CODEWITHSUNDEEP
swiftmacosswiftuikeyshift
Ben216k
Ben216k

Reputation: 627

How do I check if the shift key is currently being pressed down in Swift?

I'm trying to check whether or not shift is being pressed when a function is run. Something like this (but obviously not this, this is just an example):

func doThisThing() {
    if Keyboard.shared.keyBeingPressed(.shift) { // < What I'm trying to figure out
        print("Doing this thing.")
    } else {
        print("You're not holding shift.")
    }
}

I tried looking, but all I could find was keyDown/keyUp events, which isn't practical in this case.

Upvotes: 6

Views: 1633

Answers (3)

Cykelero
Cykelero

Reputation: 216

Look in NSEvent.modifierFlags:

let shiftIsPressed = NSEvent.modifierFlags.contains(.shift)

Upvotes: 1

Paul Stevenson
Paul Stevenson

Reputation: 145

import AppKit

public class KeyboardHelper
{
    public static var optionKeyIsDown: Bool
    {
        let flags = NSEvent.modifierFlags
        return flags.contains(.option)
    }

    public static var shiftKeyIsDown: Bool
    {
        let flags = NSEvent.modifierFlags
        return flags.contains(.shift)
    }
}

Upvotes: 4

Duncan C
Duncan C

Reputation: 131418

It's been a long time since I've done this sort of thing, but I seem to remember that you would need to set up an NSResponder and watch for keyDown/keyUp events. Then you'd parse the event to look for the shift key being pressed or released.

It looks like there is also a function flagsChanged that you can implement to be notified when one of the modifier keys changes state. See this SO thread:

How can I detect that the Shift key has been pressed?

Upvotes: 0

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