keydown can only be done when form is visible

[JOEsurf]

right??? then how about when my prog is minimized...

any commands same as keydown and allows minimized forms as well

anyone knows what i am talking here???

[Gen-X]

The form itself has to actually be the "active" form to receive the focus of the keypresses.

When it is invisible you wont even see it in the TaskBar which means it is not active.

When you are minimized it DOES exist in the taskbar and probably is still highlighted meaning it is still the active form (even though minimized).

There is a difference between a form being "Visible = False" because it hasn't loaded yet, "Visible = False" because it will not be shown as a normal window and "Visible = False" as in it HAS been shown and is just minimized.

Bottom line is that without something to take the focus it cannot process the event. How does it know you WANT the keypress to be processed or if you are trying to tell the OS or another application something?