Keyboard shortcut

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For Wikipedia keyboard shortcuts, see Wikipedia:Keyboard shortcuts.
Firefox 3.0
menu with shortcuts, highlighted with green and mnemonics highlighted with yellow.
Composite of two Macintosh Finder menus with keyboard shortcuts specified in the right column

In

application program, or it may have been written by the user in a scripting language. Some integrated keyboards also include pointing devices
; the definition of exactly what counts as a "key" sometimes differs.

The meaning of term "keyboard shortcut" can vary depending on software manufacturer. In Windows, hotkeys consists of a specific key combination used to trigger an action (these are usually system-wide shortcuts that are available in all contexts so long as receiving program is active); mnemonics represent a designated letter in a menu command or toolbar button that when pressed together with the Alt key, activates such command.

The term is generally associated with computer keyboards, but many electronic musical instruments now contain keyboards with advanced configuration options.

Description

Keyboard shortcuts are typically a means for invoking one or more commands using the keyboard that would otherwise be accessible only through a menu, a pointing device, different levels of a user interface, or via a command-line interface. Keyboard shortcuts are generally used to expedite common operations by reducing input sequences to a few keystrokes, hence the term "shortcut".[1]

To differentiate from general keyboard input, most keyboard shortcuts require the user to press and hold several keys simultaneously or a sequence of keys one after the other. Unmodified key presses are sometimes accepted when the keyboard is not used for general input - such as with graphics packages e.g.

function keys that are dedicated for use in shortcuts and may only require a single keypress. For simultaneous keyboard shortcuts, one usually first holds down the modifier key(s), then quickly presses and releases the regular (non-modifier) key, and finally releases the modifier key(s). This distinction is important, as trying to press all the keys simultaneously will frequently either miss some of the modifier keys, or cause unwanted auto-repeat. Sequential shortcuts usually involve pressing and releasing a dedicated prefix key, such as the Esc key
, followed by one or more keystrokes.

Reference cards
intended to be propped up in the user's workspace also exist for many applications. In the past, when keyboard design was more standardized, it was common for computer books and magazines to print cards that were cut out, intended to be placed over the user's keyboard with the printed shortcuts noted next to the appropriate keys.

Customization

Visual chart of the default key assignments for the video game Vega Strike. These bindings can be reconfigured by editing the relevant XML file in a text editor.

When shortcuts are referred to as key bindings, it carries the connotation that the shortcuts are customizable to a user's preference and that program functions may be 'bound' to a different set of keystrokes instead of or in addition to the default.

Mac OS or Windows, consider standardized shortcuts essential to the environment's ease of use. In these commercial proprietary systems, the ability to change the default bindings and add custom ones can be limited, possibly even requiring a separate or third-party utility to perform the task, sometimes with workarounds like key remapping. In macOS, user can customize app shortcuts ("Key equivalents") in system settings, and customize text editing shortcuts by creating and editing related configuration files.[4] Other systems, typically Unix
and related, consider shortcuts to be a user's prerogative, and that they should be customizable to suit individual preference. In most real-world environments, both philosophies co-exist; a core set of sacred shortcuts remain fixed while others, typically involving an otherwise unused modifier key or keys, are under the user's control.

The motivations for customizing key bindings vary. Users new to a program or software environment may customize the new environment's shortcuts to be similar to another environment with which they are more familiar.

Hardcore gamers
often customize their key bindings in order to increase performance via faster reaction times.

"Sacred" keybindings

The original Macintosh

User Interface Guidelines defined a set of keyboard shortcuts that would remain consistent across application programs.[7] This provides a better user experience than the then-prevalent situation of applications using the same keys for different functions. This could result in user errors if one program used ⌘ Command
+D to mean Delete while another used it to Duplicate an item. The standard bindings were:

  • ⌘ Q : Quit
  • ⌘ W : Close Window
  • ⌘ B :
    Bold
    text
  • ⌘ I : Italicize text
  • ⌘ U :
    Underline
    text
  • ⌘ O :
    Open
  • ⌘ P : Print
  • ⌘ A : Select All
  • ⌘ S : Save
  • ⌘ F :
    Find
  • ⌘ G : Find Again (the G key is next to the F key on a QWERTY keyboard)
  • ⌘ Z : Undo (resembles the action of striking out a mistake)
  • ⌘ X : Cut (resembles scissors – and the X key is next to the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)
  • ⌘ C :
    Copy
  • ⌘ V :
    Paste
    (resembles an arrow pointing downward "into" the document, or a brush used for applying paste, as well as the proofreader's mark for "insert" – and the V key is next to the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)
  • ⌘ N : New Document
  • ⌘ . (full stop): User interrupt[notes 1], it can be used to close dialogs, search bars, and context menus.
  • ⌘ ? :
    ? signifies a question or confusion)[8]

Later environments such as Microsoft Windows retain some of these bindings, while adding their own from alternate standards like

Common User Access. The shortcuts on these platforms (or on macOS) are not as strictly standardized across applications as on the early Macintosh user interface, where if a program did not include the function normally carried out by one of the standard keystrokes, guidelines stated that it should not redefine the key to do something else as it would potentially confuse users.[9]

Notation

The simplest keyboard shortcuts consist of only one key. For these, one generally just writes out the name of the key, as in the message "Press F1 for Help". The name of the key is sometimes surrounded in brackets or similar characters. For example: [F1] or <F1>. The key name may also be set off using special formatting (bold, italic,

all caps
, etc.)

Many shortcuts require two or more keys to be pressed simultaneously. For these, the usual notation is to list the keys names separated by plus signs or hyphens. For example: "Ctrl+C", "Ctrl-C", or "

Ctrl+⇧ Shift
+5".

Some keyboard shortcuts, including all shortcuts involving the

Ctrl+B to view a list of open buffers. Emacs uses the letter C to denote the Ctrl key, the letter S to denote the Shift key, and the letter M to denote the Meta key (commonly mapped to the Alt key on modern keyboards.) Thus, in Emacs parlance, the above shortcuts would be written C-x C-s and C-x C-b. A common backronym
for Emacs is "Escape Meta Alt Ctrl Shift", poking fun at its use of many modifiers and extended shortcut sequences.

See also

Look up keyboard shortcut in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Technical note: it calls the AppKit method "cancelOperation:"
  1. ^ In the English language a "shortcut" may unintentionally suggest an incomplete or sloppy way of completing something. Consequently, some computer applications designed to be controlled mainly by the keyboard, such as Emacs, use the alternative term "key binding".
  2. CNET.com. Archived from the original
    on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  3. ^ "GNU Emacs Manual: Commands". Emacs does not assign meanings to keys directly. Instead, Emacs assigns meanings to named commands, and then gives keys their meanings by binding them to commands.
  4. ^ "Text System Defaults and Key Bindings". Apple Developer Documentation Archive. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  5. ISBN 9780201749656
    .
  6. ^ "Customizing your keyboard shortcuts".
  7. ISBN 0-201-62216-5
    .
  8. ^ "Definition of QUESTION". www.merriam-webster.com.
  9. ^ "OS X Human Interface Guidelines". If your app does not perform the task associated with a recommended shortcut, think very carefully before you consider overriding it. Remember that although reassigning an unused shortcut might make sense in your app, your users are likely to know and expect the original, established meaning.
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