# GETKEY()

**GETKEY(X \{,xltname\})**

This function inputs and returns the ASCII decimal value of a single character. The parameter _X_ must be one of the following:  

| **Value** | **Description** |
|------|------|
| 0 | Don't wait for input. If no characters are available, returns -1. This is similar to XCALL TINKEY. |
| \-1 | Wait until a character is entered. This is similar to ACCEPT[XS](keyword-types.md). |
| \-2 | Check if a character is available, but don't input it. Returns -1 if no character is available. (Some versions have returned 0 to indicate that a character is available, and others have returned the actual character value. For maximum compatibility, you should treat anything other than -1 as indicating that a character is available, but then input it using one of the other modes to determine its actual value.) |




The optional _xltname_ argument may be used to specify a function key translation table to process the character through if it is a function key.

Note that the return value of 999 indicates an invalid value of X. A common mistake is to use 1 or 2 instead of -1 or -2.

**See Also**

•	[Accept, Accepn](acceptsbr.md)[XS](keyword-types.md)

•	[GET](get.md)[XS](keyword-types.md)  (keyboard or file input)

•	[GETX](getx.md)[XS](keyword-types.md)

•	[Tinkey](tinkey.md)[XS](keyword-types.md)