Raw key events

The built-in os has a function to read incoming keystrokes. But it also implements the functions to move the cursor while typing. This is not always a desired feature; imagine a case in which you want to make a menu with a controllable cursor around the menu entries. The current read() function won't let you.

Thanks for your thoughts. It's helepd me a lot.

Figuring out the key

We can detect any key, but not which key. To find it out, we have to add some further logic to the code:

function rawread()
    while true do
        local sEvent, param = os.pullEvent("key")
        if sEvent == "key" then
            if param == 28 then
                print("Enter detected")
                break
            end
        end
    end
end

This function waits for the Enter key to be pressed. If so, it writes "Enter detected" to the screen and exits.

Key scan codes

The scan codes are typical DirectX numbers.

Key Code Escape 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 0 11 Minus 12 Equals 13 Backspace 14 Tab 15 Q 16 W 17 E 18 R 19 T 20 Y 21 U 22 I 23 O 24 P 25

Key Code Left Bracket 26 Right Bracket 27 Enter 28 Left Control 29 A 30 S 31 D 32 F 33 G 34 H 35 J 36 K 37 L 38 Semicolon 39 Apostrophe 40 Tilde (~) 41 Left Shift 42 Back Slash 43 Z 44 X 45 C 46 V 47

Key Code B 48 N 49 M 50 Comma 51 Period 52 Forward Slash 53 Right Shift 54 Numpad * 55 Left Alt 56 Spacebar 57 Caps Lock 58 F1 59 F2 60 F3 61 F4 62 F5 63 F6 64 F7 65 F8 66 F9 67 F10 68

Key Code Num Lock 69 Scroll Lock 70 Numpad 7 71 Numpad 8 72 Numpad 9 73 Numpad - 74 Numpad 4 75 Numpad 5 76 Numpad 6 77 Numpad + 78 Numpad 1 79 Numpad 2 80 Numpad 3 81 Numpad 0 82 Numpad . 83 F11 87 F12 88 Numpad Enter 156 Right Control 157 Numpad / 181 Right Alt 184

Key Code Home 199 Up Arrow 200 Page Up 201 Left Arrow 203 Right Arrow 205 End 207 Down Arrow 208 Page Down 209 Insert 210 Delete 211

Source: Nexus Wiki