Key press not triggering KeyboardEvent

I'm starting a simple pong game, and I created a Paddle class that doesn't do anything yet. However, I don't think it is working.

package  
{
    import flash.display.MovieClip;
    import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
    public class Paddle extends MovieClip
    {
            private var paddleSpeed:int = 4;

            public function Paddle() 
            {
                trace("hello!")
                addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDown);
            }

            public function keyDown(e:KeyboardEvent):void
            {
                trace(e.keyCode);
            }

    }

}

In Main.as I have done this:

var playe开发者_JS百科r:Paddle = new Paddle;
addChild(player);

When I run the code, I get hello!, but when I press any key nothing happens. I've read a KeyboardEvent tutorial, and I'm doing what they are doing. Thanks for any help

Try adding the event listener to stage instead of Paddle. Also, when you're testing your project make sure you have keyboard shortcuts disabled.

What I actually normally do is make a Keyboard class with a down() function that I can reference throughout the application. Its use would be something like this:

if(Keyboard.down(65, 67))
{
    trace("A and/or C are being held down!");
}

KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN is triggered by something in focus. Empty clip can not be in focus.

Reliable way for your situation is to subscribe to stage.

stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, keyDown);