PRB: SendKeys May Return Illegal Function Call Error

      + ^ % ~ ( ) [ ] { }
				

• An unmatched parenthesis () or bracket {}
• A bracket []
• Braces containing an undefined character sequence, such as {abc}

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Step-by-Step Example

1. Start Visual Basic or from the File menu, choose New Project (ALT, F, N) if Visual Basic is already running. Form1 is created by default.
2. Place a text box (Text1) on Form1.
3. Place a command button (Command1) on Form1.
4. Enter the following code:

      Sub Command1_Click ()
         Text1.SetFocus
         SendKeys sendkeys_prepare("1+2^5% ")
         SendKeys sendkeys_prepare("[] ")
         SendKeys sendkeys_prepare("{abc}")
      End Sub
   
      ' The following function puts braces {} around characters that
      ' are special to the SendKeys statement.
      Function sendkeys_prepare (in As String) As String
         For i% = 1 To Len(in)
            ' Get the next character into c$.
            c$ = Mid$(in, i%, 1)
            ' If c$ is one of the special characters.
            If InStr("+^%~()[]{}", c$) Then
               out$ = out$ + "{" + c$ + "}"
            Else
               out$ = out$ + c$
            End If
         Next
         sendkeys_prepare = out$
      End Function
   						

5. Press F5 to run the program. Click Command1. Some example text containing characters special to SendKeys appear in Text1.

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