Keyboard Tips

Your keyboard has sets of keys which may be used for different purposes. This document shows you how to use your keyboard keys in different combinations to speed up data entry and navigation in Collect!.

Keyboard Keys

Normal keys - These keys act just like a typewriter entering alphabetic and numeric characters and punctuation marks.

Extended keys - Extended keys include the ALT and CTRL keys, which provide another set of meanings to your keyboard. For example, the Alt+H key combination pulls down the Help menu.

Using ALT + the underlined letter in a menu will drop down the menu. Using CTRL + the letter listed next to a menu choice will activate the choice. For instance, Ctrl+P will bring up the Print Report list.

Function keys - Your keyboard has a set of keys labeled F1 to F10 or F12 to provide rapid access to commonly used functions.

Direction keys - Direction keys include the arrows, Page Up and Page Down and Home and End. These keys can move your cursor.

For a complete list of the key combinations and their uses, see the following sections.

Function Keys

Function keys are the F-keys typically at the top of your keyboard. They perform specific actions as listed in the table below.

Press F1 for more information on a form or menu you are viewing.

F9 and F10 keys work well with hot keys to eliminate the need to go from mouse to keyboard. This improves input performance.

Press F9 to move the focus to the first button on the form you are viewing. Then use the hot keys (such as O for the OK button or C for the Cancel button) to instantly perform the button's action. F9 and P should consistently print wherever there is a Print button on a dialog.

Press F10 to move the focus from the buttons to the data fields for editing. If the form was just opened, pressing F10 puts the focus on the first data field. Otherwise, pressing F10 moves the focus back to the last data field that you were on before you moved your focus to the form's buttons.

Press ALT-X or ALT-F4 to exit the program.

Press ALT + a hot key(underlined letter) to activate menus. For example, ALT+E activates the Edit menu.

Find By Hot Keys

You can type in a hot key from anywhere in the system to quickly bring up the Find By screen.

Editing Keys

Several keyboard keys can by used to speed up data entry and help you navigate quickly in Collect!. Some of these keys work for navigating through fields and others for navigating through forms.

Right Arrow ... Character right
Left Arrow .... Character left
Home .......... Start of field
End ........... End of field
Page Up ....... Next Record
Page Down ..... Prior Record
Enter ......... Save field and next
Ctrl+Enter .... Save form and exit
Esc ........... Discard changes

Insert ........ Insert/Overstrike mode (Overstrike cursor is large)
Delete ........ Delete character in front of the cursor
Backspace ..... Delete character to the left of the cursor

Tab ............... Next field
Shift+Tab ......... Prior field
Shift+Arrow ....... Grab text
Shift+Insert ...... Paste Text
Ctrl+Page Up....... First record
Ctrl+Page Down..... Last record

ALT ............... Menus
CTRL .............. Buttons
ALT+X ............. Exit Program

Pasting with Overstrike mode on leaves the cursor where it is. Pasting in Insert mode moves the cursor to the end of the pasted section. This speeds up report and table editing.

Rather than using Esc, you should press F8 to exit from a form. That way, whatever changes you made will be saved.

Navigating Forms With Subforms

When you are viewing a form that contains a subform, such as the Client form, you can move between the forms using the F5 key and the Esc key. F5 will take you into the subform and pressing F5 again will open the first, highlighted record. Press the Esc key (when the subform is active) and the focus will be returned to the main, outer form.

When you first enter a subform, you can immediately begin to type characters in order to search the list of records in the subform. You will notice that the Name heading is active and the characters you type will show up as Collect! scrolls through the list matching your search criteria.

Moving In Lists Using The Keyboard

Use the following keys and combinations to move in any list.

Moving in the list:

Up and Down arrow keys scroll by record.

PgUp and PgDn scroll by pages.

Ctrl Home and Ctrl End go to the top and bottom.

Esc (Escape) exits.

See Also

- How To Start Using Collect!