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I need to do this for configuring my application.
I have QLineEdit field with reimplemented keyPressEvent method.
QKeyEvent *ke = ...
QString txt;
if(ke->modifiers() & Qt::ControlModifier)
txt += "Ctrl+";
if(ke->modifiers() & Qt::AltModifier)
txt += "Alt+";
if(ke->modifiers() & Qt::ShiftModifier)
txt += "Shift+";
if(ke->key() >= Qt::Key_0 && ke->key() <= Qt::Key_9)
txt += ('0' + ke->key() - Qt::Key_0);
else if(ke->key() >= Qt::Key_A && ke->key() <= Qt::Key_Z)
txt += ('A' + ke->key() - Qt::Key_A);
ui->hotkeyEdit->setText(txt);
But this solution can create shortcuts only with english chars. For example when I use russian keyboard layout, this code will display the same sequence but with english char, placed on the same keyboard key.
What you might find very useful is the function QKeySequence().toString().
The following is a part of a code that I use to capture User Defined Shortcuts. With some modifications it can do whatever you need in your project. Hope it helps (sorry for the crapped identation):
if (event->type() == QEvent::KeyPress){
QKeyEvent *keyEvent = static_cast<QKeyEvent*>(event);
int keyInt = keyEvent->key();
Qt::Key key = static_cast<Qt::Key>(keyInt);
if(key == Qt::Key_unknown){
qDebug() << "Unknown key from a macro probably";
return;
// the user have clicked just and only the special keys Ctrl, Shift, Alt, Meta.
if(key == Qt::Key_Control ||
key == Qt::Key_Shift ||
key == Qt::Key_Alt ||
key == Qt::Key_Meta)
qDebug() << "Single click of special key: Ctrl, Shift, Alt or Meta";
qDebug() << "New KeySequence:" << QKeySequence(keyInt).toString(QKeySequence::NativeText);
return;
// check for a combination of user clicks
Qt::KeyboardModifiers modifiers = keyEvent->modifiers();
QString keyText = keyEvent->text();
// if the keyText is empty than it's a special key like F1, F5, ...
qDebug() << "Pressed Key:" << keyText;
QList<Qt::Key> modifiersList;
if(modifiers & Qt::ShiftModifier)
keyInt += Qt::SHIFT;
if(modifiers & Qt::ControlModifier)
keyInt += Qt::CTRL;
if(modifiers & Qt::AltModifier)
keyInt += Qt::ALT;
if(modifiers & Qt::MetaModifier)
keyInt += Qt::META;
qDebug() << "New KeySequence:" << QKeySequence(keyInt).toString(QKeySequence::NativeText);
If someone cares for the python version of the solution of Tihomir Dolapchiev above. I just translated it and it works great. Just posting for future reference.
class KeySequenceEdit(QtGui.QLineEdit):
This class is mainly inspired by
http://stackoverflow.com/a/6665017
def __init__(self, keySequence, *args):
super(KeySequenceEdit, self).__init__(*args)
self.keySequence = keySequence
self.setKeySequence(keySequence)
def setKeySequence(self, keySequence):
self.keySequence = keySequence
self.setText(self.keySequence.toString(QtGui.QKeySequence.NativeText))
def keyPressEvent(self, e):
if e.type() == QtCore.QEvent.KeyPress:
key = e.key()
if key == QtCore.Qt.Key_unknown:
warnings.warn("Unknown key from a macro probably")
return
# the user have clicked just and only the special keys Ctrl, Shift, Alt, Meta.
if(key == QtCore.Qt.Key_Control or
key == QtCore.Qt.Key_Shift or
key == QtCore.Qt.Key_Alt or
key == QtCore.Qt.Key_Meta):
print("Single click of special key: Ctrl, Shift, Alt or Meta")
print("New KeySequence:", QtGui.QKeySequence(key).toString(QtGui.QKeySequence.NativeText))
return
# check for a combination of user clicks
modifiers = e.modifiers()
keyText = e.text()
# if the keyText is empty than it is a special key like F1, F5, ...
print("Pressed Key:", keyText)
if modifiers & QtCore.Qt.ShiftModifier:
key += QtCore.Qt.SHIFT
if modifiers & QtCore.Qt.ControlModifier:
key += QtCore.Qt.CTRL
if modifiers & QtCore.Qt.AltModifier:
key += QtCore.Qt.ALT
if modifiers & QtCore.Qt.MetaModifier:
key += QtCore.Qt.META
print("New KeySequence:", QtGui.QKeySequence(key).toString(QtGui.QKeySequence.NativeText))
self.setKeySequence(QtGui.QKeySequence(key))
Here are someways to do it.
