Salahaddin university-erbil

College of basic education

Department of english

computer

Shortcut

Prepared by: supervisor by:

Muhammad Abdulwahab Abdulkarim M. Talhat Hasan

2019-2020
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Contient:
 Keyboard shortcut
 Description
 Customization
 "Sacred" keybindings
 Notation

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Keyboard shortcut
In computing, a keyboard shortcut is a series of one or several
keys that invoke a software program to perform a
preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard
functionality of the operating system or application program, or
it may have been written by the user in a scripting language.
The meaning of term "keyboard shortcut" can vary depending
on software manufacturer. For instance, Microsoft differentiates
keyboard shortcuts from hotkeys ("mnemonics" on Windows)
whereby the former consists of a specific key combination used
to trigger an action, and the latter represents a designated letter
in a menu command or toolbar button that when pressed
together with the Alt key, activates such command—whereas a
"hotkey" on Windows is a system wide shortcut that is always
available in all contexts as long as the program responsible for it
is running and not suspended.

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Description
Keyboard shortcuts are typically a means for invoking one or
more commands using the keyboard that would otherwise be
accessible only through a menu, a pointing device, different
levels of a user interface, or via a command-line interface.
Keyboard shortcuts are generally used to expedite common
operations by reducing input sequences to a few keystrokes,
hence the term "shortcut".

To differentiate from general keyboard input, most keyboard

shortcuts require the user to press and hold several keys
simultaneously or a sequence of keys one after the other.
Unmodified key presses are sometimes accepted when the
keyboard is not used for general input - such as with graphics
packages e.g. Adobe Photoshop or IBM Lotus Freelance
Graphics. Other keyboard shortcuts use function keys that are
dedicated for use in shortcuts and may only require a single
keypress. For simultaneous keyboard shortcuts, one usually first
holds down the modifier key(s), then quickly presses and
releases the regular (non-modifier) key, and finally releases the
modifier key(s). This distinction is important, as trying to press
all the keys simultaneously will frequently either miss some of
the modifier keys, or cause unwanted auto-repeat. Sequential
shortcuts usually involve pressing and releasing a dedicated
prefix key, such as the Esc key, followed by one or more
keystrokes.
Mnemonics are distinguishable from keyboard shortcuts. One
difference between them is that the keyboard shortcuts are not

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localized on multi-language software but the mnemonics are
generally localized to reflect the symbols and letters used in the
specific locale. In most GUIs, a program's keyboard shortcuts
are discoverable by browsing the program's menus – the shortcut
is indicated next to the menu choice. There are keyboards that
have the shortcuts for a particular application already marked on
them. These keyboards are often used for editing video, audio,
or graphics, as well as in software training courses. There are
also stickers with shortcuts printed on them that can be applied
to a regular keyboard. Reference cards intended to be propped
up in the user's workspace also exist for many applications. In
the past, when keyboard design was more standardized, it was
common for computer books and magazines to print cards that
were cut out, intended to be placed over the user's keyboard with
the printed shortcuts noted next to the appropriate keys.

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Customization
When shortcuts are referred to as key bindings it carries the
connotation that the shortcuts are customizable to a user's
preference and that program functions may be 'bound' to a
different set of keystrokes instead of or in addition to the default.
This highlights a difference in philosophy regarding shortcuts.
Some systems, typically end-user-oriented systems such as Mac
OS or Windows, consider standardized shortcuts essential to the
environment's ease of use. These systems usually limit a user's
ability to change shortcuts, possibly even requiring a separate or
third-party utility to perform the task. Other systems, typically
Unix and related, consider shortcuts to be a user's prerogative,
and that they should be changeable to suit individual preference.
In most real-world environments, both philosophies co-exist; a
core set of sacred shortcuts remain fixed while others, typically
involving an otherwise unused modifier key or keys, are under
the user's control.

The motivations for customizing key bindings vary. Users new

to a program or software environment may customize the new
environment's shortcuts to be similar to another environment
with which they are more familiar. More advanced users may
customize key bindings to better suit their workflow, adding
shortcuts for their commonly used actions and possibly deleting
or replacing bindings for less-used functions. Hardcore gamers
often customize their key bindings in order to increase
performance via faster reaction times.

