3.3 Accessing Oracle APEX Using a Keyboard
This section describes how to access components in Oracle APEX using a keyboard.
Note:
The Oracle APEX interface is intended for use with the US keyboard layout. Users of other keyboard layouts should refer to the US keyboard layout in conjunction with this documentation as there may be incompatibilities regarding number and special character keys, such as the ' (quote) key.
- About General Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for Oracle APEX. - About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for the development environment, including shortcuts for Page Designer, SQL Commands, and Code Editor. - About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for specific components, including Date Picker, CSS Calendar, Map Region, Interactive Grid, Interactive Report, and Markdown Editor.
3.3.1 About General Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for Oracle APEX.
General keyboard shortcuts are used throughout Oracle APEX.
If a page incorporates specialized keyboard shortcuts, click the Help icon located in the top-right of the page and select Shortcuts, or press Alt+Shift+F1 to display a list of valid keyboard shortcuts. Not all pages have specialized shortcuts.
Parent topic: Accessing Oracle APEX Using a Keyboard
3.3.1.1 General
Table 3-1 General Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Where | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Display the list of valid Keyboard Shortcuts for the page | Any page with special keyboard shortcuts | Alt+Shift+F1 |
| Open field help dialog | Focus on any field with a (?) help icon | Alt+F1 |
| Move focus back to field without closing dialog | Focus on a field help dialog | Alt+F6 |
| Close dialog | Focus in any dialog | Escape |
| Select the previous/next tab | Any page with focus in region display selector tabs | Arrow keys |
Parent topic: About General Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.2 About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for the development environment, including shortcuts for Page Designer, SQL Commands, and Code Editor.
Development Environment Keyboard shortcuts are specific to the development environment.
If a page incorporates specialized keyboard shortcuts, click the Help icon located in the top-right of the page and select Shortcuts, or press Alt+Shift+F1 to display a list of valid keyboard shortcuts. Not all pages have specialized shortcuts.
Parent topic: Accessing Oracle APEX Using a Keyboard
3.3.2.1 General Development Environment
Table 3-2 General Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Where | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Display Global Search | Any page | Ctrl+Quote |
| Move splitter | Focus on a splitter handle | Arrow keys |
| Expand or collapse splitter, if supported by splitter | Focus on a splitter handle | Enter |
| Move to next splitter | On pages that have a splitter | Ctrl+F6 |
| Move to previous splitter | On pages that have a splitter | Ctrl+Shift+F6 |
Parent topic: About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.2.2 Page Designer
Table 3-3 Page Designer Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Display from here, in Layout | Ctrl+/, D, H |
| Display from page, in Layout | Ctrl+/, D, T |
| Go to Dynamic Actions | Ctrl+/, A |
| Go to Gallery Buttons | Ctrl+/, G, B |
| Go to Gallery Items | Ctrl+/, G, I |
| Go to Gallery Regions | Ctrl+/, G, R |
| Go to Help | Alt+F1 |
| Go to Layout | Ctrl+/, L |
| Go to Messages | Ctrl+/, M |
| Go to Page Shared Components | Ctrl+/, S |
| Go to Processing | Ctrl+/, P |
| Go to Property Editor Attributes | Ctrl+/, E, A |
| Go to Property Editor Main | Ctrl+/, E, M |
| Go to Property Editor Printing | Ctrl+/, E, P |
| Go to Rendering | Ctrl+/, R |
| List Keyboard Shortcuts | Alt+Shift+F1 |
| Navigate to Next Page | Alt+Shift+Page Down |
| Navigate to Previous Page | Alt+Shift+Page Up |
| Page Search | Ctrl+/, F |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y |
| Restore/Expand | Alt+F11 |
| Save | Alt+F7 |
| Save and Run Page | Alt+F8 |
| Toggle Hide Empty Positions | Ctrl+/, D, E |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z |
| Utilities: Advisor | Ctrl+/, U, A |
| Open context menu, with focus anywhere that has a context menu | Shift+F10 or Context menu key |
| Move selection, in Layout Gallery and Icon List wizards | Arrow keys |
| Move to previous group, in Property Editor with focus on a group heading | Up Arrow key |
| Move to next group, in Property Editor with focus on a group heading | Down Arrow key |
| Move to first group, in Property Editor with focus on a group heading | Home key |
| Move to last group, in Property Editor with focus on a group heading | End key |
| Expand or collapse the group, in Property Editor with focus on a group heading | Left or Right Arrow keys or Enter or Space |
| Select previous/next tab, with focus on any tab | Arrow keys |
Parent topic: About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.2.3 SQL Commands
Table 3-4 SQL Commands Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Run the current command | Ctrl+Enter |
Parent topic: About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.2.4 Code Editor
Table 3-5 Code Editor Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Undo | Ctrl+Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z |
| Find | Ctrl+F |
| Replace | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Find previous instance, when focus is in Find field | Up Arrow |
| Find next instance, when focus is in Find field | Down Arrow |
| Auto Complete, when available | Ctrl+Space |
| Leave code editor and go to next tab stop | Alt+F6 |
| Leave code editor and go to previous tab stop | Alt+Shift+F6 |
Parent topic: About Development Environment Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3 About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts for specific components, including Date Picker, CSS Calendar, Map Region, Interactive Grid, Interactive Report, and Markdown Editor.
