus see the ContextMenuEvent.

Since:

JavaFX 2.0

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type	Field and Description
`private boolean`	`altDown` Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
`static <any>`	`ANY` Common supertype for all key event types.
`static java.lang.String`	`CHAR_UNDEFINED` KEY_PRESSED and KEY_RELEASED events which do not map to a valid Unicode character use this for the keyChar value.
`private java.lang.String`	`character` The Unicode character or sequence of characters associated with the key typed event.
`private KeyCode`	`code` The integer key code associated with the key in this key pressed or key released event.
`private boolean`	`controlDown` Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
`static <any>`	`KEY_PRESSED` This event occurs when a key has been pressed.
`static <any>`	`KEY_RELEASED` This event occurs when a key has been released.
`static <any>`	`KEY_TYPED` This event occurs when a character-generating key was typed (pressed and released).
`private boolean`	`metaDown` Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event.
`private static long`	`serialVersionUID`
`private boolean`	`shiftDown` Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
`private java.lang.String`	`text` A String describing the key code, such as "HOME", "F1" or "A", for key pressed and key released events.

Constructor Summary

Constructors
Constructor and Description
`KeyEvent(<any> eventType, java.lang.String character, java.lang.String text, KeyCode code, boolean shiftDown, boolean controlDown, boolean altDown, boolean metaDown)` Constructs a new `KeyEvent` event from the specified parameters, with a `null` source and target.
`KeyEvent(java.lang.Object source, EventTarget target, <any> eventType, java.lang.String character, java.lang.String text, KeyCode code, boolean shiftDown, boolean controlDown, boolean altDown, boolean metaDown)` Constructs a new `KeyEvent` event from the specified parameters.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`KeyEvent`	`copyFor(java.lang.Object newSource, EventTarget newTarget)`
`KeyEvent`	`copyFor(java.lang.Object source, EventTarget target, <any> type)` Creates a copy of the given event with the given fields substituted.
`java.lang.String`	`getCharacter()` The Unicode character or sequence of characters associated with the key typed event.
`KeyCode`	`getCode()` The key code associated with the key in this key pressed or key released event.
`<any>`	`getEventType()`
`java.lang.String`	`getText()` A String describing the key code, such as "HOME", "F1" or "A", for key pressed and key released events.
`boolean`	`isAltDown()` Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
`boolean`	`isControlDown()` Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
`boolean`	`isMetaDown()` Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event.
`boolean`	`isShiftDown()` Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
`boolean`	`isShortcutDown()` Returns whether or not the host platform common shortcut modifier is down on this event.
`java.lang.String`	`toString()` Returns a string representation of this `KeyEvent` object.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

- Field Detail
  - serialVersionUID
```
private static final long serialVersionUID
```
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
  - ANY
```
public static final <any> ANY
```
    Common supertype for all key event types.
  - KEY_PRESSED
```
public static final <any> KEY_PRESSED
```
    This event occurs when a key has been pressed.
  - KEY_RELEASED
```
public static final <any> KEY_RELEASED
```
    This event occurs when a key has been released.
  - KEY_TYPED
```
public static final <any> KEY_TYPED
```
    This event occurs when a character-generating key was typed (pressed and released). The event contains the character field containing the typed string, the code and text fields are not used.
  - CHAR_UNDEFINED
```
public static final java.lang.String CHAR_UNDEFINED
```
    KEY_PRESSED and KEY_RELEASED events which do not map to a valid Unicode character use this for the keyChar value.
  - character
```
private final java.lang.String character
```
    The Unicode character or sequence of characters associated with the key typed event. Contains multiple elements if the key produced a single Unicode character from outside of the Basic Multilingual Plane which needs to be encoded by the corresponding surrogate pair in Java or if the key produced multiple Unicode characters itself.
    For example, character will have the value "A" for a key typed event generated by pressing SHIFT + 'a'. For key pressed and key released events, character is always CHAR_UNDEFINED.
  - text
```
private final java.lang.String text
```
    A String describing the key code, such as "HOME", "F1" or "A", for key pressed and key released events. For key typed events, text is always the empty string.
  - code
```
private final KeyCode code
```
    The integer key code associated with the key in this key pressed or key released event. For key typed events, code is always KeyCode.UNDEFINED.
  - shiftDown
```
private final boolean shiftDown
```
    Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
  - controlDown
```
private final boolean controlDown
```
    Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
  - altDown
```
private final boolean altDown
```
    Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
  - metaDown
```
private final boolean metaDown
```
    Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event.
- Constructor Detail
  - KeyEvent
```
public KeyEvent(java.lang.Object source,
                EventTarget target,
                <any> eventType,
                java.lang.String character,
                java.lang.String text,
                KeyCode code,
                boolean shiftDown,
                boolean controlDown,
                boolean altDown,
                boolean metaDown)
```
    Constructs a new KeyEvent event from the specified parameters.
    