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"Sacred" keybindings
The original Macintosh User Interface Guidelines defined a set
of keyboard shortcuts that would remain consistent across
application programs. This provides a better user experience
than the then-prevalent situation of applications using the same
keys for different functions. This could result in user errors if
one program used ⌘ Command + D to mean Delete while
another used it to Duplicate an item. The standard bindings
were:

 ⌘ Q : Quit
 ⌘ W : Close Window
 ⌘ B : Bold text
 ⌘ I : Italicize text
 ⌘ U : Underline text
 ⌘ O : Open
 ⌘ P : Print
 ⌘ A : Select All
 ⌘ S : Save
 ⌘ F : Find
 ⌘ G : Find Again (the G key is next to the F key on a
QWERTY keyboard)
 ⌘ Z : Undo (resembles the action of striking out a
mistake)
 ⌘ X : Cut (resembles scissors – and the X key is next to
the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)
 ⌘ C : Copy
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  ⌘ V : Paste (resembles an arrow pointing downward
"into" the document, or a brush used for applying paste, as
well as the proofreader's mark for "insert" – and the V key
is next to the C key on a QWERTY keyboard)
 ⌘ N : New Document
 ⌘ . (full stop): User interrupt
 ⌘ ? : Help (? signifies a question or confusion)[6]

Later environments such as Microsoft Windows retain some of

these bindings, while adding their own from alternate standards
like Common User Access. The shortcuts on these platforms (or
on macOS) are not as strictly standardized across applications as
on the early Macintosh user interface, where if a program did
not include the function normally carried out by one of the
standard keystrokes, guidelines stated that it should not redefine
the key to do something else as it would potentially confuse
users.

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Notation
The simplest keyboard shortcuts consist of only one key. For
these, one generally just writes out the name of the key, as in the
message "Press F1 for Help". The name of the key is sometimes
surrounded in brackets or similar characters. For example: [F1]
or <F1>. The key name may also be set off using special
formatting (bold, italic, all caps, etc.)

Many shortcuts require two or more keys to be pressed together.

For these, the usual notation is to list the keys names separated
by plus signs or hyphens. For example: "Ctrl+C", "Ctrl-C", or
"Ctrl+C". The Ctrl key is sometimes indicated by a caret
character (^). Thus Ctrl-C is sometimes written as ^C. At times,
usually on Unix platforms, the case of the second character is
significant – if the character would normally require pressing the
Shift key to type, then the Shift key is part of the shortcut e.g.
'^C' vs. '^c' or '^%' vs. '^5'. ^% may also be written " Ctrl+⇧
Shift+5".

Some keyboard shortcuts, including all shortcuts involving the

Esc key, require keys (or sets of keys) to be pressed
individually, in sequence. These shortcuts are sometimes written
with the individual keys (or sets) separated by commas or
semicolons. The Emacs text editor uses many such shortcuts,
using a designated set of "prefix keys" such as Ctrl+C or
Ctrl+X . Default Emacs keybindings include Ctrl+X Ctrl+S to
save a file or Ctrl+X Ctrl+B to view a list of open buffers.
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Emacs uses the letter C to denote the Ctrl key, the letter S to
denote the Shift key, and the letter M to denote the Meta key
(commonly mapped to the Alt key on modern keyboards.) Thus,
in Emacs parlance, the above shortcuts would be written C-x C-s
and C-x C-b. A common backronym for Emacs is "Escape Meta
Alt Ctrl Shift", poking fun at its use of many modifiers and
extended shortcut sequences.

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References:-
 Google
 Wikipedia
 https://www.computerhope.com/shortcut.htm
 http://osr507doc.sco.com/en/VTCLG/vtclgC.style_shortcut
.html
 https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Customize-
keyboard-shortcuts-9A92343E-A781-4D5A-92F1-
0F32E3BA5B4D
 https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-make-
custom-keyboard-shortcuts

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