Component-specific keyboard shortcuts only work for specific components.
If a page incorporates specialized keyboard shortcuts, click the Help icon located in the top-right of the page and select Shortcuts, or press Alt+Shift+F1 to display a list of valid keyboard shortcuts. Not all pages have specialized shortcuts.
- Date Picker (jQuery)
- CSS Calendar
- Map Region
- Interactive Grid Region
- About Configuring Interactive Grids to Support Multi Select
- Markdown Editor
Parent topic: Accessing Oracle APEX Using a Keyboard
3.3.3.1 Date Picker (jQuery)
Table 3-6 Date Picker (jQuery) Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Open the Date Picker, when focus is on the relevant input field | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to the previous month | Page Up |
| Go to the next month | Page Down |
| Go to the current month | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to the previous week | Ctrl+Up Arrow |
| Go to the next week | Ctrl+Down Arrow |
| Go to the previous day | Ctrl+Left Arrow |
| Go to the next day | Ctrl+Right Arrow |
| Accept the selected date | Enter |
| Close the date picker without selecting a date | Escape |
| Close the date picker and erase the date | Ctrl+End |
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3.2 CSS Calendar
- Event Browsing - Focuses on existing calendar events
- Calendar Browsing - Allows you to freely select dates or date ranges
Table 3-7 Event Browsing CSS Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Go to the previous event. If on the first event in the given view, move to the last event. | Up Arrow |
| Go to the next event. If on the last event in the given view, move to the first one. | Down Arrow |
| Switch to Calendar Browsing mode | N |
| Leave browsing mode. | Escape |
Table 3-8 Month View CSS Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Go to the previous day. If on the first day of a month, switch to the previous month. | Left Arrow |
| Go to the next day. If on the last day of a month, switch to the next month. | Right Arrow |
| Go to the next week; same day. | Down Arrow |
| Go to the previous week; same day. | Up Arrow |
| Extend the selection by one day, up to the end of the current view. | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Decrease the selection by one day, only until the selection spans one day. | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Move to the next/previous month. | Page Up / Page Down |
| Execute the Create Link given as Plug-in attribute by the developer or fire Calendar Date Select event | Enter / Space |
| Leave Calendar Browsing and go back to Event Browsing | Escape |
Table 3-9 Week View CSS Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Go to the previous day. If on the first day of a week, switch to the previous week. | Left Arrow |
| Go to the next day. If on the last day of a month, switch to the next month. | Right Arrow |
| Extend the selection by one day, up to the end of the current view | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Decrease the selection by one day until the selection spans one day. | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Move selection 30 minutes back in time | Up Arrow |
| Move selection 30 minutes forward | Down Arrow |
| Extend selection range by 30 minutes | Shift+ Down Arrow |
| Decrease selection by 30 minutes until the selection is 30 minutes long | Shift+Up Arrow |
| Move to the next month | Page Up |
| Move to the previous month | Page Down |
| Execute the Create Link given as plug-in attribute by the developer or fire Calendar Date Select event | Enter / Space |
| Leave Calendar Browsing and go back to Event Browsing | Escape |
Table 3-10 Day View CSS Calendar Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Go to the previous day | Left Arrow |
| Go to the next day | Right Arrow |
| Move selection 30 minutes back in time | Up Arrow |
| Move selection 30 minutes forward | Down |
| Extend selection range by 30 minutes | Shift+Down Arrow |
| Decrease selection by 30 minutes until the selection is 30 minutes long | Shift+Up Arrow |
| Move to the next day | Page Up |
| Move to the previous day | Page Down |
| Execute the Create Link given as plug-in attribute by the developer or fire Calendar Date Select event | Enter / Space |
| Leave Calendar Browsing and go back to Event Browsing | Escape |
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3.3 Map Region
Table 3-11 Map Region Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Increase the zoom level by 1. | = / + |
| Increase the zoom level by 2. | Shift-= / Shift-+ |
| Decrease the zoom level by 1. | - |
| Pan by 100 pixels. | Arrow keys |
| Increase the rotation by 15 degrees. | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Decrease the rotation by 15 degrees. | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Increase the pitch by 10 degrees. | Shift+Up Arrow |
| Decrease the pitch by 10 degrees. | Shift+Down Arrow |
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3.4 Interactive Grid Region
Interactive grid regions come with many keyboard shortcuts and keyboard-specific features to help the keyboard-only and power user. Specifically, they are designed to provide all functionality that is available with the mouse to keyboard users.
