using kbhit() and arrow keys in infinite loop

[E. Joshua Rigler]

Is there any way to read in the up/down/left/right arrow keys (or
other special keys) in an infinite loop?

Specifically, I want to interactively re-position one image with
respect to another in a manual search for pixel alignment (defined as
the closest thing to zero difference between the two).  I can use
regular ascii characters like "h,j,k,l" (think old-school vi), but it
would be much nicer if I could use arrow keys.  The problem is that
the arrow keys generate an escape sequence.  I know how to use C-q or
C-v to get the escape sequence, but kbhit() doesn't seem to return
enough information to make a proper comparison.  Here's some sample
code showing what I've tried:

while (1)
   udlr = kbhit();
   switch udlr
      case {"^[[A"}
        # shift image up
      case {"^[[B"}
        # shift image down
      case {"^[[D"}
        # shift image left
      case {"^[[C"}
        # shift image right
      otherwise
        # quit
   endswitch
endwhile

The "^[" is the escape character, and is what seems to get read in by
kbhit().  The weird thing is that if I print out the udlr variable, I
get "A", "B", "D", and "C", but I think these are just the stdout
stream getting flushed.  Thanks.

-EJR