Converting a string.charAt (i) to a VK_ ?

Question

String myString = "abc";
char myChar = mystring.charAt(0); // 'a'
From myChar I would like to get a KeyEvent.VK_A
There must be a simple method to do this, but if I drink any more coffee today, I may take off without a broomstick.
thank you for your indulgence
W.W.

Answer 1

I was looking for a simple method too, but no luck. Like you I think it must be somewhere but until then I wrote my own method. See if you can make any use of it.
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.util.Hashtable;
* Provides static methods to map characters to their keycode.
* <p>
* @author Eberhard Fahle
* @version 0.0
public final class KeyCodeMap {
          * Create the Hashtable and fills it with the
          * keycodes for all uppercase characters on a keyboard
          * @return Hashtable the hashtable that contains the keycodes
          private static Hashtable initHashTable() {
                    Hashtable h=new Hashtable(26);
                    h.put("A",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_A));
                    h.put("B",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_B));
                    h.put("C",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_C));
                    h.put("D",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_D));
                    h.put("E",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_E));
                    h.put("F",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_F));
                    h.put("G",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_G));
                    h.put("H",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_H));
                    h.put("I",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_I));
                    h.put("J",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_J));
                    h.put("K",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_K));
                    h.put("L",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_L));
                    h.put("M",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_M));
                    h.put("N",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_N));
                    h.put("O",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_O));
                    h.put("P",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_P));
                    h.put("Q",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_Q));
                    h.put("R",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_R));
                    h.put("S",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_S));
                    h.put("T",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_T));
                    h.put("U",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_U));
                    h.put("V",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_V));
                    h.put("W",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_W));
                    h.put("X",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_X));
                    h.put("Y",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_Y));
                    h.put("Z",new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_Z));
                    return h;
          /** The Hashtable with the keycodes */
          private static final Hashtable ht=initHashTable();
          * A private constructor, so it doesn't show up
          * in the API-Documentation
          private KeyCodeMap() {
          * Maps a char in the range [a..z,A..Z] to one of the constants
          * from java.awt.event.KeyEvent.
          * @param c the char for which the constant is requested
          * @return int one of the constants in java.awt.event.KeyEvent
          * that start with VK_ followed by the uppercase version
          * of the requested character. If the char is not one of the letters in
          * [a..z,A..Z] we return 0;
          public static int getVK_KeyCode(char c) {
                    Integer i=get(c);
                    if(i==null)
                              return 0;
                    return i.intValue();
          * Maps a String that contains a single char in the range of [a..z,A..Z] to one of the constants
          * from java.awt.event.KeyEvent.
          * @param s the String that contains the char for which the constant is requested
          * @return int one of the constants in java.awt.event.KeyEvent
          * that start with VK_ followed by the uppercase version
          * of the requested character. If the char is not one of the letters in
          * [a..z,A..Z] we return 0;
          public static int getVK_KeyCode(String s) {
                    Integer i=get(s);
                    if(i==null)
                              return 0;
                    return i.intValue();
          * Maps a char in the range [a..z,A..Z] to one of the constants
          * from java.awt.event.KeyEvent.
          * @param c the char for which the constant is requested
          * @return Integer An Integer with a value equal to
          * one of the constants in java.awt.event.KeyEvent
          * that start with VK_ followed by the uppercase version
          * of the requested character. If the char is not one of the letters in
          * [a..z,A..Z] we return null;
          public static Integer get(char c) {
                    return (Integer)ht.get((String.valueOf(c)).toUpperCase());
          * Maps a String that contains a single char in the range of [a..z,A..Z] to one of the constants
          * from java.awt.event.KeyEvent.
          * @param s the String that contains the char for which the constant is requested
          * @return Integer An Integer with a value equal to
          * one of the constants in java.awt.event.KeyEvent
          * that start with VK_ followed by the uppercase version
          * of the requested character. If the char is not one of the letters in
          * [a..z,A..Z] we return null;
          public static Integer get(String s) {
                    return (Integer)ht.get(s.toUpperCase());