Catch enter key press in input text field in AS3

Question

I want to catch the enter key press when the user is filling an input text field in AS3. I think I have to do something like this:

    inputText.addEventListener(Event. ? , func);
    function func(e:Event):void{
       if(e. ? == "Enter"){
          doSomething();
       }
    }

But I can't find the best way to do this. By the way, the input text has a restriction:

inputText.restrict = "0-9";

Should I add the enter key to the restrictions?

inputText.restrict = "0-9\n";

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Corrected Answer

You can easily listen for keyboard events occurring when the textfield is focused.

Just add a KEY_DOWN event directly to the textfield, and then do whatever you want.

// get key presses only when the textfield is being edited
inputText.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN,handler);
function handler(event:KeyboardEvent){

   // if the key is ENTER
   if(event.charCode == 13){

       // your code here
       doSomething();
   }
}

On a separate note, textfields also send other useful events:

• When modified by the user (if its an input textfield) -- Event.CHANGE
• When text is typed by the user (if its an input textfield) -- TextEvent.TEXT_INPUT
• When a link is clicked (if its HTML text) -- TextEvent.LINK
• When scrolled by the user (if its multiline and the contents don't fit) -- Event.SCROLL

---

Previous Wrong Answer:

I think that the only way to actually do what you want is a bit complex.

Basically, you can't get any event from the regular TextField that would be fired when the Enter key is pressed. You have to do work around...

One idea would be to listen the textfield for focus events. When it has focus, you add a listener to the stage for key board events and check if the pressed key is Enter, if so fire your action, else skip.

Sample code:

inputText.addEventListener(FocusEvent.FOCUS_IN,textInputHandler);
inputText.addEventListener(FocusEvent.FOCUS_OUT,textInputHandlerOut);

function textInputHandler(event:FocusEvent):void {
    //our textfield has focus, we want to listen for keyboard events.
    stage.addEventListener( KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDownHandler);
}

function textInputHandlerOut(event:FocusEvent):void {
    //our textfield lost focus, remove our listener.
    stage.removeEventListener( KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDownHandler);
}

function keyDownHandler( e:KeyboardEvent ):void{
    //a key was pressed, check if it was Enter => charCode 13.
    if( e.charCode == 13 ){
      //ok, enter was pressed. Do your thing.
      trace("We pressed enter, doSomething" )
    }
}

Answer 2

For those wondering how to handle an "Enter" key press with a TextInput field rather than a TextField, here's the simple process:

import fl.events.ComponentEvent

...

myListeningField.addEventListener(ComponentEvent.ENTER, listenerMethod);


function listenerMethod(e:Event):void{
    //DO SOME STUFF
}