How can I capture KeyDown event on a WPF Page or UserControl object?

Question

I have a Page with a UserControl on it. If the user presses Esc while anywhere on Page I want to handle.

I thought this would be as easy as hooking up the PreviewKeyDown event, testing for the Esc key, and then handling it. However, when I placed I breakpoint in the event handler I found it was never getting called. I thought perhaps the UserControl might be getting hit, so I tried PreviewKeyDown there... same result.

Does anyone know the proper place to test for a KeyDown or PreviewKeyDown on a Page object?

Answer 1

Attach to the Window's Event

After the control is loaded, attach to the Window's KeyDown event (or any event) by using Window.GetWindow(this), like so:

The XAML

<UserControl Loaded="UserControl_Loaded"> </UserControl> 

The Code Behind

private void UserControl_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {   var window = Window.GetWindow(this);   window.KeyDown += HandleKeyPress; }  private void HandleKeyPress(object sender, KeyEventArgs e) {   //Do work }