Tricks for using Windows without a mouse

When using CCMDB.mdb it is sometimes faster to use keyboard shortcuts instead of reaching for the mouse, aiming and driving to a field, clicking on it and getting your hands back onto the keyboard. So, here are some tricks to reduce mousing.

• Tab - you can use the tab key to move from one fieldto the next
  • please discuss below if you think some fields are not in a convenient tab order, keeping in mind that they have to work equally well and intuitive for all locations
• Shift-Tab - moves you back to the previous field
• note: if you tab into a cell and start typing, you will overwrite the contents of the field; you don't have to hit delete first.

• general Windows copy/paste shortcuts which work in most Microsoft applications:
  • Ctrl-x - copies contents of what is currently selected / highlighted; if you just tabbed to a field the entire contents will be
  • Ctrl-x - like Ctrl-c, but it also deletes current contents
  • Ctrl-v - pastes previously copied content into a field
  • Ctrl-Z - "undo", in case you just deleted or changed something that wasn't such a good idea
  • shift-arrowkey - selects text one letter at a time
  • shift-ctrl-arrowkey - selects text one word at a time

• ctrl-downarrow - expands a dropdown box in access so you can see the contents and access them via arrow key
• just starting typing in a dropdown box will complete the entry with the first listing in the options that corresponds to what you type

For more info

If you want to know more Access keyboard shortcuts check out [1].