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onkeydown event

Fires when the user presses a key.

 

Syntax

HTML Attribute <element onkeydown = "handler(event)">
Event Property object.onkeydown = handler;
attachEvent Method object.attachEvent("onkeydown", handler)
addEventListener Method object.addEventListener("keydown", handler, useCapture)

 

Event information

Synchronous No
Bubbles Yes
Cancelable Yes

 

Event handler parameters

Standards information

Remarks

You can cancel all keys that fire the HTMLSelectElementEvents::onkeydown event in HTML Applications, including most accelerator keys, such as ALT+F4.

As of Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, the event also fires for the following keys:

  • Editing: BACKSPACE
  • Navigation: PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN
  • System: SHIFT+TAB

As of Internet Explorer 5, this event can be canceled for the following keys and key combinations by specifying event.returnValue=false:

  • Editing: BACKSPACE, DELETE
  • Letters: A - Z (uppercase and lowercase)
  • Navigation: PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, END, HOME, LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW
  • Numerals: 0 - 9
  • Symbols: ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = < [ ] { } , . / ? \ | ' ` " ~
  • System: SPACEBAR, ESC, TAB, SHIFT+TAB

As of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, the HTMLSelectElementEvents::onkeydown event fires for the following keys:

  • Editing: DELETE, INSERT
  • Function: F1 - F12
  • Letters: A - Z (uppercase and lowercase)
  • Navigation: HOME, END, LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW
  • Numerals: 0 - 9
  • Symbols: ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = < [ ] { } , . / ? \ | ' ` " ~
  • System: ESC, SPACEBAR, SHIFT, TAB

In Internet Explorer 4.0, you cannot cancel the HTMLSelectElementEvents::onkeydown event, but you can use the HTMLSelectElementEvents::onkeypress event to cancel keyboard events.

Returns a number specifying the IHTMLEventObj::keyCode of the key that was pressed.

To invoke this event, do one of the following:

  • Press any keyboard key.

See also

HTMLSelectElementEvents::onkeyup