Entering Special Characters
Different systems often use certain key combinations to insert special characters (see "Composing Special Characters").
In some instances, a key combination may be reserved by Text Editor. For example, a Text Editor mnemonic for displaying a menu might conflict with a key sequence you want to use on your keyboard. To insert the correct character you may need to override the reserved behavior by preceding the key combination with Control+Q.
Moving the Cursor in a Document
As you enter and edit text, you move the insertion cursor using the mouse and keyboard cursor keys. Using the mouse, move the pointer to the new location in the document and click mouse button 1.
You can also use the keyboard cursor movement keys:
Key | Cursor Movement |
|---|---|
Up Arrow | Up one line |
Down Arrow | Down one line |
Left Arrow | Left one character |
Right Arrow | Right one character |
Control+Left Arrow | Move left to previous word |
Control+Right Arrow | Move right to next word |
Home | Beginning of the current line |
End | End of the current line |
Control+Up Arrow | Beginning of the previous paragraph |
Control+Down Arrow | Beginning of the next paragraph |
Control+Home | Beginning of the document |
Control+End | End of the document |
Control+G | To the Line field in the status line |
Note - If your keyboard uses different key labels, ask your system administrator to identify the corresponding keys.
To Go to a Specific Line
Display the status line (see "To Display the Status Line").
Press Control+G or click in the Line field of the status line.
Type the line number you want to go to and press Return.
To Scroll a Document
Select and drag the vertical scroll bar to view more text. Use the horizontal scroll bar to view long lines.
You can also use the scrolling keys:
Key | Scroll Movement |
|---|---|
Page Up | Up one page |
Page Down | Down one page |
Control+Page Up | Left one page |
Control+Page Down | Right one page |
Selecting Text
Before using edit commands such as cut and paste, you must select the text. You can select text using the mouse or the keyboard.
To Select Text with the Mouse
Click at the beginning of the text you want to select.
Press and hold mouse button 1 and drag to the end of the text.
To deselect text, click any area in the window.
Note - To modify a selection you have made, press and hold the Shift key and mouse button 1. Then drag forward or backward to adjust the amount of selected text. Or, hold down the Shift key and one of the arrow keys to change the selection.
You can also use these shortcuts for selecting text:
Word | Double-click the word |
Line | Triple-click the line |
All text | Quadruple-click in the text |
Secondary Selection
This method enables you select text and replace it with another selection, which is used as the replacement text.
To Replace Text Using Secondary Selection
Select the text that you want to replace.
Move the pointer to the beginning of the text you want to replace the first selection with. Hold down the Alt key and mouse button 2 and drag to the end of the text you want to use.
The text is underlined.
Note - If your keyboard does not have an Alt key, ask your system administrator to identify the corresponding key.
Release the Alt key and mouse button.
The underlined text overwrites your first selection.
To Select Text with the Keyboard
Text to Select | Action |
|---|---|
Text block | Move the cursor to the beginning of the text block. Hold down the Shift key and an arrow key to move the cursor to the end of the text block. |
Cursor to beginning of line | Shift+Home |
Cursor to end of line | Shift+End |
Cursor to beginning of paragraph | Shift+Control+Up Arrow |
Cursor to end of paragraph | Shift+Control+Down Arrow |
Cursor to beginning of document | Shift+Control+Home |
Cursor to end of document | Shift+Control+End |
All text | Control+/ |
Deselect all text | Control+\ |
Editing Text
Minor edits can be made using the editing keys. You may also want to copy, move, or delete portions of text, find and change a word or phrase, or check the spelling of your document.
Editing Keys
Key | Action |
|---|---|
Backspace | Deletes the character before the cursor |
Delete | Deletes the character following the insertion cursor |
Control+Backspace | Deletes the previous word |
Shift+Backspace | Deletes characters from the cursor to the beginning of the line |
Control+Delete | Deletes all the characters from the cursor to the end of the current line |
Insert | Toggles Overstrike and Insert mode |
Menu Shortcut Keys
You can also use these shortcut keys when making edits.
Table 12-1 Shortcut Keys
Control+C | Copy selected text |
Control+X | Cut selected text |
Control+V | Paste selected text |
Control+F | Find/Change text |
Control+Z | Undo a cut, delete, clear, include, copy, or paste command |