Creating a keyboard shortcut
You can assign macros to special keys and certain combinations of keys to create a keyboard shortcut. A macro consists of one or more commands that are displayed on the status bar as follows:
- A single command, such as QSAVE.
- A command with options, such as ARC;\A;\\.
- More than one command, such as ^C^C^CZOOM;E;QSAVE;QPRINT.
Keyboard shortcuts are more powerful than aliases. An alias lets you abbreviate a single command name; a keyboard shortcut contains one or more macros. To activate a macro, you press the shortcut key; you do not need to press Enter as you do with an alias. A shortcut consists of the following keys:
- The function and the cursor control keys, as well as alphanumeric keys pressed in combination with the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys. The Shift key must be used in conjunction with the Ctrl, Alt, and/or function keys.
- Alphanumeric keys are those labeled A through Z and 1 though 0.
- The cursor keys are the up, down, left, and right arrows and the PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, Ins, and Delete keys.
- The function keys are those labeled F1 through F12.
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Loading keyboard shortcut files
Saving keyboard shortcut files
How do I...
Create a keyboard shortcut
Delete an existing keyboard shortcut
Load a keyboard shortcut file
Redefine an existing keyboard shortcut
Save the current keyboard shortcuts to a file