The WM_SYSKEYUP message is posted to the window with the keyboard focus when the user releases a key that was pressed while the ALT key was held down. It also occurs when no window currently has the keyboard focus; in this case, the WM_SYSKEYUP message is sent to the active window. The window that receives the message can distinguish between these two contexts by checking the context code in the
lParam parameter.
A window receives this message through its WindowProc function.
Syntax
WM_SYSKEYUP
WPARAM wParam
LPARAM lParam;
Parameters
- wParam
-
Specifies the virtual-key code of the key being released.
- lParam
-
Specifies the repeat count, scan code, extended-key flag, context code, previous key-state flag, and transition-state flag, as shown in the following list of values.
0-15- Specifies the repeat count for the current message. The value is the number of times the keystroke is autorepeated as a result of the user holding down the key. The repeat count is always one for a WM_SYSKEYUP message.
16-23- Specifies the scan code. The value depends on the OEM.
24- Specifies whether the key is an extended key, such as the right-hand ALT and CTRL keys that appear on an enhanced 101- or 102-key keyboard. The value is 1 if it is an extended key; otherwise, it is zero.
25-28- Reserved; do not use.
29- Specifies the context code. The value is 1 if the ALT key is down while the key is released; it is zero if the WM_SYSKEYDOWN message is posted to the active window because no window has the keyboard focus.
30- Specifies the previous key state. The value is always 1 for a WM_SYSKEYUP message.
31- Specifies the transition state. The value is always 1 for a WM_SYSKEYUP message.
Return Value
An application should return zero if it processes this message.
Remarks
The DefWindowProc function sends a WM_SYSCOMMAND message to the top-level window if the F10 key or the ALT key was released. The
wParam parameter of the message is set to SC_KEYMENU.
When the context code is zero, the message can be passed to the TranslateAccelerator function, which will handle it as though it were a normal key message instead of a character-key message. This allows accelerator keys to be used with the active window even if the active window does not have the keyboard focus.
For enhanced 101- and 102-key keyboards, extended keys are the right ALT and CTRL keys on the main section of the keyboard; the INS, DEL, HOME, END, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, and arrow keys in the clusters to the left of the numeric keypad; and the divide (/) and ENTER keys in the numeric keypad. Other keyboards may support the extended-key bit in the
lParam parameter.
For non-U.S. enhanced 102-key keyboards, the right ALT key is handled as a CTRL+ALT key. The following table shows the sequence of messages that result when the user presses and releases this key.
Notification Requirements
| Minimum DLL Version |
None |
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| Header | Declared in Winuser.h, include Windows.h |
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| Minimum operating systems |
Windows 95, Windows NT 3.1 |
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See Also