NeoOffice Menu and Keyboard Shortcuts

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1 Customizing NeoOffice Keyboard Shortcuts
2 Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes
- 2.1 Notes on this method
3 Remapping shortcuts for cursor movement

Customizing NeoOffice Keyboard Shortcuts

Open a document pertaining to the NeoOffice module you want to create a shortcut for.
e.g. if you want to create a shortcut for a Calc command, open a Calc document.
Under the Tools menu, choose Customize...
Set the radio button in the upper left for either NeoOffice (for commands affecting all of NeoOffice) or for the listed module. (e.g. Calc)
Click on the Keyboard tab in the Customize window that appears.
In the Category list, select the appropriate category
In the Function list, select the function you want to apply a keyboard shortcut
In the Shortcut Keys list, select the keyboard shortcut you want to use.
Click on the Modify button.
Click on the OK button.

Note: You are limited to the list of keyboard shortcuts in this menu for all internal keyboard shortcuts. The option key cannot be used as part of a keyboard shortcut set using the Customize dialog. This is a limitation of the current OpenOffice.org code, and not something the NeoOffice project can fix. In some cases, this can be worked around by using System Preferences as explained below.

Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes

In some cases, it is possible to use the Mac OS X's System Preferences to customize keyboard shortcuts in order to assign keyboard shorcut combinations that aren't available within NeoOffice. These shortcuts can include the option key as a modifier in combination with the command or control key. In most cases, this is limited to commands found in the NeoOffice menu. Please read Notes on this method before trying this procedure.

Make a note of the exact menu item to which you want to assign a shortcut
Quit NeoOffice if it is running
Open System Preferences and click on Keyboard & Mouse
Click on the Keyboard Shortcuts tab
Click on the Application Shortcuts item in the box
Click on the + button at the bottom left.
Select NeoOffice from the Application drop down.
Type the exact name of the menu item (including ... if applicable) in the Menu Title field
Click in the Keyboard Shortcut field and enter the keyboard shortcut you want to use.
Click Add
Restart NeoOffice and test the keyboard shortcut.

Notes on this method

Shortcuts assigned this way must not conflict with existing shortcuts in NeoOffice or in the Services menu.
In NeoOffice 3.3 Beta 2 and above, it is no longer possible to assign shortcuts to items in the New sub-menu of the File menu and have the âŒ˜N shortcut (to create a new document for whatever the current NeoOffice component is) work.
Whether or not this works in any menu other than the NeoOffice menu depends on the Mac OS X version you are using.
- The method works in any NeoOffice menu when using Mac OS 10.3.9 (Panther).
- Under Mac OS 10.4.11 (Tiger) using JRE 1.5.0, this method works only for those items in the NeoOffice menu.
- Using 10.4.11 with JRE 1.4.2 enabled, commands (including commands with the option key) can be added to any menu via System Preferences.
  To change JREs, go to the NeoOffice menu and choose Preferences or hit Command-,. Click on NeoOffice and then Java wait for a bit for the list of JREs to appear. Click in the radio button for the JRE you wish to use. Note that in some cases, only one JRE will be listed. This means you cannot attempt to use a different JRE to get around this issue.
- Mac OS 10.5.2 (Leopard) this method works only for those items in the NeoOffice menu.
System Preferences sometimes loses track of which shortcuts you have assigned to applications (even though the shortcuts still work and are still properly recorded in the application's .plist). In this case, if you are comfortable editing the .plist manually, it is easier to add new shortcuts this way; otherwise, you will likely have to re-enter all of your previous shortcuts for the application, as well as the new ones you wish to add.

See the screenshots for examples of NeoOffice with modified keyboard shortcuts and menus.

Remapping shortcuts for cursor movement

A number of keyboard shortcuts within NeoOffice do not adhere to Mac OS X standards (due to OpenOffice.org's origins as a Windows application). Among the most jarring of these are the shortcuts for cursor movement (e.g., to move to the beginning or end of a line, to move from word-to-word, etc.)

Moving to the beginning or end of a line

On all Mac applications, one can use the combination Cmd-â† (Command [Apple] + left arrow) to move to the beginning of line and the combination Cmd-â†’ (Command [Apple] + right arrow) to move to the end of the line. Unfortunately, in NeoOffice this combination is used to move word-by-word (which, on the Mac, is done by the combination Opt-â† (Option [Alt] + left arrow) or Opt-â†’ (Option [Alt] + right arrow).

It is possible, however, to remap the beginning/end of the line shortcuts within NeoOffice to match the correct Mac shortcuts by using the following procedure (note this will remove the shortcut for moving word-by-word), which works just like modifying shortcuts as described at the top of this page.

Remapping the keyboard shortcuts for beginning and end of line

Open the Customize dialogue (choose Customizeâ€¦ from the Tools menu)
Click on the Keyboard tab
Make sure that the radio button for Writer (on the top right of the dialogue box) is selected
In the Category list (in the Functions section), choose Navigate
In the Function list, choose To Line Begin
In the Shortcut keys list (on the top left), choose âŒ˜Left
Click on the Modify button (in the top right of the dialogue)
Repeat steps 4 to 7 to change the definition of âŒ˜Right/To End of Line.
Click on OK to assign these new shortcuts.

Note that moving word by word is no longer functional. It is possible to assign this function to another combination of keys (as we have just done for moving to the beginning and end of the line), but due to the unwillingness of OpenOffice.org engineers to accept a patch to allow Option (and Alt on Windows and Meta on Solaris) to be used as a modifier key, it is impossible to assign those behaviors to the proper Mac shortcuts of Opt-Left Arrow and Opt-Right Arrow using the "simple" Customize dialogue.

You can repeat these set of steps for the related "selection" commands, too.

For users of Mac OS 10.3.9 (and those using 10.4.11 with Java 1.4.2), if you add To Word Left and To Word Right to any NeoOffice menu (I added them to the Window menu where they are relatively hidden), you can then use the steps described in Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes above to reassign these commands to Opt-Left Arrow and Opt-Right Arrow. Unfortunately, this possibility is not available to many Mac users, due to bugs in Apple's Java. See the discussion of OS and Java issues above.

