Binding arrow keys in JS/jQuery
$(document).keydown(function(e){
if (e.which == 37) {
alert("left pressed");
return false;
}
});
Character codes:
37 - left
38 - up
39 - right
40 - down
You can use the keyCode of the arrow keys (37, 38, 39 and 40 for left, up, right and down):
$('.selector').keydown(function (e) {
var arrow = { left: 37, up: 38, right: 39, down: 40 };
switch (e.which) {
case arrow.left:
//..
break;
case arrow.up:
//..
break;
case arrow.right:
//..
break;
case arrow.down:
//..
break;
}
});
Check the above example here.
This is a bit late, but HotKeys has a very major bug which causes events to get executed multiple times if you attach more than one hotkey to an element. Just use plain jQuery.
$(element).keydown(function(ev) {
if(ev.which == $.ui.keyCode.DOWN) {
// your code
ev.preventDefault();
}
});
document.onkeydown = function(e) {
switch(e.which) {
case 37: // left
break;
case 38: // up
break;
case 39: // right
break;
case 40: // down
break;
default: return; // exit this handler for other keys
}
e.preventDefault(); // prevent the default action (scroll / move caret)
};
If you need to support IE8, start the function body as e = e || window.event; switch(e.which || e.keyCode) {
.
(edit 2020)
Note that KeyboardEvent.which
is now deprecated. See this example using KeyboardEvent.key
for a more modern solution to detect arrow keys.