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How To Make ENTER Key Move Focus Like TAB Key for VB Controls

Article ID: 142816 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q142816

SUMMARY

You can cause the ENTER key to move the focus to the control with the next higher TabIndex property value, as the TAB key does.

However, using the ENTER key to move the focus does not follow recommended Microsoft Windows-based application design guidelines. The ENTER key should be used to process the default command or to process entered information, not to move the focus.

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MORE INFORMATION

You can detect when the user presses the ENTER key from the KeyPress event procedure by checking to see if the KeyAscii parameter is the character code for the ENTER key (13). Then you can move the focus to the next control in the TabIndex order with SendKeys "{tab}." You can move the focus to the previous control with SendKeys "+{tab}."

This technique works with most kinds of controls. It does not work with command button controls, because command buttons do not receive the KeyPress event when you press the ENTER key.

Step-by-Step Example

Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
Add two text boxes (Text1 and Text2) to Form1.

Add the following code to the Text1 KeyPress procedure:

      Private Sub Text1_KeyPress (KeyAscii As Integer)
         If KeyAscii = 13 Then  ' The ENTER key.
            SendKeys "{tab}"    ' Set the focus to the next control.
            KeyAscii = 0        ' Ignore this key.
         End If
      End Sub

Add the following code to the Text2 KeyPress procedure:

      Private Sub Text2_KeyPress (KeyAscii As Integer)
         If KeyAscii = 13 Then  ' The ENTER key.
            SendKeys "{tab}"    ' Set the focus to the next control.
            KeyAscii = 0        ' Ignore this key.
         End If
      End Sub