keyboard shortcuts and kbd file

[SEWright]

I am looking for a (printable,copy-able,paste-able,txt file,rtf file,doc file) list of all the keyboard shortcuts (bindings) in LabWindows.

Alternatively, some documentation on the .kbs file would be useful.

I know that I can *see* the shortcut list via Options>>Change Shortcut Keys... but I cannot cut-n-paste from this list and I cannot resize the window to see more items simultaneously (<rant>I cannot stand it when modal dialog boxes cannot be resized -- I have to close the dialog before I can continue, so why not use more screen real estate and make the dialog bigger and show more information?!?!</rant>).

In the Change Shortcut Keys dialog, I also see that I can Save and Load a file containing the shortcuts as a .kbs file, but that file contains a lot of XML tags bracketing numbers that I cannot translate into LabWindows commands and keyboard shortcuts.

TiA,

Scott

[Al_S]

Scott:

For the first part of your question,  (the easy part),  go to LabWindows Help, go to the Search tab, and search for "default keyboard shortcuts".  You'll see the topic Keyboard Help, which lists the shortcuts.  You can copy and paste from the description window.

[Al_S]

After taking a closer look, I see that the Keyboard Help topic does not include all shortcuts.

Here is a link that has a few more, but still not all!  http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/9D3264A8D2780C8E86256C94007AAE49

Regarding the .kbs file, I can't find any documentation from NI.  You could figure out a few things by hacking into it, but if NI doesn't publish the info, you're at risk that the codes or format will change with a different CVI version.

Here's what I see by looking into a kbs file.  I modified one key at a time, saved the kbs file, and compared the default file to the new one.

The kbs file is in XML.  Each shortcut has a menu tag, which is a number 000 through 0201 (apparently decimal), and a key tag.

The key tag is an 8 digit hex number.

The first left 4 digits of the key tag appear to be the modifier keys.

0004 = Ctrl

0001 = Shift

0005 = Ctrl + Shift

The 5th and 6th digit (starting at 1 on the left) are special keys (Fx, Insert, etc.)

The 7th and 8th digits are ASCII alpha keys.

Here are some examples

Ctrl-W = 00040057    (ASCII 'W' = 57 hex)

Ctrl-Shift-W = 00050057

Ctrl-Shift-A = 00050041   (ASCII 'A' = 41 hex)

Ctrl-Shift-B = 00050042   (ASCII 'B' = 42 hex)

Ctrl-Shift-F1 = 00050F00

Ctrl-Shift-F2 = 00051000

Ctrl-Shift-F5 = 00051300

Ctrl-Shift-F6 = 00051400

Shift-Insert = 00010A00

I'm not sure that this is more than an academic exercise, since the menu numbers are just sequential and don't appear to have an interpretable pattern to them.  And, like I said earlier, if NI doesn't document it, I guess that they're free to change it whenever they want.

[jdubs]

Scott,

You can also find this information online in a help topic called Default Keyboard Shortcuts. 

What are you trying to do with the .kbs file?  Usually, you would save or load a configuration you made in the Change Shortcut Keys dialog, rather than editing the file itself.

Thanks,

Jen W

Applications Engineer

National Instruments

ni.com/support

[Al_S]

Jen:

Your link is really just a subset, like the CVI Keyboard Help topic.  For example, some shortcuts that I use a lot are not in the list at your link: Ctrl-P, Ctrl-Shift-P, Ctrl-B, Ctrl-I, Ctrl-E.

Is there a list with everything?

[SEWright]

Yes, Al S said it well -- the various help windows do give some shortcuts, but I'm after the whole enchilada!

[jdubs]

Scott,

Unfortunately, it looks like the only truly complete table is the one in the Change Shortcut Keys menu.  I know it doesn't copy and paste as you'd like, but it is an exhaustive list. Why do you need it to be copy-paste?

Jen W

Applications Engineer

National Instruments

ni.com/support