 {{fixme}}
-== Customizing the NeoOffice menus and keyboard shortcuts ==
-=== Pre-Made Keyboard Configurations ===
+=== Customizing NeoOffice Keyboard Shortcuts ===
-Keyboard configuration files to more closely approximate standard Mac OS X keyboard shortcut settings can be found at <!-- can't do menus in Neo 2.x - - grr -->
+# Open a document pertaining to the NeoOffice module you want to create a shortcut for.
+#: e.g. if you want to create a shortcut for a Calc command, open a Calc document.
+# Under the {{Menu|Tools}} menu, choose {{Menu|Customize...}}
+# Set the radio button in the upper left for either {{prefName|NeoOffice}} (for commands affecting all of NeoOffice) or for the listed module.  (e.g. Calc)
+# Click on the {{Section|Keyboard}} tab in the {{Window|Customize}} window that appears.
+# In the {{prefName|Category}} list, select the appropriate category
+# In the {{prefName|Function}} list, select the function you want to apply a keyboard shortcut
+# In the {{prefName|Shortcut Keys}} list, select the keyboard shortcut you want to use.
+# Click on the {{Button|Modify}} button.
+# Click on the {{Button|OK}} button.
-http://www.ardisson.org/smokey/neo/neoj_men-kybd-cfgs.sit
+'''Note:'''  You are limited to the list of keyboard shortcuts in this menu for all internal keyboard shortcuts.  The option key cannot be used as part of a keyboard shortcut set using the {{Window|Customize}} dialog.  This is a limitation of the current OpenOffice.org code, and not something the NeoOffice project can fix.  In some cases, this can be worked around by using System Preferences as explained below.
-You can either apply these choosing the {{menu|Customize}} item from the {{menu|Tools}} menu (be sure to select the appropriate radio button in the keyboard section, either for NeoOffice globally or for the appropriate module, when importing those settings) or by unzipping the exported settings files and dropping the .xml files in your <tt>~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-1.x/user/config/soffice.cfg</tt> folder.
-'''The above configurations ''will not'' work with NeoOffice 2.x.'''
-====Issues and Limitations====
-* Language-specific
-* Some oddness when switching OpenOffice.org codebase minor versions
-* Java 1.4.x passes keystrokes first to a menu item, so they'll match any Services shortcuts [http://bugzilla.neooffice.org/bug.php?op=show&bugid=1176]
-** Work-around:
-*** [http://www.blacktree.com/apps/servicemanager/index.html Service Manager]
-*** Manually editing the Info.plist of the app providing the service
-* Outright bugs
-'''N.B.''' These are English-only; the underlying OpenOffice.org code apparently rewrites entire menus rather than just including the modifications, so English menu item text replaces the native menu item text.
-You can create your own configurations by using the relevant tabs in the Customize dialogue ('''Customizeâ€¦''' from the '''Tools''' menu).  <!-- this is only relevant to NeoOffice 1.x - - Be aware that there is an OpenOffice.org bug where editing any keyboard shortcut causes Cmd-C to become unassigned from the Edit->Copy menu item.  The work-around is to delete the <tt>[Copy]</tt> command assignment from the Copy and Cmd-Insert keystrokes in the NeoOffice (global) shortcuts (this has already been done in the pre-made shortcuts available here).-->
-=== More about customizing NeoOffice keyboard shortcuts ===
-''From a post in the [http://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums Trinity forums]''
-: In Tools->Configure->Keyboard, it appears that all the available keystrokes are pre-entered; one cannot add to them. Thus, one can't apply cmd-\ or cmd-< or to an action. Further, there are no optioned (alt-ed) modifiers available. I read in one of the other threads that there was a problem including the option/alt modifier because of Unicode confusion; however, I don't see how it could be any different than the shift modifier. But then, I'm not the programmer. Question: Any way to hack OpenOffice.org or NeoOffice to add more keystroke combinations?
-There are a couple of things to address here.
-First, about the option key. Other platforms use their "equivalent" of the option key ("alt" on Windows) as a "command-producing" key shortcut, i.e., they'd use opt-s for save (the Mozilla folks seem pretty bad about trying to assign opt-key as command shortcuts!). '''On the Mac, opt-key is reserved for keyboard entry (opt-s is ÃŸ)â€”sort of like shift, opt is only a modifier key, not a "command" key.''' Cmd-opt-key and Shift-cmd-opt-key *are* valid command shortcuts on the Mac, though.
-I believe it was Ed who posted somewhere here on trinity that he had lobbied the OpenOffice.org folks to allow Cmd-opt-key to be a valid command shortcut for the Mac and the OpenOffice.org folks either ignored him or denied the request. The fact that the Mac allows ,><\ and all sorts of other keys to be valid shortcuts (when paired with cmd, of course), also seems to be lost on the OpenOffice.org folks making these decisions.
-==== Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes ====
+=== Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes ===
-However, all is not lost for users of NeoOffice (this will not work with OpenOffice.org/X11, though). Now that we have Aqua menus, you can use the OS's ability to customize keyboard shortcuts to assign other keys (as long as they don't conflict with existing shortcuts in OpenOffice.org or the Services menu).
+In some cases, it is possible to use the Mac OS X's System Preferences to customize keyboard shortcuts in order to assign keyboard shorcut combinations that aren't available within NeoOffice.  These shortcuts '''can''' include the option key as a modifier in combination with the command or control key.  In most cases, this is limited to commands found in the {{Menu|NeoOffice}} menu. '''Please read [[#Notes on this method|Notes on this method]] before trying this procedure.'''