actionName->setShortcut(QKeySequence::New); //for predefined shortcuts like new, close, open..
or you can define your own shortcut with this
actionName->setShortcut(QKeySequence("Ctrl+N")); // sets Ctrl + N for w.e the action does
In the first case qt automatically detects and assigns the appropriate shortcut for that particular action. In the second case, you can pick your own desired shortcut and type it as string. It automatically parses it and understands.
This avoids the need for using key captures for unnecessary purposes.
As a result, both human-readable strings and hard-coded key codes can both be problematic to use when specifying a key sequence that can be used on a variety of different keyboard layouts. Only the use of standard shortcuts guarantees that the user will be able to use the shortcuts that the developer intended.
if(event->type() == QEvent::KeyPress)
QKeyEvent *keyEvent = static_cast<QKeyEvent*>(event);
qDebug() << "delete" << keyEvent->matches(QKeySequence::Delete);
qDebug() << "copy" << keyEvent->matches(QKeySequence::Copy);
qDebug() << "paste" << keyEvent->matches(QKeySequence::Paste);
in case Qt users want it for Qml, here's how I did it.
There are however a few extra features that you might not want. I'll leave the code here and let users adapt.
TextField {
Layout.fillWidth: true
placeholderText: qsTr("Shortcut")
text: shortcut
onTextChanged: myModel.setPropertyAndUpdate(index, "shortcut", text, this)
property var modifiers: ({ 0x02000000: "Shift", 0x04000000: "Ctrl", 0x08000000: "Alt", 0x10000000: "Meta", 0x20000000: "Keypad", 0x40000000: "GroupSwitch" })
property var keys: ({
0x01000000: "Escape", 0x01000001: "Tab", 0x01000002: "Backtab", 0x01000003: "Backspace", 0x01000004: "Return", 0x01000005: "Enter", 0x01000006: "Insert", 0x01000007: "Delete", 0x01000008: "Pause", 0x01000009: "Print", 0x0100000a: "SysReq", 0x0100000b: "Clear", 0x01000010: "Home", 0x01000011: "End", 0x01000012: "Left", 0x01000013: "Up", 0x01000014: "Right", 0x01000015: "Down", 0x01000016: "PageUp", 0x01000017: "PageDown", 0x01000020: "Shift", 0x01000021: "Control", 0x01000022: "Meta", 0x01000023: "Alt", 0x01001103: "AltGr", 0x01000024: "CapsLock", 0x01000025: "NumLock", 0x01000026: "ScrollLock", 0x01000030: "F1", 0x01000031: "F2", 0x01000032: "F3", 0x01000033: "F4", 0x01000034: "F5", 0x01000035: "F6", 0x01000036: "F7", 0x01000037: "F8", 0x01000038: "F9", 0x01000039: "F10", 0x0100003a: "F11", 0x0100003b: "F12", 0x0100003c: "F13", 0x0100003d: "F14", 0x0100003e: "F15", 0x0100003f: "F16", 0x01000040: "F17", 0x01000041: "F18", 0x01000042: "F19", 0x01000043: "F20", 0x01000044: "F21", 0x01000045: "F22", 0x01000046: "F23", 0x01000047: "F24", 0x01000048: "F25", 0x01000049: "F26", 0x0100004a: "F27", 0x0100004b: "F28", 0x0100004c: "F29", 0x0100004d: "F30", 0x0100004e: "F31", 0x0100004f: "F32", 0x01000050: "F33", 0x01000051: "F34", 0x01000052: "F35", 0x01000053: "Super_L", 0x01000054: "Super_R", 0x01000055: "Menu", 0x01000056: "Hyper_L", 0x01000057: "Hyper_R", 0x01000058: "Help", 0x01000059: "Direction_L", 0x01000060: "Direction_R", 0x20: "Space", 0x21: "Exclam", 0x22: "QuoteDbl", 0x23: "NumberSign", 0x24: "Dollar", 0x25: "Percent", 0x26: "Ampersand", 0x27: "Apostrophe", 0x28: "ParenLeft", 0x29: "ParenRight", 0x2a: "Asterisk", 0x2b: "Plus", 0x2c: "Comma", 0x2d: "Minus", 0x2e: "Period", 0x2f: "Slash", 0x30: "0", 0x31: "1", 0x32: "2", 0x33: "3", 0x34: "4", 0x35: "5", 0x36: "6", 0x37: "7", 0x38: "8", 0x39: "9", 0x3a: "Colon", 0x3b: "Semicolon", 0x3c: "Less", 0x3d: "Equal", 0x3e: "Greater", 0x3f: "Question", 0x40: "At", 0x41: "A", 0x42: "B", 0x43: "C", 0x44: "D", 0x45: "E", 0x46: "F", 0x47: "G", 0x48: "H", 0x49: "I", 0x4a: "J", 0x4b: "K", 0x4c: "L", 0x4d: "M", 0x4e: "N", 0x4f: "O", 0x50: "P", 0x51: "Q", 0x52: "R", 0x53: "S", 0x54: "T", 0x55: "U", 0x56: "V", 0x57: "W", 0x58: "X", 0x59: "Y", 0x5a: "Z", 0x5b: "BracketLeft", 0x5c: "Backslash", 0x5d: "BracketRight", 0x5e: "AsciiCircum", 0x5f: "Underscore", 0x60: "QuoteLeft", 0x7b: "BraceLeft", 0x7c: "Bar", 0x7d: "BraceRight", 0x7e: "AsciiTilde", 0x0a0: "nobreakspace", 0x0a1: "exclamdown", 0x0a2: "cent", 0x0a3: "sterling", 0x0a4: "currency", 0x0a5: "yen", 0x0a6: "brokenbar", 0x0a7: "section", 0x0a8: "diaeresis", 0x0a9: "copyright", 0x0aa: "ordfeminine", 0x0ab: "guillemotleft", 0x0ac: "notsign", 0x0ad: "hyphen", 0x0ae: "registered", 0x0af: "macron", 0x0b0: "degree", 0x0b1: "plusminus", 0x0b2: "twosuperior", 0x0b3: "threesuperior", 0x0b4: "acute", 0x0b5: "mu", 0x0b6: "paragraph", 0x0b7: "periodcentered", 0x0b8: "cedilla", 0x0b9: "onesuperior", 0x0ba: "masculine", 0x0bb: "guillemotright", 0x0bc: "onequarter", 0x0bd: "onehalf", 0x0be: "threequarters", 0x0bf: "questiondown", 0x0c0: "Agrave", 0x0c1: "Aacute", 0x0c2: "Acircumflex", 0x0c3: "Atilde", 0x0c4: "Adiaeresis", 0x0c5: "Aring", 0x0c6: "AE", 0x0c7: "Ccedilla", 0x0c8: "Egrave", 0x0c9: "Eacute", 0x0ca: "Ecircumflex", 0x0cb: "Ediaeresis", 0x0cc: "Igrave", 0x0cd: "Iacute", 0x0ce: "Icircumflex", 0x0cf: "Idiaeresis", 0x0d0: "ETH", 0x0d1: "Ntilde", 0x0d2: "Ograve", 0x0d3: "Oacute", 0x0d4: "Ocircumflex", 0x0d5: "Otilde", 0x0d6: "Odiaeresis", 0x0d7: "multiply", 0x0d8: "Ooblique", 0x0d9: "Ugrave", 0x0da: "Uacute", 0x0db: "Ucircumflex", 0x0dc: "Udiaeresis", 0x0dd: "Yacute", 0x0de: "THORN", 0x0df: "ssharp", 0x0f7: "division", 0x0ff: "ydiaeresis", 0x01001120: "Multi_key", 0x01001137: "Codeinput", 0x0100113c: "SingleCandidate", 0x0100113d: "MultipleCandidate", 0x0100113e: "PreviousCandidate", 0x0100117e: "Mode_switch", 0x01001121: "Kanji", 0x01001122: "Muhenkan", 0x01001123: "Henkan", 0x01001124: "Romaji", 0x01001125: "Hiragana", 0x01001126: "Katakana", 0x01001127: "Hiragana_Katakana", 0x01001128: "Zenkaku", 0x01001129: "Hankaku", 0x0100112a: "Zenkaku_Hankaku", 0x0100112b: "Touroku", 0x0100112c: "Massyo", 0x0100112d: "Kana_Lock", 0x0100112e: "Kana_Shift", 0x0100112f: "Eisu_Shift", 0x01001130: "Eisu_toggle", 0x01001131: "Hangul", 0x01001132: "Hangul_Start", 0x01001133: "Hangul_End", 0x01001134: "Hangul_Hanja", 0x01001135: "Hangul_Jamo", 0x01001136: "Hangul_Romaja", 0x01001138: "Hangul_Jeonja", 0x01001139: "Hangul_Banja", 0x0100113a: "Hangul_PreHanja", 0x0100113b: "Hangul_PostHanja", 0x0100113f: "Hangul_Special", 0x01001250: "Dead_Grave", 0x01001251: "Dead_Acute", 0x01001252: "Dead_Circumflex", 0x01001253: "Dead_Tilde", 0x01001254: "Dead_Macron", 0x01001255: "Dead_Breve", 0x01001256: "Dead_Abovedot", 0x01001257: "Dead_Diaeresis", 0x01001258: "Dead_Abovering", 0x01001259: "Dead_Doubleacute", 0x0100125a: "Dead_Caron", 0x0100125b: "Dead_Cedilla", 0x0100125c: "Dead_Ogonek", 0x0100125d: "Dead_Iota", 0x0100125e: "Dead_Voiced_Sound", 0x0100125f: "Dead_Semivoiced_Sound", 0x01001260: "Dead_Belowdot", 0x01001261: "Dead_Hook", 0x01001262: "Dead_Horn", 0x01001263: "Dead_Stroke", 0x01001264: "Dead_Abovecomma", 0x01001265: "Dead_Abovereversedcomma", 0x01001266: "Dead_Doublegrave", 0x01001267: "Dead_Belowring", 0x01001268: "Dead_Belowmacron", 0x01001269: "Dead_Belowcircumflex", 0x0100126a: "Dead_Belowtilde", 0x0100126b: "Dead_Belowbreve", 0x0100126c: "Dead_Belowdiaeresis", 0x0100126d: "Dead_Invertedbreve", 0x0100126e: "Dead_Belowcomma", 0x0100126f: "Dead_Currency", 0x01001280: "Dead_a", 0x01001281: "Dead_A", 0x01001282: "Dead_e", 0x01001283: "Dead_E", 0x01001284: "Dead_i", 0x01001285: "Dead_I", 0x01001286: "Dead_o", 0x01001287: "Dead_O", 0x01001288: "Dead_u", 0x01001289: "Dead_U", 0x0100128a: "Dead_Small_Schwa", 0x0100128b: "Dead_Capital_Schwa", 0x0100128c: "Dead_Greek", 0x01001290: "Dead_Lowline", 0x01001291: "Dead_Aboveverticalline", 0x01001292: "Dead_Belowverticalline", 0x01001293: "Dead_Longsolidusoverlay", 0x01000061: "Back", 0x01000062: "Forward", 0x01000063: "Stop", 0x01000064: "Refresh", 0x01000070: "VolumeDown", 0x01000071: "VolumeMute", 0x01000072: "VolumeUp", 0x01000073: "BassBoost", 0x01000074: "BassUp", 0x01000075: "BassDown", 0x01000076: "TrebleUp", 0x01000077: "TrebleDown", 0x01000080: "MediaPlay", 0x01000081: "MediaStop", 0x01000082: "MediaPrevious", 0x01000083: "MediaNext", 0x01000084: "MediaRecord", 0x1000085: "MediaPause", 0x1000086: "MediaTogglePlayPause", 0x01000090: "HomePage", 0x01000091: "Favorites", 0x01000092: "Search", 0x01000093: "Standby", 0x01000094: "OpenUrl", 0x010000a0: "LaunchMail", 0x010000a1: "LaunchMedia", 0x010000a2: "Launch0", 0x010000a3: "Launch1", 0x010000a4: "Launch2", 0x010000a5: "Launch3", 0x010000a6: "Launch4", 0x010000a7: "Launch5", 0x010000a8: "Launch6", 0x010000a9: "Launch7", 0x010000aa: "Launch8", 0x010000ab: "Launch9", 0x010000ac: "LaunchA", 0x010000ad: "LaunchB", 0x010000ae: "LaunchC", 0x010000af: "LaunchD", 0x010000b0: "LaunchE", 0x010000b1: "LaunchF", 0x0100010e: "LaunchG", 0x0100010f: "LaunchH", 0x010000b2: "MonBrightnessUp", 0x010000b3: "MonBrightnessDown", 0x010000b4: "KeyboardLightOnOff", 0x010000b5: "KeyboardBrightnessUp", 0x010000b6: "KeyboardBrightnessDown", 0x010000b7: "PowerOff", 0x010000b8: "WakeUp", 0x010000b9: "Eject", 0x010000ba: "ScreenSaver", 0x010000bb: "WWW", 0x010000bc: "Memo", 0x010000bd: "LightBulb", 0x010000be: "Shop", 0x010000bf: "History", 0x010000c0: "AddFavorite", 0x010000c1: "HotLinks", 0x010000c2: "BrightnessAdjust", 0x010000c3: "Finance", 0x010000c4: "Community", 0x010000c5: "AudioRewind", 0x010000c6: "BackForward", 0x010000c7: "ApplicationLeft", 0x010000c8: "ApplicationRight", 0x010000c9: "Book", 0x010000ca: "CD", 0x010000cb: "Calculator", 0x010000cc: "ToDoList", 0x010000cd: "ClearGrab", 0x010000ce: "Close", 0x010000cf: "Copy", 0x010000d0: "Cut", 0x010000d1: "Display", 0x010000d2: "DOS", 0x010000d3: "Documents", 0x010000d4: "Excel", 0x010000d5: "Explorer", 0x010000d6: "Game", 0x010000d7: "Go", 0x010000d8: "iTouch", 0x010000d9: "LogOff", 0x010000da: "Market", 0x010000db: "Meeting", 0x010000dc: "MenuKB", 0x010000dd: "MenuPB", 0x010000de: "MySites", 0x010000df: "News", 0x010000e0: "OfficeHome", 0x010000e1: "Option", 0x010000e2: "Paste", 0x010000e3: "Phone", 0x010000e4: "Calendar", 0x010000e5: "Reply", 0x010000e6: "Reload", 0x010000e7: "RotateWindows", 0x010000e8: "RotationPB", 0x010000e9: "RotationKB", 0x010000ea: "Save", 0x010000eb: "Send", 0x010000ec: "Spell", 0x010000ed: "SplitScreen", 0x010000ee: "Support", 0x010000ef: "TaskPane", 0x010000f0: "Terminal", 0x010000f1: "Tools", 0x010000f2: "Travel", 0x010000f3: "Video", 0x010000f4: "Word", 0x010000f5: "Xfer", 0x010000f6: "ZoomIn", 0x010000f7: "ZoomOut", 0x010000f8: "Away", 0x010000f9: "Messenger", 0x010000fa: "WebCam", 0x010000fb: "MailForward", 0x010000fc: "Pictures", 0x010000fd: "Music", 0x010000fe: "Battery", 0x010000ff: "Bluetooth", 0x01000100: "WLAN", 0x01000101: "UWB", 0x01000102: "AudioForward", 0x01000103: "AudioRepeat", 0x01000104: "AudioRandomPlay", 0x01000105: "Subtitle", 0x01000106: "AudioCycleTrack", 0x01000107: "Time", 0x01000108: "Hibernate", 0x01000109: "View", 0x0100010a: "TopMenu", 0x0100010b: "PowerDown", 0x0100010c: "Suspend", 0x0100010d: "ContrastAdjust", 0x01000110: "TouchpadToggle", 0x01000111: "TouchpadOn", 0x01000112: "TouchpadOff", 0x01000113: "MicMute", 0x01000114: "Red", 0x01000115: "Green", 0x01000116: "Yellow", 0x01000117: "Blue", 0x01000118: "ChannelUp", 0x01000119: "ChannelDown", 0x0100011a: "Guide", 0x0100011b: "Info", 0x0100011c: "Settings", 0x0100011d: "MicVolumeUp", 0x0100011e: "MicVolumeDown", 