Be User's Guide: The Mouse and Keyboard

The Mouse and Keyboard

The Mouse

The BeOS recognizes one-, two-, and three-button mice. By default, the left button is the first button; the right button is the second; and the middle button is the third.

A single-button mouse can simulate a two- or three-button mouse. On a PC keyboard (including a Windows keyboard), the key combinations, based on the 104-key Windows keyboard, are these:

Control+Alt+click simulates the second mouse button.
Control+Win+click simulates the third mouse button.

To reset the button order, adjust the timing of multiple clicks, or set the cursor's movement speed, use the Mouse preferences.

The terms that describe various mouse actions are defined below:

This	Result to do this
Move	Move the mouse without pressing a mouse button.
Click	Press and quickly release a mouse button without moving the mouse.
Press	Press and hold down a mouse button without moving the mouse.
Drag	Press and hold down a mouse button while moving the mouse.
Double-click	Press and release a mouse button twice in quick succession.
Double-click and drag	Like a double-click, but hold down a mouse button instead of releasing it the second time, then move the mouse.

The Keyboard

This table shows the equivalent keys for different keyboards.

Windows keyboard (104 keys)	PC keyboard (101 keys)	PPC (Mac) keyboard (105 keys)
Alt	Alt	Command
Left or Right Win key	Right Alt	Option
Left or Right Control	Left/Right Control	Left or Right Control
Backspace	Backspace	Delete
Menu key	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)
Delete (above arrow keys)	Delete (above arrow keys)	Del (above arrow keys)
Enter (main keyboard)	Enter (main keyboard)	Return
Enter (numeric keypad)	Enter (numeric keypad)	Enter (numeric keypad)

Choosing a Shortcut Key

Menu preferences lets you choose a shortcut key—that is, the key you use to invoke a shortcut. What's available to choose from depends on your keyboard.

Shortcut key	Windows keyboard (104 keys)	PC keyboard (101 keys)	(Mac) keyboard (105 keys)
Alt	Alt means both the right and left Alt keys work as the shortcut key.	Alt as the shortcut key applies to left Alt only; right Alt is the Option key.	N/A
Control	Control means both the right and left Control keys work as the shortcut key.	Control means both the right and left Control key. work as the shortcut key.	Control means both the left and right Control keys work as the shortcut key.
Command	N/A	N/A	Command or Control means both the left and right Command and Control keys work as the shortcut key.

For simplicity, a 104-key keyboard with Alt as the shortcut key is used throughout the user guide.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The following tables describe how various keyboard shortcuts are interpreted by the system, by Tracker, by other applications, and so on.

Adding the Shift key to some combinations will perform the action in reverse.

System Shortcuts
Action	Result
Control+Tab	Bring up the Twitcher app, which lets you switch apps with the keyboard. If you make Control your shortcut key, use Alt+Tab to bring up the Twitcher.
Control+Tab	Cycles through the open applications without bringing up the Twitcher application.
Control+Alt+Delete	Activate the TeamMonitor. If the system has crashed, this reboots the computer.
Alt+Fn	Switches to workspace n (for function keys F1 through F9 only).

List Control
Action	Result
Click an item.	Select the item.
Click and drag across one or more items.	Select the items you drag across.
Type one or more letters.	Select the item that starts with that letter or letters.
arrow	Select the next item in the direction of the arrow.
Shift+click or drag (release the mouse before releasing Shift).	Select or deselect additional items.
Shift+*letter*	Select or deselect additional items.
Alt+right arrow	Expand a folder, thread, menu, etc.
Alt+Left arrow	Collapse a folder, thread, menu, etc.
Return or spacebar	Activate the selected item(s).
Alt+a	Select all.
Tab	Move to the next item in order.
Shift+Tab	Move to the previous item.

Focus and Control Shortcuts
Action	Result
Tab	Change keyboard focus to the next item in a window or panel.
Alt+Tab	Change keyboard focus to next group of controls (e.g., in a preferences panel); does this by highlighting first control in the group.
Win+Tab	Force a jump to the next control, if inputting text
Return	Press a default button.
spacebar	Activate or toggle the current control (button, checkbox, etc).

Tracker Shortcuts
Action	Result
Alt+o or Return/Enter	Open the selected item.
Alt+d	Duplicate the selection.
Win+double-click	Close current directory before performing an action.
Win+drag	Copy a selection to a new location rather than move it.
Alt+up arrow	Close the current folder and open its parent.
Alt+down arrow	Open any highlighted folder.
Alt+Win+up arrow	Close the current folder and open its parent.
Alt+Win+down arrow	Close the current folder and open the selected folder.
Alt+f	Open Find dialog—initiate a query.
Alt+y	Resize to fit.

Application Shortcuts
Action	Result
Esc	Close the full-screen window, or cancel the current operation.
Alt+n	Open new application window.
Alt+o	Open a file or folder.
Alt+s	Save current work in a file.
Alt+Shift+s	Save a file by a different name.
Alt+z	Undo work since last save.
Alt+Shift+z	Redo last undo.
Alt+w	Close application window.
Alt+Shift+p	Open PageSetup preferences for printing.
Alt+p	Print.
Alt+q	Quit the application; same as Close if only one application window is open.
Alt+w	Close the current window; quit the app if only one application window is open.

Menu Navigation and Selection
To	Do this
Open a menu	Click the menu title and release the mouse, or click the menu title and hold the mouse button, or press Alt+Esc and type the menu title's trigger letter or use arrows. or, press the Menu key on a windows keyboard.
Navigate a menu	Drag the mouse through menu items, or press the up or down arrow in an open menu.
Choose a menu item	Click the item with the mouse, or type the item's trigger letter (if it has one), or select an item by dragging with the mouse or using the arrow keys, then press Enter/space.
Close a menu	Choose an item, or click elsewhere in the window, or press Esc.

File and Document Management
Action	Result
Alt+o	Open the selected file or document.
Alt+n	Open a new file or document.
Alt+s	Save the current file or doc; same as "Save As" for a file not previously saved.
Alt+Shift+s	Save As, or save the current file/doc in a new file.
Alt+p	Print.
Alt+Shift+p	Open the Page Setup dialog.
Alt+left/right arrow	Go to the previous/next document.

Text Selection and Editing
Action	Result
Click	Select an insertion point.
Double-click	Select a word.
Triple-click	Select a paragraph.
Drag	Select a character at a time.
Double-click and drag	Select whole words at a time.
Triple-click and drag	Select whole paragraphs at a time.
Shift drag	Extend or reduce a range of selected text.
Control+Shft+arrow	Select one space to the left or right of the cursor (with left/right arrow keys) or a line above or below the cursor (up/down arrow keys).
Alt+a	Select all.
Alt+z	Undo; redo if multiple undo not available.
Alt+x	Cut the selected text.
Alt+c	Copy the selected text.
Alt+v	Paste the selected text to the right of the cursor.

Cursor Control
Action	Result
arrow	Move the cursor in the direction of the arrow.
Control+left/right arrow	Move the cursor back/forward one word.
Control+up/down arrow	Skip by paragraphs.
Home	Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
End	Move the cursor to the end of the line.
Page Up/Down	Move the cursor up/down one page (screen).
Control+Home	Move the cursor to the beginning of the doc.
Control+End	Move the cursor to the end of the doc.
Control+Page Up/Down	Move the cursor to the top or bottom of current page without moving the page.