Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Graphic Symbols used for Control, Alt and Shift keys in Linux Applications ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Graphic Symbols used for Control, Alt and Shift keys in Linux Applications
Category: Computers
Asked by: dbm999-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 28 May 2003 15:47 PDT
Expires: 27 Jun 2003 15:47 PDT
Question ID: 209985
Trying to find out if there are any standard symbols used to represent
the Alt, Control and Shift keys on Linux Application menus. I.E. in a
Windows application on the edit menu the Paste command keyboard
shortcut is Control V - usually shown on a menu as Ctrl+V. On a
Macintosh the equivalent shortcut is Command V - usually shown on a
menu as *V. (Where * is actually a symbol that looks a bit like a 4
leaf clover.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Graphic Symbols used for Control, Alt and Shift keys in Linux Applications
Answered By: chellphill-ga on 29 May 2003 22:15 PDT
 
Hi dbm999-ga !

    Here is some information I have found on the way shortcuts are
represented in Linux. I have included pages that list Linux keyboard
shortcuts, show screen shots of the shortcut commands in the menu's of
various Linux applications, and a page or two that lists compare the
different abbreviated shortcuts for Linux, Windows and Mac's.

If you have any questions about the information that I have provided,
feel free to request a clarification of my answer. Please do allow me
enough time to respond before you rate the answer.

Thanks so much!
Chellphill-ga


http://www.unixguide.net/linux/linuxshortcuts.shtml
Linux Shortcuts and Commands: 

http://www.ilinkt.com/cgi-bin/ilinkt/tips.cgi?1
Useful Linux shortcuts
http://guymal.com/techCorner/linux_shortcuts.html
Common Linux shortcuts you should know

http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlitescreen.html
Screen shots showing a linux application's file and edit menus.

http://support.generation.net/eng/linux/linuxnse.shtml
Screen shots showing Netscape 4.X's edit menu and shortcuts

http://static.kdenews.org/mirrors/qwertz/kde31alpha/s12.png
showing KDE's menu on a right click.

http://www.kde.org/announcements/announce-3.1alpha1.php
“Terminal emulator. The terminal emulator (Konsole) can now bookmark
commands which start a new shell, such as ssh://user@host.org. It also
displays an information dialog now when the user presses Ctrl-s, as
some users do not realize this action can activate scroll locking. The
emulator's copy-to-clipboard behavior has been modified to conform to
the KDE standard (now one must select the Copy entry in the Edit menu
to copy to the secondary "Windows" clipboard, while highlighting
continues to copy to the primary "X11" clipboard)”

http://www.dvo.ru/linux/editors.html
“   File: New Window C-n, Open New C-o, Load File C-l, Insert File
C-i,
   Revert to Saved, Save C-s, Save as, Write selection C-w, Print C-p,
   Close, Quit
   Edit:Undo C-u Redo C-r . Also the following functions are
available,
   but not (???) on the menu: Cut: C-x , Paste C-v, Copy C-c Search:Go
   to line F1 , Search String F2, Search Next F3, 
   Search Previous F4,Replace F5
   OPtions Medium Font, Large FOnt, Small Font, Auto Indent, Customize
-
   { Initial Wdith, Initial Height, Tab size, Auto-indent }
   Note that this is also missing the word-wrap feature. Also, the
basic
   cut/copy/paste functions aren't listed in the edit menu, though
this
       may be easy to fix. Otherwise, it's quite a nice editor. medit”

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2002-February/msg00159.html
Usage of <Shift> <ins> as paste

http://www.trylinuxsd.com/kde2/pages/kde17.html
More fun with shortcuts

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/getting-started-guide/keyboard-shortcuts.html
Keyboard shortcuts from Redhat

http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/shortcuts.html
More keyboard shortcuts

http://www.basic2solutions.com/tips/tricks/linux.html#lnkweb15
Various keyboard shortcuts

http://www.linuxsucks.com/results.html
One persons opinion on Linux 
“All of the Gnome and KDE user-interfaces I've seen so far are simply
cheap imitations of already bad Windows GUIs with all of their
non-intuitiveness, modal user interaction, inconsistent menu shortcuts
and naming...”
http://www.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.2.1/
Keyboard shortcuts on Linux now use Ctrl instead of Alt as the
modifier key, while Alt is used for menu shortcuts. If you wish to
modify these shortcut keys, add the following prefs (instructions
here: http://www.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.2.1/#prefs)

