winsock "fred is typing." question :) [resolved]

Hi,

I have a winsock p2p chat app and want to replicate the common messenger feature that tells a user when the other is typing.

What do you think the best way to do this would be? I've tried playing with

Private Sub txtMessage_Change()

but with little or no luck.

Any ideas?

Simon

I suggest having a timer on the form, that looks at the current text in your textbox, if it changed from the last time it looked (and it's not empty), then send a small amount of data saying 'User is typing'.

Probably best to set a timer, for say, 1 second, before you send the blank message. If you have 2 PC's next to each other, and have them both on msn, youll see that even when you stop typing, it doesn't automatically inform the other user.

VB Code:

Dim kDown As Boolean
 
Private Sub Timer1_Timer()
If Not kDown Then
'send the blank message
Else
'send the typing message
End If
End Sub 
 
Private Sub txtMessage_KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
kDown = True
End Sub
 
Private Sub txtMessage_KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
kDown = False
End Sub

It might not be the best way, but give it a shot..

Phreak

Or reset the flag in the timer

VB Code:

Private IsTyping
 
Private Text1_Keypress(KeyAscii As Integer)
   IsTyping = True
End Sub
 
Private Timer1_Timer()
   If IsTyping Then
      WinSock.Send "Is typing."
      IsTyping = False  '<------
   Else
      Winsock.Send "No longer typing
   End If
End Sub

Thanks everyone.

leinad31 - your solution was great and is working perfectly.

Simon