Re: what should event.key be if a key inserts multiple characters?

I forgot to address one question:

>> Does .key have a value for character producing keys? If so, it is always
>> equal to the .char value?

According to the current spec, .key is not always the same as .char
for character-producing keys. Examples :

"Spacebar"
"Doublequote"
"Ampersand"

etc.

See: http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/DOM-Level-3-Events/html/DOM3-Events.html#key-values


--Jacob



On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 10:32 PM, Jacob Rossi <rossi@gatech.edu> wrote:
> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 6:33 PM, Ojan Vafai <ojan@chromium.org> wrote:
>> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 2:42 PM, Hallvord R. M. Steen <hallvord@opera.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Tue, 25 May 2010 00:47:16 +0200, Jacob Rossi <rossi@gatech.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> .keyCode  -  Deprecated. Use .key
>>>> .charCode - Deprecated. Use .char
>>>> .key - Name of key being pressed.
>>>> .char - character value produced. Empty string if the key does not
>>>> produce a character (arrow keys, function keys, etc.).
>>>
>>> Short and sweet, with a clear link to the related properties from the
>>> past. Good naming, sir :)
>
> Thanks.
>
>>
>> Does .key have a value for character producing keys? If so, it is always
>> equal to the .char value?
>> It seems cleaner to me to keep the two totally separate and have .key be the
>> empty string for character producing keys. The fact keyCode and
>> charCode  often have the same value and sometimes don't is a considerable
>> source of confusion for web developers.
>> Ojan
>
> In my opinion, .key would not be an empty string for
> character-producing keys. The spec gives a key name for every key
> (regardless of whether it produces a character) and this should be the
> value of .key. Keeping it this way allows for easy programming around
> 2 common scenarios:
>
> a.  You care which key was pressed (.key)
> b. You care which character was produced (.char)
>
> If .key is an empty string for character-producing keys, then in
> scenario A you would have to consciously decide whether to use .key or
> .char based on whether the key produces a character or not.
>
> To simplify scenario A, I would prefer .key always have a value. A key
> is never abscent of a name. Rather, sometimes it just doesn't produce
> a character.
>
> --Jacob
>

Received on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 02:43:10 UTC