Navigating Standard Elements and Controls

The following sections describe how to navigate and use standard user interface elements and controls from the keyboard.

Navigating Menus

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate menus.

Keys	Function
Up arrow and down arrow	Gives focus to the next or previous menu item on a menu.
Right arrow	If the menu item that has focus is a submenu, opens the submenu and gives focus to the first menu item on the submenu. If the menu item that has focus is not a submenu, opens the next menu on the menubar.
Left arrow	If the menu item that has focus is a submenu item, switches the focus back to the submenu. If the menu item that has focus is not a submenu item, opens the previous menu on the menubar.
Return	Selects the focused menu item and closes the open menus.
Access key	Selects the menu item that is associated with the access key and closes the open menus.
Spacebar	Selects the focused menu item and closes the open menus except when the menu item is a check box or radio button. If the menu item is a check box or radio button, the menu does not close.
Esc	Closes the open menus.

Navigating Buttons

A button is a control that you use to start an action. Most buttons are rectangular and contain a text label.

Figure 4-1 Sample Button

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate buttons.

Keys	Function
Spacebar	Activates the button that has focus. This is the equivalent of clicking on the button.
Return	Activates the button that has focus or, if no button has focus, performs the default action for the dialog.

Navigating Radio Buttons

A radio button is a control that you use to select one of several mutually-exclusive options.

Figure 4-2 Sample Radio Button

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a set of radio buttons.

Keys	Function
Arrow keys	Selects the next or previous radio button and deselects the other radio buttons in the group.

Navigating Check Boxes

A check box is a control that you use to select or deselect an option.

Figure 4-3 Sample Check Box

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a check box.

Keys	Function
Spacebar	Selects or deselects the check box.

Navigating Text Boxes

Text boxes are controls in which you type text.

Figure 4-4 Sample Single Line Text Box

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a single line text box.

Keys	Function
Left arrow	Positions the cursor one character to the left.
Right arrow	Positions the cursor one character to the right.
Ctrl+left arrow	Positions the cursor at the start of the current word. Press and hold Ctrl and continue to press left arrow to position the cursor at the start of the previous word.
Ctrl+right arrow	Positions the cursor at the end of the current word. Press and hold Ctrl and continue to press right arrow to position the cursor at the end of the next word.
Home	Positions the cursor at the start of the line.
End	Positions the cursor at the end of the line.
Shift+left arrow or right arrow	Selects one character at a time to the left or right of the cursor.
Shift+Ctrl+left arrow or right arrow	Selects one word at a time to the left or right of the cursor.
Shift+Home	Selects all text to the left of the cursor.
Shift+End	Selects all text to the right of the cursor.
Ctrl+A	Selects all text in the text box.

In addition to the keyboard shortcuts listed in the previous table, use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table to navigate multiline text boxes.

Keys	Function
Page Up	Positions the cursor at the top of the current view. Press Page Up again to position the cursor at the top of the previous view.
Page Down	Positions the cursor at the end of the current view. Press Page Down again to position the cursor at the end of the previous view.
Ctrl+up arrow	Positions the cursor at the start of the current paragraph. Press and hold Ctrl and continue to press the up arrow key to position the cursor at the start of the previous paragraph.
Ctrl+down arrow	Positions the cursor at the end of the current paragraph. Press and hold Ctrl and continue to press the down arrow key to position the cursor at the end of the next paragraph.
Ctrl+Page Up	Positions the cursor one view width to the left.
Ctrl+Page Down	Positions the cursor one view width to the right.
Ctrl+Home	Positions the cursor at the start of the text box.
Ctrl+End	Positions the cursor at the end of the text box.
Ctrl+Tab	Gives focus to the next control on the dialog.
Shift+Page Up	Selects the text to the start of the current view. Press and hold Shift and continue to press Page Up to extend the selection to the start of the previous view.
Shift+Page Down	Selects the text to the end of the current view. Press and hold Shift and continue to press Page Down to extend the selection to the end of the next view.
Shift+Home	Selects the text to the start of the line.
Shift+End	Selects the text to the end of the line.
Shift+Ctrl+up arrow	Selects the text to the start of the paragraph, then to the start of the previous paragraph.
Shift+Ctrl+down arrow	Selects the text to the end of the paragraph, then to the end of the next paragraph.
Shift+Ctrl+Home	Selects the text to the start of the text box.
Shift+Ctrl+End	Selects the text to the end of the text box.

Navigating Spin Boxes

A spin box is a control that allows you to type a numeric value or select a value from a list of all possible values.

Figure 4-5 Sample Spin Box

The keyboard shortcuts that you use to navigate the text box area of a spin box are listed in Navigating Text Boxes. The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the up and down arrows in the spin box.

Keys	Function
Up arrow or down arrow	Increases or decreases the value of the spin box by a small amount.
Page Up or Page Down	Increases or decreases the value of the spin box by a large amount.

Navigating Drop-Down Lists

A drop-down list is a control that you use to select one of several available items. The drop-down list contains a button that you use to display the available items.

Figure 4-6 Sample Drop-Down List

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a drop-down list.

Keys	Function
Spacebar	This key performs one of the following functions: If the drop-down list is not open, this key opens the drop-down list. If the drop-down list is open, this key accepts the current selection and closes the list.
Up arrow	Selects the previous list item.
Down arrow	Selects the next list item.
Esc	Closes the list without changing the selection.

Navigating Drop-Down Combination Boxes

A drop-down combination box is a text box with a drop-down list attached.

Figure 4-7 Sample Drop-Down Combination Box

When the text box has focus, use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in Navigating Text Boxes to navigate the text box area. When the text box has focus, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table to navigate the drop-down list area.

Keys	Function
Up arrow	Selects the previous item from the drop-down list without displaying the list.
Down arrow	Selects the next item from the drop-down list without displaying the list.
Ctrl+down arrow	Opens the drop-down list.

When the drop-down list has focus, you can use the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the following table to navigate the drop-down list.

Keys	Function
Up arrow	Selects the previous list item.
Down arrow	Selects the next list item.
Home	Selects the first item on the list.
End	Selects the last item on the list.
Page Up	Selects the item at the top of the current list view.
Page Down	Selects the item at the bottom of the current list view.
Spacebar	Accepts the current selection and close the drop-down list.
Ctrl+Page Up	Scrolls to the left of the list, if required.
Ctrl+Page Down	Scrolls to the right of the list, if required.

Navigating Sliders

A slider is a control that you use to set a value in a continuous range of values.

Figure 4-8 Sample Slider

The following table describes the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate a slider.

Keys	Function
Left arrow or up arrow	Moves the slider left or up by a small amount.
Right arrow or down arrow	Moves the slider right or down by a small amount.
Page Up	Moves the slider left or up by a small amount.
Page Down	Moves the slider right or down by a small amount.
Home	Moves the slider to the maximum value.
End	Moves the slider to the minimum value.

Navigating Tabbed Sections

Figure 4-9 Sample Dialog with Tabbed Sections

Windows and dialogs are sometimes divided into logical sections that are displayed one section at a time on the window or dialog. The divisions are called tabbed sections and are identified by a tab with a text label.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the tabbed sections of a window or dialog when a tab name has focus.

Keys	Function
Left arrow	Gives focus to the previous tabbed section.
Right arrow	Gives focus to the next tabbed section.
Tab orCtrl+down arrow	Gives focus to the first control on the active tabbed section.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate the tabbed sections of a window or dialog when a control on a tabbed section has focus.

Keys	Function
Ctrl+Alt+Page Up	Gives focus to the previous tabbed section.
Ctrl+Alt+Page Down	Gives focus to the next tabbed section.
Ctrl+Tab	Gives focus to the next control outside the tabbed sections.

Navigating Lists

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate multicolumn lists when a column header has focus.

Keys	Function
Left arrow or right arrow	Gives focus to the previous or next column header.
Spacebar	Activates the header. This action usually sorts the list by the column header.
Tab	Gives focus to the list contents.

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate lists when the contents of the list has focus.

Keys	Function
Arrow keys	Selects the next or previous row or column.
Page Up	Selects the top row of the list contents that are in view. Press Page Up again to select the top row of the previous view.
Page Down	Selects the bottom row of the list contents that are in view. Press Page Down again to select the bottom row of the next view.
Home	Selects the first row in the list.
End	Selects the last row in the list.
Shift+arrow keys	For lists that support multiline selections, adds the next or previous row or column to the current selection. For lists that only allow single-line selections, selects the next or previous row or column.
Shift+Page Up	Selects all the rows between the current selection and the top row of the view.
Shift+Page Down	Selects all the rows between the current selection and the bottom row of the view.
Shift+Home	Selects all the rows between the current selection and the first row in the list.
Shift+End	Selects all the rows between the current selection and the last row in the list.
Ctrl+Arrow keys	Gives focus to the next row or column but does not extend the selection.
Ctrl+Page Up	Gives focus to the top row in the view but does not extend the selection.
Ctrl+Page Down	Gives focus to the bottom row in the view but does not extend the selection.
Ctrl+Home	Gives focus to the first row in the list but does not extend the selection.
Ctrl+End	Gives focus to the last row in the list but does not extend the selection.
Return	Activates the item.
Ctrl+A	For lists that support multiline selections, selects all rows in the list.
Shift+Tab	Gives focus to the column header, if applicable.

Navigating Trees

A tree is a user interface control that contains sections that you can expand and collapse. A tree usually represents a hierarchical structure.

Figure 4-10 Sample Tree Structure

image:Categories tree from the gedit Preferences dialog. Contains three subcategories.

To navigate trees, you can use the same keyboard shortcuts that are listed in Navigating Lists. In addition, the following table lists the keyboard shortcuts you can use for the tree items.

Keys	Function
+ (plus)	Expands the focused item.
- (minus)	Collapses the focused item.
Back Spacebar	Selects the parent item.
Ctrl+F	Displays a search dialog. You can type the name of the tree items that you want to find.

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