Can you add an ESC Key shortcut?

Question

I have a Menustrip Item on my Form, and it closes my Form when I press it. I want to make the shortcut key for my MenuStrip Item Esc, but in the "ShorcutKey" settings, it doesn't have an option for Esc, is there any way I can make it do that it is Esc? I have to make it show on the MenuStrip Item that Esc is the shortcut key.

Doing this does NOT work:

menuStripItem.ShortcutKeys = Keys.Escape;

Answer 1

Winforms is picky about the shortcut keystroke you select. The rule is that it must be a function key (F1-F12) or another key with either Keys.Control or Keys.Alt included. The bigger intention here is that you can't accidentally replace a normal key that might be used in, say, a TextBox. The Escape key normally operates the cancel button of a dialog.

Keys.Escape is rather special; Alt+Escape and Ctrl+Escape cannot work, as they are global shortcut keys in Windows.

So you can't use the ShortcutKeys property; you have to recognize the Escape key differently. Easily done in your Form class by overriding the ProcessCmdKey() method. Paste this code into your form:

protected override bool ProcessCmdKey(ref Message msg, Keys keyData) {
    if (keyData == Keys.Escape) {
        this.Close();
        return true;
    }
    return base.ProcessCmdKey(ref msg, keyData);
}