[RESOLVED] Handling all KeyDowns?

Hi all,
is there a way to listen for keydown events on all controls at the same time? I am capturing a barcode scanner's input and the scanner is hooked to a pc. On barcode lock, it simply pastes the number. This means that whatever control currently has the focus, gets also the number.

VB Code:

Private Sub Form1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles MyBase.KeyDown
 
        'MessageBox.Show(e.KeyValue.ToString) helped me to get the keycode
        txtBarcode.Focus()
 
    End Sub

This works but only if the form itself has the focus. Do I have to check the keydown event of every control or is there an event that fires each time, regardless of where the focus is.

I guess I could use ZaNi's idea but would it be at all sane with 50+ controls?

Create a general Key_Down Event and attach it to all your controls upon creations? Do you manually associate events in VB.Net like in C#?
Use API and track all window messages, catch the keys your looking for, figure out the handle of the window that triggered the event.

If you've set the form's KeyPreview property to True then it will receive keyboard events first regardless of which control has focus.

I like the above post, much simpler :)

Jup, jmcilhinney is great. Still, I will have to investigate your suggestion as well, since the Compact Framework does not offer the KeyPreview property and I have to take care of that on mobile devices too.