-First, make sure NeoOffice is not running.  Then open the "Keyboard & Mouse" pane of the '''System Preferences''' and click on the "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab. Click on the "Application Shortcuts" item in the box, and then the + button at the bottom left. Select NeoOffice as your application, enter the name of the NeoOffice menu item you want to assign a shortcut to and then the desired shortcut. (Be sure to match the spelling and ... or â€¦ exactly). Restart NeoOffice and voilÃ !
+# Make a note of the exact menu item to which you want to assign a shortcut
+# Quit NeoOffice if it is running
+# Open '''System Preferences''' and click on '''Keyboard & Mouse'''
+# Click on the {{Section|Keyboard Shortcuts}} tab
+# Click on the {{prefName|Application Shortcuts}} item in the box
+# Click on the {{Button|+}} button at the bottom left.
+# Select {{prefName|NeoOffice}} from the {{prefName|Application}} drop down.
+# Type the exact name of the menu item (including ... if applicable) in the {{prefName|Menu Title}} field
+# Click in the {{prefName|Keyboard Shortcut}} field and enter the keyboard shortcut you want to use.
+# Click {{Button|Add}}
+# Restart NeoOffice and test the keyboard shortcut.
-:'''N.B.''' '''System Preferences''' sometimes loses track of which shortcuts you have assigned to applications (even though the shortcuts still work and are still properly recorded in the application's <tt>.plist</tt>).  In this case, if you are comfortable editing the <tt>.plist</tt> manually, it is easier to add new shortcuts this way; otherwise, you will likely have to re-enter '''all of your previous shortcuts''' for the application, as well as the new ones you wish to add.
+====Notes on this method====
+# Shortcuts assigned this way must not conflict with existing shortcuts in {{Menu|NeoOffice}} or in the {{Menu|Services}} menu.
+# In NeoOffice 3.3 Beta 2 and above, it is no longer possible to assign shortcuts to items in the {{menu|New}} sub-menu of the {{menu|File}} menu '''and''' have the {{key|âŒ˜N}} shortcut (to create a new document for whatever the current NeoOffice component is) work.
+# Whether or not this works in any menu other than the {{Menu|NeoOffice}} menu depends on the Mac OS X version you are using.
+#* The method works in any NeoOffice menu when using Mac OS 10.3.9 (Panther).
+#* Under Mac OS 10.4.11 (Tiger) using JRE 1.5.0, this method works only for those items in the {{Menu|NeoOffice}} menu.
+#*Using 10.4.11 <!--on a PPC computer--> with JRE 1.4.2 enabled, commands (including commands with the option key) can be added to any menu via System Preferences.  <!--'''Note that Intel Macs cannot use JRE 1.4.2 for NeoOffice.''' 1.4.2 works on 10.4/Intel-->
+#*:To change JREs, go to the {{Menu|NeoOffice}} menu and choose {{Menu|Preferences}} or hit {{key|Command-,}}.  Click on {{Section|NeoOffice}} and then {{Section|Java}} wait for a bit for the list of JREs to appear.  Click in the radio button for the JRE you wish to use.  '''Note that in some cases, only one JRE will be listed.  This means you cannot attempt to use a different JRE to get around this issue.'''
+#* Mac OS 10.5.2 (Leopard) this method works only for those items in the {{Menu|NeoOffice}} menu.
+# '''System Preferences''' sometimes loses track of which shortcuts you have assigned to applications (even though the shortcuts still work and are still properly recorded in the application's <tt>.plist</tt>).  In this case, if you are comfortable editing the <tt>.plist</tt> manually, it is easier to add new shortcuts this way; otherwise, you will likely have to re-enter '''all of your previous shortcuts''' for the application, as well as the new ones you wish to add.
 See the [[NeoOffice_Screenshots|screenshots]] for examples of NeoOffice with modified keyboard shortcuts and menus.
-{{imageboxRight|[[image:neoj11_quickstart_cust.jpg|210px]]|"Quickstart" items assigned shortcuts<br>via System Preferences|Customized "Quickstart" Shortcuts}}
+<!--Image is way out of date  {{imageboxRight|[[image:neoj11_quickstart_cust.jpg|210px]]|"Quickstart" items assigned shortcuts<br>via System Preferences|Customized "Quickstart" Shortcuts}}-->
-==== Adding shortcuts to the "Quickstart" menu items ====
+<!--With recent changes in the menus that appear with no documents open, I don't think this applies anymore==== Adding shortcuts to the "Quickstart" menu items ====
 [http://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=9143#9143 A brief discussion of the issues]; more logical and streamlined answer to come :-)
 * Sharing/fighting over shortcut-command assignments
 * Context-sensitive Cmd-N
-* Hacking around "reserved" shortcuts
+* Hacking around "reserved" shortcuts-->
 ===Remapping shortcuts for cursor movement===
 ====Moving to the beginning or end of a line====
-On all Mac applications, one can use the combination Cmd-â† (Command [Apple] + left arrow) to move to the beginning of line and the combination Cmd-â†’ (Command [Apple] + right arrow) to move to the end of the line. Unfortunately, in NeoOffice this combination is used to move word-by-word (which, on the Mac, is done by the combination Opt-â†(Option [Alt] + left arrow) or Opt-â†’ (Option [Alt] + right arrow).
+On all Mac applications, one can use the combination {{key|Cmd-â†}} ({{key|Command [Apple] + left arrow}}) to move to the beginning of line and the combination {{key|Cmd-â†’}} ({{key|Command [Apple] + right arrow}}) to move to the end of the line. Unfortunately, in NeoOffice this combination is used to move word-by-word (which, on the Mac, is done by the combination {{key|Opt-â†}} ({{key|Option [Alt] + left arrow}}) or {{key|Opt-â†’}} ({{key|Option [Alt] + right arrow}}).
