How do I handle keyboard events in GTK+3?

Question

What signals/functions should I use to get keyboard input in GTK+3?

I have looked around and the only tutorials I know of that cover GTK+3 (zetcode and gnome developer) don't seem to cover that.

Anyone can point me in the right direction?

@PintoDoido If you are still interested in `GTK3` than [Take a look here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZXCNsTodx0EPcAfc6s0Ew/playlists). — Michi, Dec 17 '19 at 10:33

score 13 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 11 '21 at 16:51

13

I will summarize here how to handle keyboard events in GTK3, which I hope will be useful since I cannot find it put together anywhere else.

Imagine you are using GTK+3 and you want your application to do something when you press the space key. This is how you do it:

First enable the #GDK_KEY_PRESS_MASK mask for your Gdk.Window:
```
gtk_widget_add_events(window, GDK_KEY_PRESS_MASK);
```

Then you connect the window with the keyboard_press() function:

g_signal_connect (G_OBJECT (window), "key_press_event",
        G_CALLBACK (my_keypress_function), NULL);

Define your keyboard_press() to something once the space key has been pressed:

gboolean my_keypress_function (GtkWidget *widget, GdkEventKey *event, gpointer data) {
    if (event->keyval == GDK_KEY_space){
        printf("SPACE KEY PRESSED!");
        return TRUE;
    }
    return FALSE;
}

edited Apr 11 '21 at 16:51

E_net4

27,810
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answered May 21 '17 at 17:52

PintoDoido

1,011
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1

Didn't work for me with "keyboard_press", had to use "key_press_event" instead. – beOn Apr 06 '18 at 05:04
1

Call me a nitpicker, but should add a semicolon to terminate the prinf() – Karel Adams Feb 02 '19 at 09:44
More fundamentally, it won't compile for me: gcc complains about on_key_press not having been declared. – Karel Adams Feb 02 '19 at 09:53
don't forget to add '\n' at the end of the printf message, or it will print it's output after the program exits – Baron Leonardo May 27 '20 at 16:42
In case you need the constant for left `Ctrl` it's `Gdk.KEY_Control_L`. For left `Shift` it's `Gdk.KEY_Shift_L` – acmpo6ou Nov 05 '22 at 16:22

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 20 '18 at 14:04

3

it's g_signal_connect (G_OBJECT (window), "key_press_event", G_CALLBACK (on_key_press), NULL);

answered Feb 20 '18 at 14:04

AgentChaos

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I would suggest adding a link to any source of documentation of this function, along with a little summary – Technohacker Feb 20 '18 at 14:15
2

Please add some explenation to your answer. – André Kool Feb 20 '18 at 14:23

How do I handle keyboard events in GTK+3?

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