Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Carlisle, England
Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:39 am Post subject: Keeping the focus within a Calc cell.
Another easy one... but it baffles me.
I'm typing notes into a Calc cell. I finish typing but (*before leaving the cell*) I spot something I need to change in what I've just typed.
So I press Left-arrow.
It seems to me (and I admit being unable to work out exactly what triggers this) that SOMETIMES pressing Left-arrow steps the cursor back left through the text (just as I want) and OTHER times it takes me out of the cell to the next-cell-left (not as I want).
I cannot work out what triggers this apparently inconsistent behaviour, and I cannot find a different key which keeps the cursor in the cell. What have I missed?
Is there a key/combination to keep the cursor within the cell?
I've got these Preferences set: "Press Enter to move selection -> Down" and "Press Enter to switch to edit mode".
The trigger is whether or not you are in "replace" and "edit" mode in the current cell. When in replace mode, pressing an arrow key will move to another cell whereas in edit mode, pressing an arrow key moves the cursor within the cell's text.
Replace mode is the default mode when you move to a cell. In this mode, all type overwrites any content in the cell. You switch to edit mode by double-clicking in the cell's text or by single-clicking in the text in the "Input line" text box in the toolbar area.
Once in edit mode, you can get out of that mode by pressing the Escape key. Then you will be back in replace mode and can press an arrow key to move to another cell.
Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Carlisle, England
Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject:
Right - brilliant! - thank you, Patrick. I'm still confused as to recognising just which mode I am in (once the heavy black border has disappeared). So a quick double-tap on the trackpad will ensure I am in edit mode, whichever it was in.
If you're like me, and don't want to have to jump from keyboard to mouse whilst doing data input, then just hit F2 to switch into edit-mode; you can tell which mode you're in because there's a box in the bottom status bar that says INSRT if you're in Edit mode, but is blank in Replace mode.
Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Carlisle, England
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:40 am Post subject:
yoxi wrote:
If you're like me, and don't want to have to jump from keyboard to mouse whilst doing data input, then just hit F2 to switch into edit-mode; you can tell which mode you're in because there's a box in the bottom status bar that says INSRT if you're in Edit mode, but is blank in Replace mode.
Thanks, yoxi - Yes: I've done too much mousing over the years, and get RSI symptoms all too readily now... moving to a trackpad has helped that enormously. But like you I still like to stay within the keyboard if I can, so I've looked at your F2 suggestion - F2 is currently for screen brightness on my keyboard (a key I use a lot), but as a trial I have modified F5 to "toggle Edit mode" - useful! [For some reason it doesn't actually *toggle* Replace and Edit modes here: it changes Replace mode to Edit mode, but not back again (I'm using ESC to go back to Replace). Perhaps I'm misunderstanding why it's not toggling... but those two keystrokes work OK for the moment.]
Ah!! - I see about that "INSRT" box - in this doc I had turned OFF the status bar at some point, apparently, and so wasn't seeing that box...! NOW it's showing!
...But like you I still like to stay within the keyboard if I can, so I've looked at your F2 suggestion - F2 is currently for screen brightness on my keyboard (a key I use a lot),....
FYI. If your Mac has an "fn" key (it will be in the bottom left corner of the keybaord), you can press "fn-F2" to get the F2 key to not brighten the screen and, instead, send the F2 key press to the active application.
...But like you I still like to stay within the keyboard if I can, so I've looked at your F2 suggestion - F2 is currently for screen brightness on my keyboard (a key I use a lot),....
FYI. If your Mac has an "fn" key (it will be in the bottom left corner of the keybaord), you can press "fn-F2" to get the F2 key to not brighten the screen and, instead, send the F2 key press to the active application.
Just for completeness, on some versions of Mac OS X, there's a preference in, I believe, the Keyboard pane of the Mac OS X System Preferences application which lets you choose whether the function keys perform the hardware functions (screen brightness, etc.) or get sent to applications.
So if you find yourself not using the hardware functions much and are often using the NeoOffice commands that use function keys, you might want to swap the preference (although in your case, you said you change the brightness often). Then the hardware functions can still be invoked with fn+function keys, and the NeoOffice commands just require the single F2 (or whatever) keypress.
It all depends on which actions you want to require the extra (fn) keypress…
Smokey
P.S. Happy New Year to all the NeoOffice developers, "staff", and community _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 27 Location: Carlisle, England
Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:25 am Post subject:
pluby & sardisson: - thanks for your comments - yes, I am aware of these further keyboard behaviours/utilities, although I don't always manage to keep the relevant details in my head at the appropriate moment!
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