    Parameters:
    
    source - the source of the event. Can be null.
    
    target - the target of the event. Can be null.
    
    eventType - The type of the event.
    
    character - The character or sequence of characters associated with the event
    
    text - A String describing the key code
    
    code - The integer key code
    
    shiftDown - true if shift modifier was pressed.
    
    controlDown - true if control modifier was pressed.
    
    altDown - true if alt modifier was pressed.
    
    metaDown - true if meta modifier was pressed.
    
    Since:
    
    JavaFX 8.0
  - KeyEvent
```
public KeyEvent(<any> eventType,
                java.lang.String character,
                java.lang.String text,
                KeyCode code,
                boolean shiftDown,
                boolean controlDown,
                boolean altDown,
                boolean metaDown)
```
    Constructs a new KeyEvent event from the specified parameters, with a null source and target.
    
    Parameters:
    
    eventType - The type of the event.
    
    character - The character or sequence of characters associated with the event
    
    text - A String describing the key code
    
    code - The integer key code
    
    shiftDown - true if shift modifier was pressed.
    
    controlDown - true if control modifier was pressed.
    
    altDown - true if alt modifier was pressed.
    
    metaDown - true if meta modifier was pressed.
    
    Since:
    
    JavaFX 8.0
- Method Detail
  - getCharacter
```
public final java.lang.String getCharacter()
```
    The Unicode character or sequence of characters associated with the key typed event. Contains multiple elements if the key produced a single Unicode character from outside of the Basic Multilingual Plane which needs to be encoded by the corresponding surrogate pair in Java or if the key produced multiple Unicode characters itself.
    For example, character will have the value "A" for a key typed event generated by pressing SHIFT + 'a'. For key pressed and key released events, character is always CHAR_UNDEFINED.
    
    Returns:
    
    The Unicode character(s) associated with the key typed event
  - getText
```
public final java.lang.String getText()
```
    A String describing the key code, such as "HOME", "F1" or "A", for key pressed and key released events. For key typed events, text is always the empty string.
    
    Returns:
    
    A String describing the key code
  - getCode
```
public final KeyCode getCode()
```
    The key code associated with the key in this key pressed or key released event. For key typed events, code is always KeyCode.UNDEFINED.
    
    Returns:
    
    The key code associated with the key in this event, KeyCode.UNDEFINED for key typed event
  - isShiftDown
```
public final boolean isShiftDown()
```
    Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
    
    Returns:
    
    whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
  - isControlDown
```
public final boolean isControlDown()
```
    Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
    
    Returns:
    
    whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
  - isAltDown
```
public final boolean isAltDown()
```
    Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
    
    Returns:
    
    whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
  - isMetaDown
```
public final boolean isMetaDown()
```
    Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event.
    
    Returns:
    
    whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event.
  - isShortcutDown
```
public final boolean isShortcutDown()
```
    Returns whether or not the host platform common shortcut modifier is down on this event. This common shortcut modifier is a modifier key which is used commonly in shortcuts on the host platform. It is for example control on Windows and meta (command key) on Mac.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the shortcut modifier is down, false otherwise
  - toString
```
public java.lang.String toString()
```
    Returns a string representation of this KeyEvent object.
    
    Returns:
    
    a string representation of this KeyEvent object.
  - copyFor
```
public KeyEvent copyFor(java.lang.Object newSource,
                        EventTarget newTarget)
```
  - copyFor
```
public KeyEvent copyFor(java.lang.Object source,
                        EventTarget target,
                        <any> type)
```
    Creates a copy of the given event with the given fields substituted.
    
    Parameters:
    
    source - the new source of the copied event
    
    target - the new target of the copied event
    
    type - the new event type.
    
    Returns:
    
    the event copy with the fields substituted
    
    Since:
    
    JavaFX 8.0
  - getEventType
```
public <any> getEventType()
```
    Overrides:
    
    getEventType in class InputEvent

Class KeyEvent

Field Summary

Constructor Summary

Method Summary

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

Field Detail

serialVersionUID

ANY

KEY_PRESSED

KEY_RELEASED

KEY_TYPED

CHAR_UNDEFINED

character

text

code

shiftDown

controlDown

altDown

metaDown

Constructor Detail

KeyEvent

KeyEvent

Method Detail

getCharacter

getText

getCode

isShiftDown

isControlDown

isAltDown

isMetaDown

isShortcutDown

toString

copyFor

copyFor

getEventType