SoKeyboardEvent(3)

📦 version 2.5.0, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 SoKeyboardEvent — like, the manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page from the Library Functions Manual (that's the manual name, we're folding it in here, you're welcome) and it's all about SoKeyboardEvent(3) — the class that knows every time you smash a key. let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

SoKeyboardEvent — the class that holds literally all the tea about keyboard interaction. ⌨️

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <Inventor/events/SoKeyboardEvent.h>

Inherits SoButtonEvent. 👑

🎀 Public Types

enum Key { ANY = 0, UNDEFINED = 1, LEFT_SHIFT = 0xffe1, RIGHT_SHIFT,
    LEFT_CONTROL, RIGHT_CONTROL, LEFT_ALT = 0xffe9, RIGHT_ALT, NUMBER_0
    = 0x0030, NUMBER_1, NUMBER_2, NUMBER_3, NUMBER_4, NUMBER_5,
    NUMBER_6, NUMBER_7, NUMBER_8, NUMBER_9, A = 0x0061, 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, HOME =
    0xff50, LEFT_ARROW, UP_ARROW, RIGHT_ARROW, DOWN_ARROW, PAGE_UP,
    PAGE_DOWN, END, PRIOR = 0xff55, NEXT, PAD_ENTER = 0xff8d, PAD_F1 =
    0xff91, PAD_F2, PAD_F3, PAD_F4, PAD_0 = 0xff9e, PAD_1 = 0xff9c,
    PAD_2 = 0xff99, PAD_3 = 0xff9b, PAD_4 = 0xff96, PAD_5 = 0xff9d,
    PAD_6 = 0xff98, PAD_7 = 0xff95, PAD_8 = 0xff97, PAD_9 = 0xff9a,
    PAD_ADD = 0xffab, PAD_SUBTRACT = 0xffad, PAD_MULTIPLY = 0xffaa,
    PAD_DIVIDE = 0xffaf, PAD_SPACE = 0xff8d, PAD_TAB = 0xff89,
    PAD_INSERT = 0xff9e, PAD_DELETE = 0xff9f, PAD_PERIOD = 0xff9f, F1 =
    0xffbe, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, BACKSPACE =
    0xff08, TAB = 0xff09, RETURN = 0xff0d, ENTER = 0xff0d, PAUSE =
    0xff13, SCROLL_LOCK = 0xff14, ESCAPE = 0xff1b, DELETE = 0xffff,
    KEY_DELETE = DELETE, PRINT = 0xff61, INSERT = 0xff63, NUM_LOCK =
    0xff7f, CAPS_LOCK = 0xffe5, SHIFT_LOCK = 0xffe6, SPACE = 0x0020,
    APOSTROPHE = 0x0027, COMMA = 0x002c, MINUS = 0x002d, PERIOD =
    0x002e, SLASH = 0x002f, SEMICOLON = 0x003b, EQUAL = 0x003d,
    BRACKETLEFT = 0x005b, BACKSLASH = 0x005c, BRACKETRIGHT = 0x005d,
    GRAVE = 0x0060 }

Public Types inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

enum State { UP, DOWN, UNKNOWN }

🦋 Public Member Functions

virtual SoType getTypeId (void) const
SoKeyboardEvent (void)
virtual ~SoKeyboardEvent ()
void setKey (SoKeyboardEvent::Key key)
SoKeyboardEvent::Key getKey (void) const
void setPrintableCharacter (const char c)
char getPrintableCharacter (void) const

Public Member Functions inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

SoButtonEvent (void)
virtual ~SoButtonEvent ()
void setState (SoButtonEvent::State state)
SoButtonEvent::State getState (void) const

Public Member Functions inherited from `SoEvent`

SoEvent (void)
virtual ~SoEvent ()
SbBool isOfType (SoType type) const
void setTime (const SbTime t)
SbTime getTime (void) const
void setPosition (const SbVec2s &p)
const SbVec2s & getPosition (void) const
const SbVec2s getPosition (const SbViewportRegion &vpRgn) const
const SbVec2f getNormalizedPosition (const SbViewportRegion &vpRgn)
    const
void setShiftDown (SbBool isDown)
SbBool wasShiftDown (void) const
void setCtrlDown (SbBool isDown)
SbBool wasCtrlDown (void) const
void setAltDown (SbBool isDown)
SbBool wasAltDown (void) const

