>Is there some way to know if the shift key is down .... when the focus is on a different form?
>
>Background: from within my PEMEditor tool, which works when using either the Form or Class Designer, I want to know when the user has held the shfit key while using the designer (presumably for selecting multiple objects).
>
>Thus, normal techniques of capturing key movements or mouse movements are irrelevant, since these events are not occurring on my form.
>
>Thanks in advance.

Something like:

DECLARE INTEGER GetKeyState IN WIN32API INTEGER 
VK_SHIFT    =      0x10
? "Any SHIFT key: ",;
	IIF(GetKeyState(VK_SHIFT) < 0 OR GetKeyState(VK_SHIFT) > 1, "YES","NO")

Good Luck