“GNU Emacs uses an extension of the ASCII character set for keyboard
input; it also accepts non-character input events including function
keys and mouse button actions.
linux.ucla.edu/manual/emacs-20.7/ps/emacs.ps.gz 
http://216.239.33.100/linux?q=cache:7GbgLkMIkqIJ:linux.ucla.edu/manual/emacs-20.7/ps/emacs.ps.gz+%22graphic+symbols%22+used+for+menu+shortcuts+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
GNU Emacs Manual 
ASCII consists of 128 character codes. Some of these codes are
assigned graphic symbols such as `a' and `='; the rest are control
characters, such as Control-a (usually written C-a for short). C-a
gets its name from the fact that you type it by holding down the CTRL
i key while pressing a.”
http://www.togaware.com/linux/survivor/Shortcuts.html
“Menus will often have combinations of keys that can be used as a
shortcut. These keyboard shortcuts will usually appear to the right
within the menu itself as a reminder. The associated keyboard shortcut
is usually a combination of keys beginning with Control or Alt.
Pressing the specified key combinations has the same result as
choosing the menu item. For example, if the Edit menu has a Cut choice
with a keyboard shortcut of Ctl+X then holding down the Control key
while you type the X key has the same effect as choosing the Cut menu
item. “
“Many shortcuts are in common usage amongst GNOME applications and
will be familiar to users of the Win32 OS “

http://help.netscape.com/netscape7/shortcuts.html
This document uses the following format for listing shortcuts:
Command  Windows       Mac          Linux
Copy     Ctrl+C        Cmd+C        Ctrl+C
(list of comparable commands for netscape under windows, mac, and
linux)

http://www.itworld.com/nl/lnx_tip/09072001/pf_index.html
“Many developers adopt the traditional UNIX editors: vi or Emacs. Both
are available in Windows versions and both have highly partisan
adherents. The Control-key shortcuts, which conflict with those of
standard business applications (and especially Microsoft Word), pushed
me away from Emacs. The conflicts make it hard to go back and forth
between text editing and writing project documents in a word
processor. “

http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/306/2000/5/0/3798809/
Function key mappings proposal

Request for Answer Clarification by dbm999-ga on 11 Jun 2003 20:00 PDT
As far as I could see there was no symbols or icons used to represent
the keys - is that your understanding?

Clarification of Answer by chellphill-ga on 12 Jun 2003 17:06 PDT
Hi dbm999-ga,
     Yes, you are correct, when it comes to how key combinations are
represented in the menus of linux applications,just as in Windows,
there are no graphic symbols, or icons.
Thanks!
chellphill-ga
Comments  
Subject: Re: Graphic Symbols used for Control, Alt and Shift keys in Linux Applications
From: tashton-ga on 29 May 2003 19:04 PDT
 
There is no standard convention amoung all Linux applications. 
However, KDE and GNOME both use the same conventions:

Ctrl+Q
Alt+Q
Ctrl+Shift+Q
Alt+Shift+Q
Alt+Ctrl+Q
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Q

Some Gnome programs seem to use Shift+Ctrl+Q etc, but I don't think
it's deliberate.

Many UN*X programs refer to Alt as the "Meta" key.  They may also use
"^" to represent Ctrl.

For example, nano shows them as:

^Q
M-Q

(It doesn't seem to use any further combinations)

And emacs shows them as:

C-Q
M-Q

Hope this helps,
-- 
Thomas Ashton

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy