Detect space bar event on Mac? - macos

Question

I've searched the entire internet for something on this with no luck. I'm trying to detect if the user hits the space bar on a Mac app.
-(void)keyDown:(NSEvent*)theEvent; works great when the user presses on a character key, but not enter or space.
-(BOOL)performKeyEquivalent:(NSEvent *)theEvent; is called when the user hits the enter key or the arrow keys, but not the space bar.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

Was able to get it working by subclassing NSWindow and implementing this method:
- (void)sendEvent:(NSEvent *)theEvent
{
NSString* keysPressed = [theEvent characters];
if ( [keysPressed isEqualToString:#" "] )
{
if(theEvent.type==NSKeyDown)
NSLog(#"spaceDown");
if(theEvent.type==NSKeyUp)
NSLog(#"spaceUp");
}
}

Answer 2

You can use this other loop with the key number 32 according to the space bar constant.
if ([theArrow length] == 1)
{
keyChar = [theArrow characterAtIndex:0];
NSLog(#"Dentro2 %hu", keyChar);
switch (keyChar)
{
case 32: // Space Bar management
break;
}
}
// Manage when any key is dropped.
if(downOrUp == FALSE)
{
NSLog(#"Tecla soltada.");
self.playerVelocity = CGPointMake(0.0, 0.0);
}
// Methods to handle key push and key drop
- (void)keyDown:(NSEvent *)event
{
[self handleKeyEvent:event keyDown:YES];
}
- (void)keyUp:(NSEvent *)event
{
[self handleKeyEvent:event keyDown:NO];
}

Answer 3

I stumbled upon it by myself resently. Strangely enough, keyDown: event is detected only by the the method described by moby. But keyUp: works like a charm with space bar press

Answer 4

After trying few solutions i come with one that din't break other things for me
#import Carbon;
typedef void (^CustomWindowSpacebarKeyCallback)(NSEventType eventType);
#interface CustomWindow : NSWindow
#property (nonatomic, copy) CustomWindowSpacebarKeyCallback spacebarKeyCallback;
#end
#implementation CustomWindow
- (void) sendEvent:(NSEvent *)theEvent
{
[super sendEvent:theEvent];
if (([theEvent type] == NSKeyDown || [theEvent type] == NSKeyUp) && _spacebarKeyCallback) {
NSString *keysPressed = [theEvent characters];
if ([keysPressed length] == 1) {
unichar keyChar = [keysPressed characterAtIndex:0];
if (keyChar == kSpaceCharCode) {
_spacebarKeyCallback([theEvent type]);
}
}
}
}
#end