#1,084 – A KeyBinding Binds a Command to a Key

A user interface element has a CommandBindings collection containing command binding objects that indicate which commands are supported for the element and the code that the command is bound to.

User interface elements also have an InputBindings collection that contains KeyBinding and MouseBinding instances, each of which maps keyboard or mouse input to a command that is also present in the CommandBindings collection.

In the code below, we wire up the Open command for both key (Ctrl+O) and mouse (Ctrl+Left Click) input.

        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.DataContext = this;

            this.CommandBindings.Add(new CommandBinding(ApplicationCommands.Open,
               (sender, e) => { MessageBox.Show("Executing the Open command"); },
               (sender, e) => { e.CanExecute = CanOpenIsChecked; }));

            // Ctrl+O = Open
            this.InputBindings.Add(new KeyBinding(ApplicationCommands.Open,
                new KeyGesture(Key.O, ModifierKeys.Control)));

            // Ctrl+Left Mouse Click = Open
            this.InputBindings.Add(new MouseBinding(ApplicationCommands.Open,
                new MouseGesture(MouseAction.LeftClick, ModifierKeys.Control)));
        }

We can now use either form of input to execute the Open command.