0x01000120: "New", 0x01000121: "Open", 0x01000122: "Find", 0x01000123: "Undo", 0x01000124: "Redo", 0x0100ffff: "MediaLast", 0x01ffffff: "unknown", 0x01100004: "Call", 0x01100020: "Camera", 0x01100021: "CameraFocus", 0x01100000: "Context1", 0x01100001: "Context2", 0x01100002: "Context3", 0x01100003: "Context4", 0x01100006: "Flip", 0x01100005: "Hangup", 0x01010002: "No", 0x01010000: "Select", 0x01010001: "Yes", 0x01100007: "ToggleCallHangup", 0x01100008: "VoiceDial", 0x01100009: "LastNumberRedial", 0x01020003: "Execute", 0x01020002: "Printer", 0x01020005: "Play", 0x01020004: "Sleep", 0x01020006: "Zoom", 0x0102000a: "Exit", 0x01020001: "Cancel"
property var modifierKeys: [Qt.Key_Alt, Qt.Key_Meta, Qt.Key_Control, Qt.Key_Shift, Qt.Key_NumLock, Qt.Key_Mode_switch]
property bool lastWasNotModifier: false
function parseKeyEvent(event, released) {
if (!autoShortcut.checked)
return
if (!released && (event.key == Qt.Key_Backspace || event.key == Qt.Key_Delete) && event.modifiers == Qt.NoModifier) {
text = ""
event.accepted = true
return
var isModifier = false
modifierKeys.forEach(function(modifKey) {
if (modifKey == event.key)
isModifier = true
if (released && lastWasNotModifier) {
event.accepted = true
return
lastWasNotModifier = !isModifier
if (event.key == Qt.Key_unknown) {
console.log("Unknown key from a macro probably")
//text = ""
event.accepted = true
return
var result = ""
// var result = lastWasNotModifier ? text + "," : ""
if (!(event.modifiers & Qt.NoModifier)) {
for(var modifier in modifiers) {
if (modifier & event.modifiers)
result += modifiers[modifier] + "+"
if (!released && !isModifier) {
result += keys[event.key]
if (text.endsWith('+')) {
var t = text.split(',')
text = t.slice(0, t.length - 1).join(',')
if (text) {
if (text.endsWith(','))
text = text + result
text = text + ',' + result
else {
text = result
event.accepted = true
Keys.onPressed: parseKeyEvent(event, false)
Keys.onReleased: parseKeyEvent(event, true)
ToolButton {
id: autoShortcut
anchors {
top: parent.top
bottom: parent.bottom
right: parent.right
bottomMargin: 2
topMargin: 2
rightMargin: 2
text: qsTr("auto")
checkable: true
checked: true
tooltip: qsTr("Wheter this line tries to create shortcut with you keypresses.\nIf disabled, you will be able to enter any key sequence as plain text")
Trying to capture a QKeySequence in keyPressEvent might not work as expect. And I found a solution:
// || event->type()== QEvent::ShortcutOverride is the key point
if (event->type() == QEvent::KeyPress || event->type()== QEvent::ShortcutOverride)
QKeyEvent *keyEvent = static_cast<QKeyEvent *>(event);
if (keyEvent->matches(QKeySequence::Save))
// Do save
I hope that helps someone. : )
Reference: QWidget::eventFilter() not catching key combinations
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