E.4 Accessing Oracle Application Express Using a Keyboard

This section describes how to access components in Oracle Application Express using a keyboard.

E.4.1 Using New Date Pickers

There are many keyboard shortcuts for the Date Picker.

To open a Date Picker:

  1. Tab to the relevant input field.

  2. Press CTRL+HOME to open the Date Picker.

  3. Once the Date Picker is open, you have the following navigation options:

    • By month:

      • Press PAGE UP to go to the previous month.

      • Press PAGE DOWN to go to the next month.

      • Press CTRL +HOME to go to the current month.

    • By week:

      • Press CTRL+UP to go to the previous week.

      • Press CTRL+DOWN to go to the next week.

    • By day:

      • Press CTRL+LEFT to go to the previous day.

      • Press CTRL+RIGHT to go to the next day.

Once you are finished with the Date Picker:

  1. Press ENTER to accept the selected date.

  2. Press ESCAPE to close the date picker without selection.

  3. Press CTRL+END to close the date picker and erase the date.

E.4.2 Accessing Interactive Report Regions

This section describes how to access common features within Interactive Report regions.

E.4.2.1 Searching Data in an Interactive Report

If a search bar displays above an interactive report then the Include Search Bar attribute has been enabled in Report Attributes. This attribute is enabled by default when a new interactive report is created.

To execute a search:

  1. Press TAB until the search field has focus.

  2. Type your search keywords into the search field.

  3. Press ENTER to invoke the search.

  4. To refine your search to a specific column:

    1. Press TAB to access the magnifying glass icon to the left of the search field.

    2. Press ENTER to activate the pull down menu and display a list of all available columns to search.

    3. Press the DOWN or UP arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the list of columns.

    4. Press ENTER to select the column you want to search on. This sets the context of the subsequent search as specific to the column selected.

  5. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to execute your column specific search.

E.4.2.2 Using the Actions Menu

By default, new interactive reports include both a search bar and Actions menu. Both of these features are controlled by the developer by enabling the Include Search Bar and Actions menu attributes on the Report Attributes page. Depending upon how the developer creates the report, the Action menu can contain different options.

See Also:

"About the Actions Menu"

To access the Actions menu using a keyboard:

  1. Press TAB until the Actions menu has focus.

  2. Press ENTER to open the menu.

  3. Once the menu is open, you have the following navigation options:

    • Press the DOWN arrow key to go down the menu.

    • Press the UP arrow key to go up the menu.

    • Press the RIGHT arrow key to open a submenu (indicated by a right arrow) and move focus to the first item in the submenu.

    • Press the LEFT arrow key to close a submenu and move focus back to the appropriate item in the parent menu.

  4. To exit the Action menu:

    • Press ENTER to load the action specific dialog. Focus is set to the first focusable element within the dialog box.

    • Press ESC to close the menu without selection.

E.4.2.3 Managing Bulk Updates

Some interactive reports in Oracle Application Express contain form items for applying bulk updates to components. All form items within the report and buttons to apply the changes are keyboard accessible. Also some pages feature a check box in the first row to perform bulk processing and corresponding Select All and Deselect All links below the report. All of these items are keyboard accessible.

E.4.2.4 Utilizing Drill Down Links

Some interactive reports in Oracle Application Express contain at least one link to edit or view a specific sub-components. These are all standard links and are therefore keyboard accessible.

E.4.2.5 Editing Existing Filters

When an existing search filter is applied to an interactive report, a search filter displays below the Search bar.

You can access the search filter using the keyboard to:

  • Edit the search filter.

    Press TAB to navigate to the search filter and then press ENTER to open the Filter dialog box. Focus is automatically set to first focusable element in the dialog box.

  • Disable or enable the search filter.

    Press TAB to navigate to the check box to the left of the filter and SPACEBAR to disable or enable the filter.

  • Delete the search filter.

    Press TAB to navigate to the search filter and then ENTER to open the Filter dialog box. Press TAB or SHIFT+TAB to navigate to the Delete button and then press ENTER.

E.4.2.6 Loading Saved Reports

If an Interactive Report includes a Search bar, Actions menu, and support for saved reports, then these options have been enabled by the developer on the Report Attributes page.

See Also:

"Editing Interactive Reports in Page Designer" and "Editing Interactive Reports in Component View"

To load a saved report:

  1. Press TAB until the Reports select list has focus. Note that the Reports select list only displays if there are saved reports.

  2. Press the UP and DOWN keys to select the specific saved report you want to view.

  3. Press ENTER to view the saved report.

E.4.3 Keyboard Shortcuts

Table E-1 lists available Oracle Application Express keyboard shortcuts.

Table E-1 Oracle Application Express Keyboard Shortcuts

Where Keys Action

Page Designer Grid Layout

CTRL+ALT+D

Display from here

Page Designer Grid Layout

CTRL+ALT+T

Display from page

Page Designer

Alt+2

Go to Dynamic Actions

Page Designer

Alt+9

Go to Gallery Buttons

Page Designer

Alt+8

Go to Gallery Items

Page Designer

Alt+7

Go to Gallery Regions

Page Designer

Alt+5

Go to Grid Layout

Page Designer

Alt+F1

Go to Help

Page Designer

Ctrl+F1

Go to Messages

Page Designer

Alt+4

Go to Page Shared Components

Page Designer

Alt+3

Go to Processing

Page Designer

Alt+6

Go to Property Editor

Page Designer

Alt+1

Go to Rendering

Page Designer

Alt+Shift+F1

List Keyboard Shortcuts

Page Designer

Ctrl+Alt+F

Page Search

Page Designer

Ctrl+Y

Redo

Page Designer

Alt+F11

Restore/Expand

Page Designer

Ctrl+Alt+S

Save

Page Designer

Ctrl+Alt+R

Save and Run Page

Page Designer

Ctrl+Alt+E

Toggle Hide Empty Positions

Page Designer

Ctrl+Z

Undo

Page Designer with focus anywhere that has a context menu

Shift+F10 or Context menu key

Open context menu

Page Designer Grid Layout Gallery and Icon List in wizards

Arrow keys

Move selection

Page Designer Property Editor with focus on a group heading

Up/Down Arrow keys

Move to previous/next group

Page Designer Property Editor with focus on a group heading

Home/End keys

Move to first/last group

Page Designer Property Editor with focus on a group heading

Left/Right Arrow keys or Enter or Space

Expand or collapse the group

Page Designer With focus on any tab

Arrow keys

Select previous/next tab

Focus on a splitter handle

Arrow keys

Move splitter

Focus on a splitter handle

Enter

Expand or collapse splitter if supported by splitter

On pages that have a splitter

Ctrl+F6

Move to next splitter

On pages that have a splitter

Ctrl+Shift+F6

Move to previous splitter

Focus on any field with a (?) help icon

Alt+F1

Open field help dialog

Focus on a field help dialog

Alt+F6

Move focus back to field without closing dialog

Focus in any dialog

Escape

Close dialog

Any page, focus on region display selector "tabs"

Arrow keys

Select the previous/next tab

SQL Commands

Ctrl+Enter

Run the current command

Code Editor

Ctrl+Z

Undo

Code Editor

Ctrl+Shift+Z

Redo

Code Editor

Ctrl+F

Find

Code Editor

Ctrl+Shift+F

Replace

Code Editor with focus in find field

Up/Down Arrows

Find previous/next instance

Code Editor

Ctrl+Space

Auto complete when available

Code Editor

Alt+F6

Leave code editor and go to next tab stop

Code Editor

Alt+Shift+F6

Leave code editor and go to previous tab stop