Trainz/refs/Hotkeys,Windows Apps
The Trainzer as a content manager will generally find themselves needing to run more than one Windows applications at a time. When one does so, getting around goes much better if one can master common Microsoft defined HotKeys that often are used in other applications near universally, and which have become de facto industry standards (e.g. CTRL+S will almost always SAVE from an application, while ALT+F, ALT+E, ALT+V all have common reserved tasks inside Windows opening the drop down menus File..., Edit..., and View...; each enabling a follow on HotKey (so a three keypress sequence, an extended Hotkey, in effect.) in the list of actions in that drop down menu — see the Underlined letters in the various drop down menu's listed lines) so mastering them can be greatly empowering and the difference between a tentative and a comfortable computer user.
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| Glossary |
| HKeys-CM |
| HKeys-DVR |
| HKeys-SUR |
| HKeys-WIN |
| Mouse use |
| Notations |
Operations Note: Clicking on a footnote ([2]) or note tag ([note 12]) in the main body of text will navigate you (position the page) to the exact text for the entry. • Then: Clicking there on the ? symbol, will return you back to read on from where you started. |
Section I General Command Line HotKeys
editThe most commonly adopted and widest utilized Windows hotkeys date back to the CMP operating system, itself based on the DEC 10 series of minicomputers, and come to the world of personal computers through the MSDOS operating system which underlay early Microsoft Windows versions and thence to IBM's OS-2. Backward compatibility and the understandable hesitation to break things not needing fixed accounts for their widespread use and longevity.
The most commonly known and most useful of these are the copy, paste, or cut key sequences using the OS' general 'Cut buffer': CTRL+C, CTRL+V, CTRL+X, respectively, and with which one can sequence things in a multi-step process to generate a 'copy and replace' or 'move' operation as desired.
Each of Trainz's modules has its own set of hotkeys linked generously here in the Trainz Wikibook and presented with an identifier string like 'CMD Map'= CTRL+M (toggle the mini-map) that a user can actually customize by altering the file keyboard.txt file in the settings sub-folder of the install.
| Windows Hotkeys, bolding emphasis added to those most useful in Trainz Windows operations... | |
|---|---|
| CTRL+ Escape or ⊞ Win | Display start menu. |
| ⇧ Shift+F10 or AppsKey | Display context menu. |
| ⊞ Win+E | Open Windows Explorer. |
| ⊞ Win+R | Open Run command-line dialog. |
| ⊞ Win+M | Minimize all windows. |
| ⊞ Win+Shift + M | Undo minimize all windows. |
| ⊞ Win+D | Toggle minimize all windows. (Show Desktop) |
| ⊞ Win+F or F3 | Open Find dialog. (All Files) [note 1] |
| ⊞ Win+Control + F | Open Find dialog. (Computers) |
| ⊞ Win+U | Open Utility Manager. |
| ⊞ Win+F1 | Open Windows help. |
| ⊞ Win+Pause | Open System Properties dialog. |
| ⊞ Win+Tab ↹ | Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or ⇧ Shift+F10 right-clicks. |
| ⊞ Win+Shift + Tab | Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse. |
| ALT+ Tab | Display CoolSwitch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog or ALT-TAB list (as icons). ('CoolSwitch' mode available only in newer Windows releases, and may be disabled with properties.) |
| ALT+ Shift+Tab ↹ | Display CoolSwitch or ALT-TAB list Previous framed option; i.e. traverse icons (Aps) in reverse. |
| ALT+ Escape | Send active window to the bottom of the z-order (i.e. z-ordered 'stack' is the ALT-TAB cycled list). |
| ALT+ Shift+Escape | Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order. |
| ALT+ F4 | Close active window; same as clicking the corner X to close app Window Also, if all windows are closed, opens the shutdown dialog API. |
| ⇧ Shift | while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay. |
| CTRL+ Alt+Delete or Ctrl+Alt+NumpadDel | Invoke the Task Manager or NT Security dialog. (Both NumLock states) |
| CTRL+⇧ Shift+Escape | Invoke the task manager[note 2] |
| Printscreen | Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard. [note 3] |
| ALT+ Printscreen | Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard. |
| CTRL+ Alt+Down Arrow | Invert screen. Untested on OSes other than XP. |
| CTRL+ Alt+Up Arrow | Undo inversion. |
Generic Keys
edit| Generic Keys | |
|---|---|
| CTRL+ C or Ctrl+Insert | Copy. |
| CTRL+ X or ⇧ Shift+Delete | Cut. |
| CTRL+ V or ⇧ Shift+Insert | Paste/Move. |
| CTRL+ N | New... File, Tab, Entry, etc. |
| CTRL+ S | Save. |
| CTRL+ O | Open... |
| CTRL+ P | Print. |
| CTRL+ Z | Undo. |
| CTRL+ A | Select all. |
| CTRL+ F | Find... |
| CTRL+ F4 | Close tab or child window. |
| F1 | Open help. |
| F11 | Toggle full screen mode. |
| ALT or F10 | Activate menu bar. |
| ALT+ Space | Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar. |
| Escape | Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box. |
Generic Navigation
editMost of these key sequences are active and enabled in Internet Browsers and in quality programmer's Text Editors. Open up multiple tabs to different Wikibooks pages:
- For starters we suggest keeping the Glossary, Notations, and perhaps this page open all the time in separate tabs in a 'references browser'. Get good with Ctrl+Tab ↹ and ⇧ Shift+Ctrl+Tab ↹ behaviors, and with using them.
