NAME

Allegro::Keyboard - Allegro keyboard object

SYNOPSIS

   use Allegro;

   $al = Allegro->new() or die;
   $d  = $al->Display() or die;

   $kb = $al->Keyboard() or die;

   $key = "";

   while($key ne 'escape')
   {
      $key = $kb->read;
      print "$key\n";
   }

DESCRIPTION

The Allegro::Keyboard module provides an interface to the Allegro keyboard routines.

METHODS

new - create a new keyboard object

Initializes the Allegro keyboard subsystem. Only one keyboard object may exist at once with Allegro v4.

   $kb = $al->Keyboard(mode => $mode);

mode may be key, ascii, or both. This will be the default return mode for read. The default is key.

read - read from key buffer

Reads the current key from the key buffer.

   $key   = $kb->read(mode => 'key');
   $ascii = $kb->read(mode => 'ascii');

mode may be either key or ascii to return either the key name of the pressed key or an ASCII equivalent. Not all keys will have a useful ASCII value.

For example, holding shift and hitting the 4 key will set $key to 4 and $ascii to $. Hitting F1 will return $key as f1 and no ASCII value.

   @key = $kb->read(mode => 'both');

If mode is set to both, an array containing the key name and ASCII value will be returned.

mode defaults to whatever was passed into new.

This method will block if there are no keys available in the key buffer.

pressed - check if a key is pressed

Checks if either a specific key is pressed or any key is presssed.

   exit if($kb->pressed('escape'));

If pressed is given a parameter, it should be one of the key names listed below.

   while(!$kb->pressed()) { ... }

If no parameter is supplied, pressed will return a true value if there are any keys in the key buffer.

simulate - simulate a key press

Simulates a key being pressed by inserting the key into the key buffer. Can take any number of key names.

   $kb->simulate('space', ...);

Valid keys are listed below.

clear - clear keyboard buffer

Clears any remaining keys in the keyboard buffer.

   $kb->clear;

This will not affect the results of $kb->pressed($key); it will only affect calls to $kb->read or $kb->pressed().

KEY NAMES

The following key names will be returned by read in key mode, and are valid key values to be passed to pressed or simulate.

Key names listed in parentheses are aliases, and may be used with pressed or simulate. They however, will never be returned by read, so the first listed name must be used when checking on returned key names from read in key mode.

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
f1
f2
f3
f4
f5
f6
f7
f8
f9
f10
f11
f12
escape (esc)
tilde (~)
minus (-)
equals (=)
backspace
tab
openbrace ([)
closebrace (])
enter (\r) (\n)
colon (:)
quote (``)
backslash (\)
backslash2
comma (,)
period (.)
slash (/)
space ( )
insert (ins)
delete (del)
home
end
pageup
pagedown
left
right
up
down
slash_pad
asterisk_pad (asterisk) (*)
minus_pad
plus_pad
delete_pad
enter_pad
printscreen
pause
abnt_c1
yen
kana
convert
noconvert
at
circumflex
colon2
kanji
leftshift (lshift)
rightshift (rshift)
leftcontrol (lcontrol) (lctrl)
rightcontrol (rcontrol) (rctrl)
alt
altgr
leftwin (lwin)
rightwin (rwin)
menu
scrolllock (scroll)
numlock (num)
capslock (caps)

AUTHOR

Colin O'Leary <colin@mx3.org>

COPYRIGHT

The Allegro library is copyright its authors, and is giftware. See http://alleg.sf.net for more information.