Keyboard Combinations for Menu Items

There are two ways that you can provide users with keyboard combinations, instead of using the mouse, to choose menu items: hotkeys and shortcuts. You can have either or both. You use the Key: menu item option with one of these formats:

Key: hotkey, shortcutkey

Key: hotkey

Key: , shortcutkey

The hotkey has the format alt_character, where character must be a letter or number. For example, Key: alt_A indicates that holding the Alt key and pressing A activates the item. The specified key is underlined in the menu item's text in the menu. A hotkey only works if the key in question is part of the item's text and is case insensitive.

The shortcut format is made up of modifier parts and a final part. The modifier parts are:

The final part must be one of the following:

• A single alphanumeric character

• A function key, F1 to F12

• A string indicating one of these special keys:

• A non-alphanumeric character, in which case the modifier part must be just "Alt_" and the whole string must be enclosed in quotes

At least one of the modifiers must be included in all cases except for the function keys. The shortcut is shown to the right of the menu item's text in the menu. Here are some examples: