| The interaction model / Keyboard accelerator names | |
Virtual keys are the key names that can be used in program instructions such as ON KEY and COMMAND KEY.
| Key Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ACCEPT | The validation key. |
| INTERRUPT | The interruption key. |
| ESC or ESCAPE | The ESC key (not recommended, use ACCEPT instead). |
| TAB | The TAB key (not recommended). |
| Control-char | A control key where char can be any character except A, D, H, I, J, K, L, M, R, or X. |
| F1 through F255 | A function key. |
| DELETE | The key used to delete a new row in an array. |
| INSERT | The key used to delete a new row in an array. |
| HELP | The help key. |
| LEFT | The left arrow key. |
| RIGHT | The right arrow key. |
| DOWN | The down arrow key. |
| UP | The up arrow key. |
| PREVIOUS or PREVPAGE | The previous page key. |
| NEXT or NEXTPAGE | The next page key. |
An ON KEY block defines one to four different action objects that will be identified by the key name in lowercase (ON KEY(F5,F6) = creates Action f5 + Action f6). Each action object will get an acceleratorNameassigned. In GUI mode, Action Defaults are applied for ON KEY actions by using the name of the key. You can define secondary accelerator keys, as well as default decoration attributes like button text and image, by using the key name as action identifier. The action name is always in lowercase letters. See Action Defaults for more details.
Check carefully the ON KEY CONTROL-? statements because they may result in having duplicate accelerators for multiple actions due to the accelerators defined by Action Defaults. Additionally, ON KEY statements used with ESC, TAB, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, HELP, NEXT, PREVIOUS, INSERT, CONTROL-M, CONTROL-X, CONTROL-V, CONTROL-C and CONTROL-A should be avoided for use in GUI programs, because it's very likely to clash with default accelerators defined in the Action Defaults.
By default, ON KEY actions are not decorated with a default button in the action frame (i.e. default action view). You can show the default button by configuring a text attribute with the Action Defaults.