I have a standard message loop:

MSG msg = {};
while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0)) {
    TranslateMessage(&msg);
    DispatchMessage(&msg);
}

I’d like to process WM_KEYDOWN and its generated WM_CHAR event together — is this possible? My app first sees if it has a registered keybinding for WM_KEYDOWN, but if not, it should fall through and be interpreted as WM_CHAR.

Due to the separated nature of the queue, I’m not sure how to recognize which message pairs with what. There’s no guarantee a WM_KEYDOWN generates a WM_CHAR. A WM_CHAR could also be standalone (e.g., IME input)!

An equally good alternative would be a way to remove the WM_CHAR from the queue in the WM_KEYDOWN body (or just recognize and ignore it).

For example, if the user presses “enter”:

1. WM_KEYDOWN with VK_RETURN is generated.
2. WM_CHAR with r is generated.
3. Say my app processes VK_RETURN. WM_CHAR event should be removed or ignored.