HotKey Problem With Right Alt

[Zohar]

Hi
 
 
Let's say I assign a HotKey which is Ctrl-Alt-<Something>, for example Ctrl-Alt-[-].
 
If I press Ctrl-Alt-[-], then it works.
 
There is a problem tho:
If I set a HotKey for Alt-[-], then later on, when I press Alt-[-], I get the result for Ctrl-Alt-[-].
(and I did not press control,
and control is not stuck, neither physically, or in software)
 
 
Please note that this bug only happens when using the Right set of Alt/Ctrl keys,
it never happens to me on the Left Alt/Ctrl keys.
 
(meaning: If I press Left Alt-[-], I will always get the result for Alt-[-], and never it will mistake it for Ctrl-Alt-[-])
 
 
 
Please note that I gave an example with [-] as the key, but it happens with other keys as well..
 
 
Can it somehow be fixed?
 
Is it a known bug?
 
 
Thank you

Edited August 15, 2014 by Zohar
Title changed

[JohnOne]

Post a reproducer.

And you should not state in your title it is a bug, you do not know that.

[Exit]

There is no right ALT key. It is called AltGr and is a combination of Cntl+Alt.

You may prove it by pressing AltGr+q --> @ and Cntl+Alt+q --> @

Edited August 15, 2014 by Exit

[JScript]

There is no right ALT key. It is called AltGr and is a combination of Cntl+Alt.

You may prove it by pressing AltGr+q --> @ and Cntl+Alt+q --> @

Also confirmed in keyboard PT-BR!

@Zohar

Post your code so we analyze better...

JS

[Exit]

AltGr --> Cntl+Alt   see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key

Win-Key --> Cntl+ESC   see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win_key

[Exit]

A small reproducer to show the difference.

#include <misc.au3>
_HotKey("{ESC}") ; Exit script
_HotKey("!{-}") ; Alt + minus
_HotKey("^!{-}") ; AltGr + minus    or    Cntl + Alt + minus
Func _HotKey($hotkey = "")
    Switch @HotKeyPressed
        Case "{ESC}"
            Exit MsgBox(64 + 262144, Default, "Exit", 3)
        Case "!{-}"
            MsgBox(64 + 262144, Default, "Alt + minus pressed", 3)
        Case "^!{-}"
            MsgBox(64 + 262144, Default, (_IsPressed("A5") ? "AltGR" : "Cntl + Alt") & " + minus  pressed", 3)
        Case Else
            If Not IsDeclared("hotkey") Then Return MsgBox(16 + 262144, Default, "No CASE statement defined for hotkey " & @HotKeyPressed)
            If HotKeySet($hotkey, "_Hotkey") = 0 Then Return MsgBox(16 + 262144, Default, "Hotkey " & $hotkey & " invalid or set by another application.")
    EndSwitch
EndFunc   ;==>_HotKey

While Sleep(100) ; here should be your application.
WEnd ; meanwhile, here is a dummy loop.

Note that AltGr (right Alt key) and Cntl+Alt share the same Hotkey definition and CASE statement "^!{-}"

Only Ispressed() function can show the difference.

btw, the skeleton of this code derives from my _Hotkey() skeleton and abbreviation. See >here.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Exit

[BrewManNH]

There is no right ALT key. It is called AltGr and is a combination of Cntl+Alt.

You may prove it by pressing AltGr+q --> @ and Cntl+Alt+q --> @

On a US English keyboard there most certainly is a right and left ALT key.

[MikahS]

@BrewManNH is absolutely correct. See the key list and they are declared with

{RALT}

and

{LALT}

Edited August 15, 2014 by MikahS

[Exit]

OK, I have a German keyboard and there is the key right to the spacebar labelled "AltGr"

                   

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key for the historical differences between US and foreign keyboards. 

