How to disable navigation on WinForm with arrows in C#?

Question

I need to disable changing focus with arrows on form. Is there an easy way how to do it?

Thank you

Answer 1

Something along the lines of:

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        foreach (Control control in this.Controls)
        {
            control.PreviewKeyDown += new PreviewKeyDownEventHandler(control_PreviewKeyDown);
        }
    }

    void control_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, PreviewKeyDownEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Up || e.KeyCode == Keys.Down || e.KeyCode == Keys.Left || e.KeyCode == Keys.Right)
        {
            e.IsInputKey = true;
        }
    }

Answer 2

I've ended up with the code below which set the feature to EVERY control on form:

(The code is based on the one from andynormancx)

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    SetFeatureToAllControls(this.Controls);    
}

private void SetFeatureToAllControls(Control.ControlCollection cc)
{
    if (cc != null)
    {
        foreach (Control control in cc)
        {
            control.PreviewKeyDown += new PreviewKeyDownEventHandler(control_PreviewKeyDown);
            SetFeatureToAllControls(control.Controls);
        }
    }
}

void control_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, PreviewKeyDownEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Up || e.KeyCode == Keys.Down || e.KeyCode == Keys.Left || e.KeyCode == Keys.Right)
    {
        e.IsInputKey = true;
    }
}

Answer 3

You should set KeyPreview to true on the form. Handle the KeyDown/KeyUp/KeyPress event and set the e.Handled in the eventhandler to true for the keys you want to be ignored.

Answer 4

I tried this aproach, where the form handles the preview event once. It generates less code than the other options.

Just add this method to the PreviewKeyDown event of your form, and set the KeyPreview property to true.

private void form1_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, PreviewKeyDownEventArgs e)
{
    switch (e.KeyCode)
    {
        case Keys.Up:
        case Keys.Down:
        case Keys.Left:
        case Keys.Right:
            e.IsInputKey = true;
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}