⭐ Static Public Member Functions

static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
static SbBool isKeyPressEvent (const SoEvent *e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key
    whichKey)
static SbBool isKeyReleaseEvent (const SoEvent *e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key
    whichKey)
static void initClass (void)

Static Public Member Functions inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
static void initClass (void)

Static Public Member Functions inherited from `SoEvent`

static SoType getClassTypeId (void)
static void initClass (void)

💜 Detailed Description 💜

The SoKeyboardEvent class contains information about keyboard interaction. no cap, that's literally its whole job. 😌

When the user presses any keys on the keyboard, these will be translated from a system specific event into a Coin event and sent to the scenegraph by using instances of this class. so your key smash becomes a whole situation in the scene graph. iconic behavior fr fr. ✨

See also

SoEvent, SoButtonEvent, SoMouseButtonEvent, SoSpaceballButtonEvent
SoEventCallback, SoHandleEventAction

🧚 Member Enumeration Documentation 🧚

`enum SoKeyboardEvent::Key`

This enum contains all keys detected by Coin. every single one, she's thorough. 👑

🎀 Constructor & Destructor Documentation 🎀

`SoKeyboardEvent::SoKeyboardEvent (void )`

Constructor. the birth of an event, main character origin story. 🫶

Referenced by getTypeId(), initClass(), isKeyPressEvent(), and isKeyReleaseEvent().

`SoKeyboardEvent::~SoKeyboardEvent ()` [virtual]

Destructor. rest in peace little event, you did amazing sweetie. 💀

🌈 Member Function Documentation 🌈

`SoType SoKeyboardEvent::getTypeId (void ) const` [virtual]

Returns the actual type id of an instantiated object. like a little ID card but for types. 🪪

Reimplemented from SoButtonEvent.

References SoKeyboardEvent().

`void SoKeyboardEvent::setKey (SoKeyboardEvent::Key keyarg)`

Set the value of the key which the user interacted with.

This method is used from the window specific device classes when translating events to the generic Coin library.

See also

getKey()

`SoKeyboardEvent::Key SoKeyboardEvent::getKey (void ) const`

Returns the value of the key which was pressed or released.

Coin adds a new key value called UNDEFINED. This is needed to support GUI toolkits where it's not possible to find exactly which key is pressed, and/or to support non-US keyboards. The Open Inventor design for this class is flawed, since it assumes everybody uses a US keyboard. We recommend using getPrintableCharacter() to find which key is pressed/released, at least for printable non-alphanumerical characters.

bestie this is a real callout in the docs — the original design just assumed everyone's on a US keyboard and that's simply not the vibe. the docs themselves say it's flawed. use getPrintableCharacter(). 💅

See also

getPrintableCharacter(), getState()
wasShiftDown(), wasCtrlDown(), wasAltDown(), getPosition(), getTime()

`void SoKeyboardEvent::setPrintableCharacter (const char c)`

Sets the printable character for this keyboard event. If this method is not called when creating an event, getPrintableCharacter() will convert the SoKeyboardEvent::Key value into a printable character. This conversion does not work on non-US keyboards, so we recommend that you set the printable character using this method instead.

This printable character is cleared each time setKey() is called.

This method is an extension versus the Open Inventor API. ✨ (so yes it's extra, and yes it's better)

See also

getPrintableCharacter()

`char SoKeyboardEvent::getPrintableCharacter (void ) const`

Return ASCII value which would be generated by the key and modifier combination.

NB! If setPrintableCharacter() hasn't been called, this function does not always work as expected, particularly not on non-US keyboards. The Coin GUI toolkits (SoGtk/SoQt/SoWin/SoXt/Sc21) will set the printable character correctly.

See also

getKey(), wasShiftDown(), wasCtrlDown(), wasAltDown(), setPrintableCharacter()

References SoEvent::wasShiftDown().

`SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyPressEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey)` [static]

Convenience method for quickly checking if the given event is a keypress on the given key, whichKey. lil shortcut, so convenient, we love her. 🎀

See also

isKeyReleaseEvent(), isOfType(), getKey(), getState()

References SoButtonEvent::DOWN, SoEvent::isOfType(), SoButtonEvent::SoButtonEvent(), SoEvent::SoEvent(), and SoKeyboardEvent().

`SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyReleaseEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey)` [static]

Convenience method for quickly checking if the given event is a key release of the given key, whichKey. the yin to the previous function's yang. 🦋

See also

isKeyPressEvent(), isOfType(), getKey(), getState()

References SoEvent::isOfType(), SoButtonEvent::SoButtonEvent(), SoEvent::SoEvent(), SoKeyboardEvent(), and SoButtonEvent::UP.

`void SoKeyboardEvent::initClass (void )` [static]

Initialize the type information data. doing the setup so everyone else can slay later. 💅

References SoButtonEvent::SoButtonEvent(), and SoKeyboardEvent().

👑 Author 👑

Generated automatically by Doxygen for Coin from the source code.

aaaand that's the whole thing bestie!! 🫶 this page came out of Coin, Version 2.5.0 (that's the source and version, mwah), and it's the SoKeyboardEvent(3) page — so now you know every key Coin can clock. go forth and handle those events, you're literally the main character of the scenegraph. periodt. 💖✨🌸

📦 where this page comes from

fedora 43: Coin2-devel 2.5.0-52.fc43 · GPL-2.0-only
fedora 43: Coin2-devel 2.5.0-52.fc43 · GPL-2.0-only
fedora 44: Coin2-devel 2.5.0-54.fc44 · GPL-2.0-only
fedora 44: Coin2-devel 2.5.0-54.fc44 · GPL-2.0-only
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-14: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms

SoKeyboardEvent(3)

💖 SoKeyboardEvent — like, the manual, but make it make sense 💖

✨ NAME ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

🎀 Public Types

Public Types inherited from SoButtonEvent

🦋 Public Member Functions

Public Member Functions inherited from SoButtonEvent

Public Member Functions inherited from SoEvent

⭐ Static Public Member Functions

Static Public Member Functions inherited from SoButtonEvent

Static Public Member Functions inherited from SoEvent

💜 Detailed Description 💜

🧚 Member Enumeration Documentation 🧚

enum SoKeyboardEvent::Key

🎀 Constructor & Destructor Documentation 🎀

SoKeyboardEvent::SoKeyboardEvent (void )

SoKeyboardEvent::~SoKeyboardEvent () [virtual]

🌈 Member Function Documentation 🌈

SoType SoKeyboardEvent::getTypeId (void ) const [virtual]

void SoKeyboardEvent::setKey (SoKeyboardEvent::Key keyarg)

SoKeyboardEvent::Key SoKeyboardEvent::getKey (void ) const

void SoKeyboardEvent::setPrintableCharacter (const char c)

char SoKeyboardEvent::getPrintableCharacter (void ) const

SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyPressEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey) [static]

SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyReleaseEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey) [static]

void SoKeyboardEvent::initClass (void ) [static]

👑 Author 👑

Public Types inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

Public Member Functions inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

Public Member Functions inherited from `SoEvent`

Static Public Member Functions inherited from `SoButtonEvent`

Static Public Member Functions inherited from `SoEvent`

`enum SoKeyboardEvent::Key`

`SoKeyboardEvent::SoKeyboardEvent (void )`

`SoKeyboardEvent::~SoKeyboardEvent ()` [virtual]

`SoType SoKeyboardEvent::getTypeId (void ) const` [virtual]

`void SoKeyboardEvent::setKey (SoKeyboardEvent::Key keyarg)`

`SoKeyboardEvent::Key SoKeyboardEvent::getKey (void ) const`

`void SoKeyboardEvent::setPrintableCharacter (const char c)`

`char SoKeyboardEvent::getPrintableCharacter (void ) const`

`SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyPressEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey)` [static]

`SbBool SoKeyboardEvent::isKeyReleaseEvent (const SoEvent * e, SoKeyboardEvent::Key whichKey)` [static]

`void SoKeyboardEvent::initClass (void )` [static]