@wordpress/keycodes

What is @wordpress/keycodes?

@wordpress/keycodes is a utility package that provides constants and helper functions for working with keyboard key codes. It is particularly useful for handling keyboard events in a consistent manner across different browsers and environments.

What are @wordpress/keycodes's main functionalities?

Keycode Constants

The package provides constants for common key codes, making it easier to reference and use them in your code without having to remember the numeric values.

const { ENTER, ESCAPE } = require('@wordpress/keycodes');
console.log(ENTER); // Outputs: 13
console.log(ESCAPE); // Outputs: 27

isKeyboardEvent

This helper function checks if a given keyboard event matches a specified key. It simplifies the process of handling specific key events.

const { isKeyboardEvent } = require('@wordpress/keycodes');
const event = new KeyboardEvent('keydown', { keyCode: 13 });
console.log(isKeyboardEvent(event, 'enter')); // Outputs: true

getKeycodeByKey

This function returns the keycode for a given key name, providing a convenient way to map key names to their corresponding key codes.

const { getKeycodeByKey } = require('@wordpress/keycodes');
console.log(getKeycodeByKey('Enter')); // Outputs: 13

Other packages similar to @wordpress/keycodes

keycode

The 'keycode' package provides a simple utility for converting between keyboard key names and their corresponding key codes. It offers similar functionality to @wordpress/keycodes but is more focused on the conversion aspect rather than providing a comprehensive set of utilities.

mousetrap

Mousetrap is a library for handling keyboard shortcuts in JavaScript. While it offers more advanced features for binding and handling keyboard shortcuts, it also includes utilities for working with key codes, making it a more feature-rich alternative to @wordpress/keycodes.

hotkeys-js

Hotkeys-js is a lightweight library for handling keyboard shortcuts. It provides a simple API for binding and unbinding keyboard events, and includes utilities for working with key codes. It is similar to @wordpress/keycodes but with a focus on keyboard shortcuts.

README

Keycodes

Keycodes utilities for WordPress, used to check the key pressed in events like onKeyDown. Contains keycodes constants for keyboard keys like DOWN, UP, ENTER, etc.

Installation

Install the module

npm install @wordpress/keycodes --save

This package assumes that your code will run in an ES2015+ environment. If you're using an environment that has limited or no support for ES2015+ such as lower versions of IE then using core-js or @babel/polyfill will add support for these methods. Learn more about it in Babel docs.

Usage

Check which key was used in an onKeyDown event:

import { DOWN, ENTER } from '@wordpress/keycodes';

// [...]

onKeyDown( event ) {
	const { keyCode } = event;
	
	if ( keyCode === DOWN ) {
		alert( 'You pressed the down arrow!' );
	} else if ( keyCode === ENTER ) {
		alert( 'You pressed the enter key!' );
	} else {
		alert( 'You pressed another key.' );
	}
}