IsPressed() function shows following keycode values:

Cntl (left)

00000011  17
000000A2  162

Cntl (right)

00000011  17
000000A3  163

 Alt (left)
 00000012  18
 000000A4  164

 AltGr (Alt right)
 00000011  17
 00000012  18
 000000A2  162
 000000A5  165

 Cntl (left) + Alt (left)
 00000011  17
 00000012  18
 000000A2  162
 000000A4  164

Cntl (right) + AltGr (Alt right)

00000011  17
00000012  18
000000A2  162
000000A3  163
000000A5  165

 

[MikahS]

It is best to know what OP is using

[Exit]

 

@BrewManNH is absolutely correct. See the key list and they are declared with

{RALT}

and

{LALT}

 

Did you tried RALT and LALT in a hotkey definition. I had no luck.

[MikahS]

The following hotkeys cannot be set:
 

Ctrl+Alt+Delete It is reserved by Windows F12 It is also reserved by Windows, according to its API.

NumPad's Enter Key Instead, use {Enter} which captures both Enter keys on the keyboard.

Win+B,D,E,F,L,M,R,U; and Win+Shift+M These are built-in Windows shortcuts. Note: Win+B and Win+L might only be reserved on Windows XP and above.

Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Win These are the modifier keys themselves!

Other Any global hotkeys a user has defined using third-party software, any combos of two or more "base keys" such as '{F1}{F2}', and any keys of the form '{LALT}' or '{ALTDOWN}'.

Edited August 15, 2014 by MikahS

[Zohar]

Hi All

 

Thank you for all the Info.

 

First of all:

There is no right ALT key. It is called AltGr and is a combination of Cntl+Alt.

My keyboard has Ctrl and Alt left to the SpaceBar, and another pair of Ctrl and Alt right to the SpaceBar.

The Right Alt is labelled "Alt", and not "AltGr".

Also in all applications, when I press that Alt with some key(for example Alt-F, for the file menu, etc),

I get the result of Alt-F, and not Ctrl-Alt-F..

 

Let me make a short code, and I'll paste it here,

tho please note that this problem happens not 100% of the time, so I will have to test it many times hopefully my short code will reproduce the problem.

[MikahS]

Paste the code that gives you problems in the first place

[Exit]

@Zohar

Apparently you have not read the wiki entry. Here again  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key#Control_.2B_Alt_as_a_substitute

Quotation:

Originally, US PC keyboards (specifically, the US 101-key PC/AT keyboards) did not have an AltGr key because that was relevant to only non-US markets; they simply had "left" and "right" Alt keys.

The right Alt key is usually an equivalent of the AltGr key, as both of them share the same scancode

Yes, US keyboards have the right Alt key labelled "ALT", but the scancode is equvalent to the international "AltGr" key.

Here again the scancodes:

Left Alt.

Alt (left)
 00000012  18
 000000A4  164

 Right Alt
 00000011  17
 00000012  18
 000000A2  162
 000000A5  165

[BrewManNH]

@Zohar

Apparently you have not read the wiki entry. Here again  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key#Control_.2B_Alt_as_a_substitute

Quotation:

Originally, US PC keyboards (specifically, the US 101-key PC/AT keyboards) did not have an AltGr key because that was relevant to only non-US markets; they simply had "left" and "right" Alt keys.

The right Alt key is usually an equivalent of the AltGr key, as both of them share the same scancode

Yes, US keyboards have the right Alt key labelled "ALT", but the scancode is equvalent to the international "AltGr" key.

Here again the scancodes:

Left Alt.

Alt (left)

 00000012  18

 000000A4  164

 Right Alt

 00000011  17

 00000012  18

 000000A2  162

 000000A5  165

Who  ever wrote that is wrong. The right ALT key definitely does NOT have the same scan code as the ALTGr keycode. When I ran your script in post #6 the only time I get the message box for "ALTGr + -" is when I press either CTRL key the Right ALT key, and the minus key. So, even though the ALT is probably the same keycode as half of the ALTGr key, on a US English keyboard in Win7 you do not get the CTRL + ALT at the same time by pressing the right ALT key by itself.

