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Keyboard events in recent browsers provide information about the keys and, where applicable, characters corresponding to the keys. Character values may be read from the keypress event, while thekey values, including navigation and function keys, are available from keydown and keyup events. The event object properties you use to read these values varies with the event object model. See Chapter 6 of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference for cross-browser implementation details.
The following table reveals the codes for characters in the lower ASCII character set. Some of the codes are for action keys (such as Backspace and Tab), which have character values that are also in this range. Read these values from a keypress event object.
| Character | Character value |
|---|---|
| Backspace | 8 |
| Tab | 9 |
| Enter (Return on Mac) | 13 |
| Space | 32 |
| ! | 33 |
| " | 34 |
| # | 35 |
| $ | 36 |
| % | 37 |
| & | 38 |
| ' | 39 |
| ( | 40 |
| ) | 41 |
| * | 42 |
| + | 43 |
| , | 44 |
| - | 45 |
| . | 46 |
| / | 47 |
| 0 | 48 |
| 1 | 49 |
| 2 | 50 |
| 3 | 51 |
| 4 | 52 |
| 5 | 53 |
| 6 | 54 |
| 7 | 55 |
| 8 | 56 |
| 9 | 57 |
| : | 58 |
| ; | 59 |
| < | 60 |
| = | 61 |
| > | 62 |
| ? | 63 |
| @ | 64 |
| A | 65 |
| B | 66 |
| C | 67 |
| D | 68 |
| E | 69 |
| F | 70 |
| G | 71 |
| H | 72 |
| I | 73 |
| J | 74 |
| K | 75 |
| L | 76 |
| M | 77 |
| N | 78 |
| O | 79 |
| P | 80 |
| Q | 81 |
| R | 82 |
| S | 83 |
| T | 84 |
| U | 85 |
| V | 86 |
| W | 87 |
| X | 88 |
| Y | 89 |
| Z | 90 |
| [ | 91 |
| \ | 92 |
| ] | 93 |
| ^ | 94 |
| _ | 95 |
| ` | 96 |
| a | 97 |
| b | 98 |
| c | 99 |
| d | 100 |
| e | 101 |
| f | 102 |
| g | 103 |
| h | 104 |
| i | 105 |
| j | 106 |
| k | 107 |
| l | 108 |
| m | 109 |
| n | 110 |
| o | 111 |
| p | 112 |
| q | 113 |
| r | 114 |
| s | 115 |
| t | 116 |
| u | 117 |
| v | 118 |
| w | 119 |
| x | 120 |
| y | 121 |
| z | 122 |
| { | 123 |
| | | 124 |
| } | 125 |
| ~ | 126 |
| Delete | 127 |
The following table lists all keys on a typical U. S. English keyboard and their corresponding key codes. Read these codes from an onkeydown or onkeyup event object:
| Key | Key value |
|---|---|
| Alt | 18 |
| Arrow down | 40 |
| Arrow left | 37 |
| Arrow right | 39 |
| Arrow up | 38 |
| Backspace | 8 |
| Caps Lock | 20 |
| Ctrl | 17 |
| Delete | 46 |
| End | 35 |
| Enter | 13 |
| Esc | 27 |
| F1 | 112 |
| F2 | 113 |
| F3 | 114 |
| F4 | 115 |
| F5 | 116 |
| F6 | 117 |
| F7 | 118 |
| F8 | 119 |
| F9 | 120 |
| F10 | 121 |
| F11 | 122 |
| F12 | 123 |
| Home | 36 |
| Insert | 45 |
| Num Lock | 144 |
| (NumPad) - | 109 |
| (NumPad) * | 106 |
| (NumPad) . | 110 |
| (NumPad) / | 111 |
| (NumPad) + | 107 |
| (NumPad) 0 | 96 |
| (NumPad) 1 | 97 |
| (NumPad) 2 | 98 |
| (NumPad) 3 | 99 |
| (NumPad) 4 | 100 |
| (NumPad) 5 | 101 |
| (NumPad) 6 | 102 |
| (NumPad) 7 | 103 |
| (NumPad) 8 | 104 |
| (NumPad) 9 | 105 |
| Page Down | 34 |
| Page Up | 33 |
| Pause | 19 |
| Print Scrn | 44 |
| Scroll Lock | 145 |
| Shift | 16 |
| Spacebar | 32 |
| Tab | 9 |
| A | 65 |
| B | 66 |
| C | 67 |
| D | 68 |
| E | 69 |
| F | 70 |
| G | 71 |
| H | 72 |
| I | 73 |
| J | 74 |
| K | 75 |
| L | 76 |
| M | 77 |
| N | 78 |
| O | 79 |
| P | 80 |
| Q | 81 |
| R | 82 |
| S | 83 |
| T | 84 |
| U | 85 |
| V | 86 |
| W | 87 |
| X | 88 |
| Y | 89 |
| Z | 90 |
| 1 | 49 |
| 2 | 50 |
| 3 | 51 |
| 4 | 52 |
| 5 | 53 |
| 6 | 54 |
| 7 | 55 |
| 8 | 56 |
| 9 | 57 |
| 0 | 48 |
| ` | 222 |
| - | 189 |
| , | 188 |
| . | 190 |
| / | 191 |
| ; | 186 |
| [ | 219 |
| \ | 220 |
| ] | 221 |
| ` | 192 |
| = | 187 |
Learn more about this topic from Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, 3rd Edition.
Packed with information on the latest web specifications and browser features, this new edition is your ultimate one-stop resource for HTML, XHTML, CSS, Document Object Model (DOM), and Javascript development. Here is the comprehensive reference for designers of Rich Internet Applications who need to operate in all modern browsers, including Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2, Safari, and Opera. You can instantly see browser support for the latest standards-based technologies.