- If you are a Trainz tyro, having a tab with Driver shortcut keys and Surveyor Shortcut keys could also be of immense use. At least on your second or third monitor. ~:) Having a reference page already ready to click on the TOC or edit the url in the address bar with a #term ↵ Enter sequence is far faster and you'll be able to check meanings, bolster or clarify your understanding, as you read other somewhat related topics material which generates a thought. This is the path to making the knowledge your own.
- Then there is the comfort of having a Wikipedia tab ready for an immediate term check or background search,
- and if you are running CM and hunting assets, a Tab for the DLS's (new) 'manual' download pages can be useful. Newer users are cautioned that Content Manager does not always see all that is available in that vast collection. Checking manually for a missing is highly recommended.
- and another to TrainzKuidIndex. The web crawlers on this site can't see into .cdp files, but it is great for locating kuids that are indexed by the 3rd-party website.
- Then again, when hunting 3rd party assets, like a auto-DLS download of legacy content, you'll likely find an edit-folder or three (30?) needing repairs/updates from what was acceptable back when to a newer standard you can live with:
- that suggests to us you likely want to open two
- to four reference pages in the Trainz Wiki,
- depending upon how much that [{TR|K}} has evolved, you may want to go back to the data model documented in months before the respective benchmark (major changes in something) date.
- Trainz retail releases tend to have anniversaries (birthdays) in the late Autumn, and only the initial TBV will affect TrainzOnline changes in documentation, which almost always lagged behind a release 4-6 months,[note 4] which works out as after the first one or two software updates, be they hotfixes or service packs. Major practices, keywords, containers, and kind evolution have generally happened during these pairings:[note 5]
• TCC-TCs era (2007); TS2009 (2008); TS10-SP3 (m. 2010)
• TS12 (m. 2011); TANE (2014, 2015); TRS19 (2018).
- and another couple in the CCG there.
Given all that as a Trainz normal reference need, let us further suggest you install at least three modern browsers, and set up your least favorite to load just that sort of mix every time you launch it. Use the other two more favored browsers to navigate the web. Your productivity will go up if you do. Don't forget to bookmark important pages on each, or invoke a cloud synch service to do so for you.
| Generic Navigation | |
|---|---|
| Tab ↹ | Forward one item. |
| ⇧ Shift+Tab ↹ | Backward one item. |
| CTRL+ Tab | Cycle through tabs/child windows. |
| CTRL+ Shift+Tab ↹ | Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows. |
| ↵ Enter | If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button. |
| Space | Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes. |
| ALT+ (Letter) | Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is the underlined letter on the item's name. |
| CTRL+ Left | Move cursor to the beginning of previous word. |
| CTRL+ Right | Move cursor to the beginning of next word. |
| CTRL+ Up | Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and all subsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work in RichEdit controls. |
| CTRL+ Down | Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph. |
| ⇧ Shift+← | Highlight one character to the left. |
| ⇧ Shift+→ | Highlight one character to the right. |
| ⇧ Shift+↑ | Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up. |
| ⇧ Shift+↓ | Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down. |
| CTRL+ Shift+← | Highlight to beginning of previous word. |
| CTRL+ Shift+→ | Highlight to beginning of next word. |
| CTRL+ Shift+↑ | Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph. |
| CTRL+ Shift+↓ | Highlight to beginning of next paragraph. |
| Home | Move cursor to top of a scrollable control. |
| End | Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control. |
| ⇧ Shift+Arrow Keys | Select multiple items. |
| CTRL+ Arrow Keys | Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focused item. |
| ← Backspace | Go up one level to the parent directory. |
| ALT+ Left | Go back one folder. |
| ALT+ Right | Go forward one folder. |
| ↵ Enter | Activate (Double-click) selected item(s). |
| ALT+ Enter | View properties for selected item. |
| F2 | Rename selected item(s). |
| F7 | New folder. |
| CTRL+ NumpadPlus | In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longest item in each one. |
| Delete | Delete selected item(s). |
| ⇧ Shift+Delete | Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin. |
| CTRL while dragging item(s) | Copy items to target destination. |
| CTRL+ Shift while dragging item(s) | Create shortcut(s). |
• Big blocks of comma-separated kuids are extremely useful in setting up SPEED for customized route building–the less assets Surveyor needs to load into active memory speeds up all the Surveyor Tool Hotkeys and the world building or decorating processes.
• Such lists also have their place between versions in Content Manager as well as in this example--a list like the top part of the page (showing missing assets could be transformed into a CSL block like the page bottom list, suitable for use in a search in another install of Trainz (To see if all the dependencies or desired assets are available before entering a GUI to drive or route build, for example).
- TO-DO
- Replace this image with a Notepad++ equivalent
• Most text (programmer's) editors use standard browser' and Windows Hotkey sequences for conformity to de facto standards.
Inside Tree pane
edit| In tree pane, if any: | |
|---|---|
| +← | Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parent folder. |
| +→ | Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the first subfolder. |
| Numpad * | Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories. (No undo.) |
| Numpad + | Expand currently selected directory. |
| Numpad - | Collapse currently selected directory. |