35.11 Shortcuts
REVIEW
Menus will often have combinations of keys that
can be used as a shortcut. These keyboard shortcuts will usually
appear to the right within the menu itself as a reminder. The
associated keyboard shortcut is usually a combination of keys
beginning with Control or Alt. Pressing the specified key
combinations has the same result as choosing the menu item. For
example, if the Edit menu has a Cut choice with a
keyboard shortcut of Ctl+X then holding down the
Control key while you type the X key has the
same effect as choosing the Cut menu item.
Many shortcuts are in common usage amongst GNOME applications and will be familiar to users of the Win32 OS. These include:
A powerful feature is that you can choose your own shortcuts whenever
you wish. To do this, simply move the mouse over the menu item whose
shortcut you wish to redefine (or to define if it currently does not
have one) and type the keyboard shortcut you wish to associate with
that menu item. For example, to map Cut to
Shft+Ctl+Alt+X simple move the mouse to the Cut
menu item and press all four keys at the same time. This is probably
not a very useful binding, but it’s unlikely to be used for anything
else, so it is a safe choice to play with! Note that if the new
shortcut previously was associated with another menu item, the
previous binding is lost.
If you use Shft+X as a shortcut it will be accepted but
may not be useful. If the context is a text editor then
Shft+X will be captured to capitalise the x
rather than passed on as a shortcut. Other combinations involving the
Shft key work just fine, such as Shft+Alt+X
and Shft+Ctl+X. Some applications (e.g.,
nautilus) automatically save your shortcuts so that next
time they will appear. Others (e.g., bluefish) provide an
option for you to save them if you decide they are suitable.
Finally, some shortcuts might be identified by the applications as immutable so that you are not able to re-bind them.
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