 It is possible, however, to remap the beginning/end of the line shortcuts within NeoOffice to match the correct Mac shortcuts by using the following procedure (note this will remove the shortcut for moving word-by-word), which works just like modifying shortcuts as described at the top of this page.
 # Click on {{button|OK}} to assign these new shortcuts.
-Note that moving word by word is no longer functional. It is possible to assign this function to another combination of keys (as we have just done for moving to the beginning and end of the line), but due to the [http://gsl.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=11004 unwillingness of OpenOffice.org engineers to accept a patch to allow Option (and Alt on Windows and Meta on Solaris) to be used as a modifier key], it is impossible to assign those behaviors to the proper Mac shortcuts of Opt-Left Arrow and Opt-Right Arrow using the "simple" {{window|Customize}} dialogue.
+Note that moving word by word is no longer functional. It is possible to assign this function to another combination of keys (as we have just done for moving to the beginning and end of the line), but due to the [http://gsl.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=11004 unwillingness of OpenOffice.org engineers to accept a patch to allow Option (and Alt on Windows and Meta on Solaris) to be used as a modifier key], it is impossible to assign those behaviors to the proper Mac shortcuts of {{Key|Opt-Left Arrow}} and {{Key|Opt-Right Arrow}} using the "simple" {{window|Customize}} dialogue.
+You can repeat these set of steps for the related "selection" commands, too.
+For users of Mac OS 10.3.9 (and those using 10.4.11 with Java 1.4.2), if you add {{prefName|To Word Left}} and {{prefName|To Word Right}} to any NeoOffice menu (I added them to the {{menu|Window}} menu where they are relatively hidden), you can then use the steps described in [[#Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes|Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes]] above to reassign these commands to {{key|Opt-Left Arrow}} and {{key|Opt-Right Arrow}}.  Unfortunately, this possibility is not available to many Mac users, due to bugs in Apple's Java.  See [[#Notes on this method|the discussion of OS and Java issues above]].
+<!--=== Pre-Made Keyboard Configurations ===
+Keyboard configuration files to more closely approximate standard Mac OS X keyboard shortcut settings can be found at
+http://www.ardisson.org/smokey/neo/neoj_men-kybd-cfgs.sit
+You can either apply these choosing the {{menu|Customize}} item from the {{menu|Tools}} menu (be sure to select the appropriate radio button in the keyboard section, either for NeoOffice globally or for the appropriate module, when importing those settings) or by unzipping the exported settings files and dropping the .xml files in your <tt>~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-1.x/user/config/soffice.cfg</tt> folder.
-However, if you add {{prefName|To Word Left}} and {{prefName|To Word Right}} to any NeoOffice menu (I added them to the {{menu|Window}} menu where they are relatively hidden), you can then use the steps described in [[#Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes|Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes]] above to reassign these commands to Opt-Left Arrow and Opt-Right Arrow.  ('''''N.B''' It has been reported that this does not work properly on Mac OS X 10.4, where something else intercepts the Option key.'')
+'''The above configurations ''will not'' work with NeoOffice 2.x.'''
+====Issues and Limitations====
+* Language-specific
+* Some oddness when switching OpenOffice.org codebase minor versions
+* Java 1.4.x passes keystrokes first to a menu item, so they'll match any Services shortcuts [http://bugzilla.neooffice.org/bug.php?op=show&bugid=1176]
+** Work-around:
+*** [http://www.blacktree.com/apps/servicemanager/index.html Service Manager]
+*** Manually editing the Info.plist of the app providing the service
+* Outright bugs
-You can repeat these set of steps for the related "selection" commands, too.
+'''N.B.''' These are English-only; the underlying OpenOffice.org code apparently rewrites entire menus rather than just including the modifications, so English menu item text replaces the native menu item text.
+You can create your own configurations by using the relevant tabs in the Customize dialogue ('''Customizeâ€¦''' from the '''Tools''' menu).  this is only relevant to NeoOffice 1.x - - Be aware that there is an OpenOffice.org bug where editing any keyboard shortcut causes Cmd-C to become unassigned from the Edit->Copy menu item.  The work-around is to delete the <tt>[Copy]</tt> command assignment from the Copy and Cmd-Insert keystrokes in the NeoOffice (global) shortcuts (this has already been done in the pre-made shortcuts available here).-->
+====See Also====
+See the following posts on trinity for more up-to-date information about shortcut remapping:
+* https://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=59883#59883
+* https://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=59889#59889
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NeoOffice Menu and Keyboard Shortcuts

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Current revision

Contents

Customizing NeoOffice Keyboard Shortcuts

Using System Preferences to add additional keystrokes

Notes on this method

Remapping shortcuts for cursor movement

Moving to the beginning or end of a line

Remapping the keyboard shortcuts for beginning and end of line

See Also

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