How to create QWERTZ keyboard

Updated over 6 months ago

Environment

Product Version	Product	Author
2021.1.223	RadVirtualKeyboard for WinForms	Nadya Karaivanova

Description

By default, RadVirtualKeybord is of QWERTY keyboard type. However, it is a commom requirement to customize the keyboard to another type, for example - QWERTZ or AZERTY. The main difference between these three keyboards is the position of the Q, W, Z and A keys.

This tutorial will demonstrate how you can achieve this type of keyboard with RadVirtualKeyboard control.

Solution

In order to achieve this, we need to replace the positions of the Y and Z keys. We should find the desired keys, remove them from the Keys collection, then insert the keys back on desired position. The following code snippet demonstrates this:

C#

public RadForm1()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    this.radVirtualKeyboard1.LayoutType = KeyboardLayoutType.Simplified;
    SimplifiedVirtualKeyboardLayoutPanel simplifiedLayoutPanel = this.radVirtualKeyboard1.MainLayoutPanel as SimplifiedVirtualKeyboardLayoutPanel;
    VirtualKeyboardLayout mainLayout = simplifiedLayoutPanel.MainButtonsLayout;
    Key Zkey = mainLayout.Rows[3].Keys.FirstOrDefault(k => k.VirtualKey == (int)Keys.Z) as Key;
    int zKeyIndex = mainLayout.Rows[3].Keys.IndexOf(Zkey);
    Key Ykey = mainLayout.Rows[1].Keys.FirstOrDefault(k => k.VirtualKey == (int)Keys.Y) as Key;
    int yKeyIndex = mainLayout.Rows[1].Keys.IndexOf(Ykey);
    //Remove keys
    mainLayout.Rows[3].Keys.Remove(Zkey);
    mainLayout.Rows[1].Keys.Remove(Ykey);
    //Insert keys
    mainLayout.Rows[1].Keys.Insert(yKeyIndex, Zkey);
    mainLayout.Rows[3].Keys.Insert(zKeyIndex, Ykey);
    //Reset layout
    mainLayout.ResetLayout(true);
}

VB.NET

Public Sub New()
    InitializeComponent()
    Me.radVirtualKeyboard1.LayoutType = KeyboardLayoutType.Simplified
    Dim simplifiedLayoutPanel As SimplifiedVirtualKeyboardLayoutPanel = TryCast(Me.radVirtualKeyboard1.MainLayoutPanel, SimplifiedVirtualKeyboardLayoutPanel)
    Dim mainLayout As VirtualKeyboardLayout = simplifiedLayoutPanel.MainButtonsLayout
    Dim Zkey As Key = TryCast(mainLayout.Rows(3).Keys.FirstOrDefault(Function(k) k.VirtualKey = CInt(Keys.Z)), Key)
    Dim zKeyIndex As Integer = mainLayout.Rows(3).Keys.IndexOf(Zkey)
    Dim Ykey As Key = TryCast(mainLayout.Rows(1).Keys.FirstOrDefault(Function(k) k.VirtualKey = CInt(Keys.Y)), Key)
    Dim yKeyIndex As Integer = mainLayout.Rows(1).Keys.IndexOf(Ykey)
    'Remove keys
    mainLayout.Rows(3).Keys.Remove(Zkey)
    mainLayout.Rows(1).Keys.Remove(Ykey)
    'Insert keys
    mainLayout.Rows(1).Keys.Insert(yKeyIndex, Zkey)
    mainLayout.Rows(3).Keys.Insert(zKeyIndex, Ykey)
    'Reset layout
    mainLayout.ResetLayout(True)
End Sub

Feel free to use this approach in order to customize the position of the keys in any way that is suitable for you.