[Zohar]

Hi All

 

I want to create a reproducer code, but there's a small problem.

Because this phenomenon/bug doesn't happen 100% of the time(in fact it happens only 10-20% of the time), then I first need to reproduce it on my original code.

(with my original code, this problem happens for several years now but it's relatively rare, and only with the right Alt/Ctrl, so I put it away, until now when I decided to get rid of that problem too)

 

Since it happens once in a while, then even If I create a minimal reproducer code, I don't know when it will reproduce the problem.

 

I am looking to find something that tells me when this problem happens, so I can also create and test the reproducer code at the same time/condition.

 

BTW, the fact that it happens only once in a while, makes me think that it's indeed a bug.

(if it was 100% of the time, then we could say it's a desired behavior and not a bug)

 

I tested now gain and it doesn't happen, so I will try again every few hours, till it happens,

and then create the reproducer, hopefully it will happen there too,

and then I will paste it here...

 

Thank you

Edited August 16, 2014 by Zohar

[Exit]

I made a little script to get the hex keycodes of the 4 Cntl / Alt keys.
Please press the key / keycombinations for some seconds and record the codes for each combination, If they are different of those in the comment (German keyboard), 
Then please post them here. Thanks.

expandcollapse popup

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <misc.au3>
Opt("GUICoordMode", 0) ;1=absolute, 0=relative, 2=cell
Local $hDLL = DllOpen("user32.dll")
Local $a[6][3]
GUICreate("Press left and/or right Cntl and/or Alt ", 300, 45)
$a[0][0] = "11"
$a[1][0] = "12"
$a[2][0] = "A2"
$a[3][0] = "A3"
$a[4][0] = "A4"
$a[5][0] = "A5"

$a[0][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("11", 20, 20, 40, 20)
$a[1][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("12", +40, -1, -1, -1)
$a[2][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("A2", +40, -1, -1, -1)
$a[3][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("A3", +40, -1, -1, -1)
$a[4][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("A4", +40, -1, -1, -1)
$a[5][1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("A5", +40, -1, -1, -1)
For $i = 0 To 5
    GUICtrlSetState($a[$i][1], 32) ; hide labels
Next
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW)

While 1
    If _IsPressed("1B", $hDLL) Then ExitLoop
    If GUIGetMsg() = $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE Then ExitLoop
    For $i = 0 To 5
        GUICtrlSetState($a[$i][1], 32)
        $a[$i][2] = _IsPressed($a[$i][0], $hDLL)
    Next
    For $i = 0 To 5
        If $a[$i][2] Then GUICtrlSetState($a[$i][1], 16)
    Next
    Sleep(200)
WEnd
DllClose($hDLL)
#cs
    Hex-Codes on my German keyboard:
    Please post your codes, if different.
    Cntl L         11    A2
    Cntl R         11       A3
    Alt  L            12       A4
    Alt  R         11 12 A2       A5   is labelled AltGr
    Cntl L + ALT L 11 12 A2    A4
    Alt L + Cntl L 11 12 A2    A4
    Cntl R + Alt R 11 12    A3    A5
    Alt R + Cntl R 11 12 A2 A3    A5
    
    US English keyboard
L-CTRL = 11 A2
R-CTRL = 11 A3
L-ALT =  12 A4
R-ALT =  12 A5   is labelled ??? (AltGr or Alt) 
Pressing them in any combination always results in a combination of the above codes
For example, Right Alt and L-CTRL = 11 12 A2 A5.
    
#ce

Edited August 16, 2014 by Exit

[jchd]

Something I wasn't aware of: with a french keyboard the result depends on the order of keydowns for right AltGr + R-Ctrl.

R-Ctrl first then R-AltGr: 11  12        A3  A5

R-AltGr first then R-Ctrl: 11  12  A2  A3  A5

[Exit]

Same with the German keyboard. Modified comment in post #18

At least, French keyboard has also a AltGr key.

Waiting for a US keyboard result.