How to add keyboard interaction in AS3 - actionscript-3

Question

I got 16 different buttons in this application, each button playing different kind of sound. Currently i only able to use mouse click to start playing sound, and click again to stop, but now i wish to add shortcut key to access those track buttons, like pressing "q" for track 1, "w" for track 2. Any hints or tips like what am i suppose to do to achieve this? Thanks a lot.
private var _ambientTracks:Array = [ambient1, ambient2, ambient3, ambient4];
private var _effectTracks:Array = [effect1, effect2, effect3, effect4];
private var _melodyTracks:Array = [melody1, melody2, melody3, melody4];
private var _beatTracks:Array = [beat1, beat2, beat3, beat4];
//handle click on track invoke start / stop functions
private function onTrackClicked(event:MouseEvent):void {
var track:Sprite = event.currentTarget as Sprite;
var trackName:String = track.name;
if (trackName in _playingTracks) {
stopTrack(track);
delete _playingTracks[trackName];
} else {
startTrack(track);
_playingTracks[trackName] = trackName;
}
}
//starts track animation and dispatch event for TrackMixer
private function startTrack(track:Sprite):void {
Actuate.tween(track, 0.6, {alpha: 0.3}).reflect().repeat();
dispatchEvent(new ObjectEvent(START_TRACK, track.name, true));
}
//stop track animation and dispatch event for TrackMixer
private function stopTrack(track:Sprite):void {
Actuate.stop(track, "alpha");
track.alpha = 1;
dispatchEvent(new ObjectEvent(STOP_TRACK, track.name, true));
}

Answer 1

Here is a basic concept similar to what you are trying to achieve you need to listen for a key press and use the specific key code handle what key is being pressed, if you have lots of key commands I suggest using a switch case.
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
var mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
mc.graphics.beginFill(0x000000);
mc.graphics.drawCircle(30,30,30);
mc.graphics.endFill();
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP,keyUp);
function keyUp(e:KeyboardEvent):void{
if(e.keyCode == 81){//q
addChild(mc);
}
if(e.keyCode == 87){//w
if(mc.stage){
removeChild(mc);
}
}
}

Answer 2

It would still use the similar concepts, however you need to someway to "toggle" the same key to play and stop. A boolean variable would fit nicely to track the state of the key press.
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
//Code to create a simple black circle xpos: 30 ypos: 30 radius: 30
var mc: MovieClip = new MovieClip();
mc.graphics.beginFill(0x000000);
mc.graphics.drawCircle(30, 30, 30);
mc.graphics.endFill();
//Adding event listener to stage for a key up event
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, keyUp);
/*
Creating a boolean value to track "on" or "off" for one key.
Default value for boolean is false.
*/
var bool: Boolean;
function keyUp(e: KeyboardEvent): void {
if (e.keyCode == 81) {
if (!bool) {
addChild(mc);
bool = true;
} else {
if (mc.stage) {
removeChild(mc);
bool = false;
}
}
}
}
if key == q and bool == false add mc to stage and set bool to true.
The next time this method is called, bool will be true in which case the else statement
will be fired off (because bool is not false). The stage will be checked to see if mc exists to avoid errors, mc will be removed from stage, and bool will be set back to false in order to meet the condition of the if statement (bool is false).