[GH-ISSUE #181] SetInputCapture not working with forms #142

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opened 2026-03-04 01:02:21 +03:00 by kerem · 4 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-04 01:02:21 +03:00

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Originally created by @dentych on GitHub (Nov 7, 2018).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/rivo/tview/issues/181

Hello.

I don't seem to be able to make SetInputCapture work with forms.

I added a SetInputCapture to the bottom part of the Form primitive demo code.

// Demo code for the Form primitive.
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/gdamore/tcell"
	"github.com/rivo/tview"
)

func main() {
	app := tview.NewApplication()
	form := tview.NewForm().
		AddDropDown("Title", []string{"Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", "Dr.", "Prof."}, 0, nil).
		AddInputField("First name", "", 20, nil, nil).
		AddInputField("Last name", "", 20, nil, nil).
		AddCheckbox("Age 18+", false, nil).
		AddPasswordField("Password", "", 10, '*', nil).
		AddButton("Save", nil).
		AddButton("Quit", func() {
			app.Stop()
		})
	form.SetBorder(true).SetTitle("Enter some data").SetTitleAlign(tview.AlignLeft)

        // ADDED THIS METHOD HERE
	form.SetInputCapture(func(e *tcell.EventKey) *tcell.EventKey {
		fmt.Println("TEST OUTPUT")
		return e
	})
        // END OF METHOD

	if err := app.SetRoot(form, true).Run(); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
}

"TEST OUTPUT" is never printed on the screen. It works fine with for example Lists

Originally created by @dentych on GitHub (Nov 7, 2018). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/rivo/tview/issues/181 Hello. I don't seem to be able to make SetInputCapture work with forms. I added a SetInputCapture to the bottom part of the Form primitive demo code. ```go // Demo code for the Form primitive. package main import ( "fmt" "github.com/gdamore/tcell" "github.com/rivo/tview" ) func main() { app := tview.NewApplication() form := tview.NewForm(). AddDropDown("Title", []string{"Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", "Dr.", "Prof."}, 0, nil). AddInputField("First name", "", 20, nil, nil). AddInputField("Last name", "", 20, nil, nil). AddCheckbox("Age 18+", false, nil). AddPasswordField("Password", "", 10, '*', nil). AddButton("Save", nil). AddButton("Quit", func() { app.Stop() }) form.SetBorder(true).SetTitle("Enter some data").SetTitleAlign(tview.AlignLeft) // ADDED THIS METHOD HERE form.SetInputCapture(func(e *tcell.EventKey) *tcell.EventKey { fmt.Println("TEST OUTPUT") return e }) // END OF METHOD if err := app.SetRoot(form, true).Run(); err != nil { panic(err) } } ``` "TEST OUTPUT" is never printed on the screen. It works fine with for example Lists

kerem closed this issue

2026-03-04 01:02:21 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-03-04 01:02:22 +03:00

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@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 10, 2018):

Yes, that's because Form passes on the keyboard focus to its contained form elements. So it never receives any keyboard events itself.

You may be able to use Application.SetInputCapture() but it will capture all keyboard events, even if the form is currently not being used. So it will require some logic to determine if the user is currently working on the form.

Would that work for you?

@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 10, 2018): Yes, that's because `Form` passes on the keyboard focus to its contained form elements. So it never receives any keyboard events itself. You may be able to use [`Application.SetInputCapture()`](https://godoc.org/github.com/rivo/tview#Application.SetInputCapture) but it will capture *all* keyboard events, even if the form is currently not being used. So it will require some logic to determine if the user is currently working on the form. Would that work for you?

kerem commented

2026-03-04 01:02:22 +03:00

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@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 19, 2018):

I'm closing this for now. We can reopen this issue if you'd like to continue the discussion.

@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 19, 2018): I'm closing this for now. We can reopen this issue if you'd like to continue the discussion.

kerem commented

2026-03-04 01:02:22 +03:00

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Owner

@dentych commented on GitHub (Nov 19, 2018):

Oh, sorry. I actually thought I had replied to this issue.

But it is possible to work around this, I just figured that because the method is available on the Form type it should also work as expected. Either that or have the method removed, so people don't get their hopes up 😄

@dentych commented on GitHub (Nov 19, 2018): Oh, sorry. I actually thought I had replied to this issue. But it is possible to work around this, I just figured that because the method is available on the Form type it should also work as expected. Either that or have the method removed, so people don't get their hopes up 😄

kerem commented

2026-03-04 01:02:22 +03:00

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Owner

@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 26, 2018):

I added some clarification to the function comments. I can't remove the function as it is inherited by Box.

@rivo commented on GitHub (Nov 26, 2018): I added some clarification to the function comments. I can't remove the function as it is inherited by `Box`.