In addition, the grid containing the data provides two distinct modes of interaction: Navigation and Edit mode. Navigation mode is designed for use when the grid is not currently editable and allows fast and easy navigation around the grid using keyboard. Navigation mode is the default and the only mode if the interactive grid is not editable. Edit mode is designed for use when the grid is currently editable, and keyboard behavior differs slightly.
The interactive grid region consists of multiple separate user interface elements, some of which handle tab stops differently depending on the element type and the expected keyboard semantics. For example, the toolbar and pagination controls are implemented as separate tab stops, while the grid view and icon view are implemented as a single tab stop where cursor key navigation is used to move around the view elements when the view has focus.
The following tables list available keyboard shortcuts in interactive grid regions. General shortcuts work in both navigation mode and in edit mode.
Table 3-12 General Interactive Grid Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move to the next tab stop | Tab |
| Move to the previous tab stop | Shift+Tab |
| Toggle between Row Selection and Cell Selection | F8 |
| Open the column header menu, when focus is on the column header | Enter or Space |
| Increase column width, when focus is on the column header | Windows: Ctrl+Left Arrow
Mac: Ctrl+Cmd+Left Arrow |
| Decrease column width, when focus is on the column header | Windows: Ctrl+Right Arrow
Mac: Ctrl+Cmd+Right Arrow |
| Move column to next column position, when focus is on the column header | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Move column to the previous column position, when focus is on the column header | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Sort ascending on the current column, when focus is on the column header | Alt+Up Arrow |
| Sort ascending on the current column in addition to the existing search columns, when focus is on the column header | Shift+Alt+Up Arrow |
| Sort descending on the current column, when focus is on the column header | Alt+Down Arrow |
| Sort descending on the current column in addition to the existing search columns, when focus is on the column header | Shift+Alt+Down Arrow |
| Move to next tab stop in column header menu, when column header menu is open | Tab |
| Move to previous tab stop in the column header menu, when column header menu is open | Shift+Tab |
| Close the column header menu, when the column header menu is open | Escape |
| Show help (if defined) for an item, when a single row is viewed and focus is on the column | Alt+F1 |
Table 3-13 Navigation Mode Interactive Grid Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move around the grid, including column headers | Arrow keys |
| Move without changing the selection | Windows: Ctrl+Up Arrow or Ctrl+Down Arrow
Mac: Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow or Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow |
| Select | Space |
| Toggle Selection | Windows: Ctrl+Space
Mac: Ctrl+Alt+Space |
| Range select and de-select multiple rows | Shift+Up Arrow or Shift+Down Arrow |
| Move one page up in the current column | Page Up |
| Move one page down in the current column | Page Down |
| Move to first cell in current row | Home |
| Move to last cell in current row | End |
| Move to the first cell in the grid | Windows: Ctrl+Home
Mac: Option+Up Arrow |
| Move to the last cell in the grid | Windows: Ctrl+End
Mac: Option+Down Arrow |
| Add a row after the last selected row, if grid is editable | Insert |
| Delete the selected rows, if grid is editable | Delete |
| Move around the icons, while in icon view | Arrow keys |
| Move to the first icon, while in icon view | Home |
| Move to the last icon, while in icon view | End |
| Switch from Navigation mode to Edit mode, if the interactive grid is editable | Enter or F2 |
Table 3-14 Edit Mode Interactive Grid Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move to the next cell in the same row in Edit mode | Tab |
| Move to the previous cell in the same row in Edit mode | Shift+Tab |
| Move to the next cell in the same column | Enter |
| Move to the previous cell in the same column | Shift+Enter |
| Exit Edit mode and return to Navigation mode | Escape |
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3.5 About Configuring Interactive Grids to Support Multi Select
Interactive grids must be configured to support multi select. When multi select is enabled, users can use arrow keys to move around an entire grid, use the Space key to select, or use Ctrl+Space to toggle selections.
To configure an interactive grid to support multi-select:
- Editable interactive grid - Configure the
APEX$ROW_SELECTORcolumn which is automatically created for you when you make an interactive grid editable. Under Settings, set the Enable Multi Select attribute to Yes (the default). - Non-editable interactive grid - Use an advanced JavaScript configuration. To see an example, install the Sample Interactive Grids sample application, and see the Multiple Selection example under Reporting.
See Also:
- Making an Existing Interactive Grid Editable in Oracle APEX App Builder User’s Guide
- Installing Apps from the Gallery in Oracle APEX App Builder User’s Guide
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
3.3.3.6 Markdown Editor
Table 3-15 Markdown Editor Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Leave markdown editor and go to next tab stop | Ctrl+Shift+. |
| Leave markdown editor and go to previous tab stop | Ctrl+Shift+, |
Parent topic: About Component-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts