I thought it would be a simple thing to hijack the space key when in a form input so that it would function like a hyphen. Generally jQuery makes stuff like this really simple.

The code I tried is this:

        $(#StreamUrl).keydown(function (e) {

            if (e.keyCode == 32) return 109;

        });

But this has no effect whatsoever. I tried a more simple script:

        $(#StreamUrl).keydown(function (e) {

            //if (e.keyCode == 32) return 109;

            alert(e.keyCode);

        });

This script correctly alerts 32 on space press and 109 on hyphen press. Also, I have no JavaScript errors.

Why wouldn't if (e.keyCode == 32) return 109; work? When I replace that line with if (e.keyCode == 32) alert(space!!); I get the alert correctly, so I know the if is returning true correctly.

What gives?

Edit - Solution

Thanks to @Nick for pointing out the copy-paste issue. I ended up with a little bit of a hybrid. Here's the code that I have gotten to work which is both smooth and handles Copy/Paste.

        $(#StreamUrl).keydown(function (e) {

            if (e.keyCode == 32) {

                $(this).val($(this).val() + -); // append '-' to input

                return false; // return false to prevent space from being added

            }

        }).change(function (e) {

            $(this).val(function (i, v) { return v.replace(/ /g, -); }); 

        });