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Creating Control Shortcut Keys

Creating shortcut keys for individual data entry controls can help users move quickly from one control to another on a form. This feature can be especially useful when your tab order includes controls that routinely use a predefined default and therefore seldom require user input. In this case, the user can quickly move to the controls that do require input.

You can assign a shortcut key to a control by using one of the following methods.

ClosedTo create a shortcut key by using the control's text label

  1. Double-click the control to open the Control Properties dialog. Alternatively, click Properties on the control's context menu.

  2. In the navigation pane, click Text to open the Text property page.

  3. If the properties on this page are not available for editing, click Show Text Label to make a label for the control available.

  4. In the Text field, enter the ampersand (&) immediately before the letter that you want to use as the shortcut key for the control.

  5. Click Close to close the Control Properties dialog.

At print time, press Alt to view the shortcut keys that were created on control labels. Press Alt followed by the letter that appears underlined in the label to move the form focus to that control.

ClosedTo create a shortcut function key

  1. Double-click the control to open the Control Properties dialog. Alternatively, click Properties on the control's context menu.

  2. In the navigation pane, click Data Entry to open the Data Entry property page.

  3. In the Function Key list, select the key that you want to assign to the control.

  4. Click Close to close the Control Properties dialog.

At print time, press the shortcut function key to move the form focus to the control that is assigned that function key (for example, press F4 or Shift+F4).