Keys

The Keys page lets you configure "hotkeys" (combinations of keys) that can be used to run commands or launch programs. There are a number of different types of hotkey functions that can be controlled from this page:

• Hotkey: These are functions that exist purely on this page as a hotkey function. They let you define a command that can only be run by pressing the appropriate key combination.
• Media Key: These are a special type of Hotkey function that use non-standard keyboard keys. Many (but not all) keyboards have additional keys besides the normal 101/104/105 keys of as standard keyboard, and indeed many mice these days have additional programmable buttons as well. Like Hotkey functions, these functions exist only on this page and can only be run by pressing the configured media key.
• Toolbar: These are buttons in the current Lister toolbars that have a hotkey assigned to them. Buttons from toolbars that aren't turned on are not listed.
• Floatbar: These are buttons in any currently floating toolbars that have a hotkey assigned to them.
• TrayMenu: These are any hotkeys assigned to functions in the taskbar icon context menu.
• Favorite: These are any hotkeys assigned to Favorite folders.

Hotkeys can either be global or local. Global hotkeys work anywhere in the system when Opus is running - you don't have to have a Lister active (or even open) to use them. Local hotkeys only work when a Lister is active. If a hotkey is global this will be indicated in the Global? column in the keys list. When you create a hotkey you have the option to make it a System-wide Hotkey - this makes it global. Also, Floatbar and TrayMenu hotkeys are by definition global. This can be something to bear in mind - if you float a toolbar from the Lister, any hotkeys assigned to its buttons automatically become global hotkeys. This is the main reason why the default toolbars can not be floated - they contain hotkey functions like Ctrl+A for Select All, and if that toolbar was floated Ctrl+A would suddenly stop working properly in all other programs!

The checkboxes next to each key in the list let you temporarily disable a hotkey without having to delete it.

Use the toolbar at the top of the page to manipulate the hotkeys. The buttons are  (create new hotkey),  (duplicate an existing key),  (edit the selected key) and  (delete the selected key). You can only delete Hotkey and Media Key type keys through this page - toolbar buttons can only be deleted from the toolbar itself. Favorites-type keys can't actually be edited from this page at all - they are shown in the list as a convenience, but you have to use the Favorites page in Preferences to edit them.

Clicking the  button to create a new hotkey displays the standard Command Editorwith the addition of the System-wide Hotkey option, which you can turn on to make the new hotkey global.

Clicking the  button will display the standard Command Editor for the selected key, but if all you want to change is the key itself (and not the function), you can use the Change Key field at the top of the page. Select the key you want to change, click in the change key field, press the new key combination and then use the  button to accept the change.  

The change key field, as well as the hotkey field in the Command Editor (and the filter field at the bottom of this page) are all special controls designed to make it easy to enter a key combination. Click in them to activate them like a normal string field, and then simply press the desired key combination. The drop-down attached to the field lets you select keys that you can't normally use in a dialog (Escape, Tab, Enter) as well as pick from the list of supported media keys when appropriate. For example, to assign Ctrl+Shift+F2 to a function, click in the field and press the Ctrl, Shift and F2 keys together.

You can also define keys that use the Windows key. Windows itself defines many hotkeys using the Windows key (e.g. Windows+E opens an Explorer window), but Opus lets you override these for global hotkeys. To override one of the standard Windows hotkeys, create a new hotkey, turn on the System-wide Hotkey option, and then use the key field to enter the key combination as you would any other.

At the bottom of the page is a filter field that lets you filter the hotkey list. This filter has two modes. The default mode is to show hotkeys that use a specified key combination. For example, click in the field, press the A key and then click the filter button to the right to show all functions that use the A key in some way. Click the red X button to clear the filter and re-display all the keys.

Click the keyboard icon () to switch the filter to the other mode, in which it filters based on the name, function and description of the hotkey. For example, in this mode typing "rename" would filter the list to show all hotkeys related to renaming functions.

The Export command in the File menu for this page let you export your hotkeys list in three different formats (use the Save as type drop-down in the save dialog to choose what type to use).

• Importable Hotkey Format is a format that you can use to export your hotkeys in order to re-import them into Directory Opus (e.g. on another computer, or to share your keys with a friend). Selecting this format actually exports the functions as well as the key information. When this format is selected only your Hotkeys and Media Keys are exported.
• Comma-Separated List exports a list of all the hotkeys along with their names and descriptions (but not the functions they run) as a .csv file. For example, you could use this if you wanted to make yourself a printable key reference. You could import this file into Excel or Word and perform further manipulation on it before printing. In this mode, all types of hotkeys are exported.
• Text Format exports a list of all your hotkeys as a plain text file. Like the Comma-Separated List option, all types of hotkeys are exported in this mode.

The Import command in the File menu lets you import a previously-exported Importable Hotkey Format file. You will be given the choice of merging the keys in the imported file with your existing ones, or replacing your existing hotkeys completely.