[wynn]

hi everyone, i'm not quite sure how to phrase this question. is there a way to select other dialog box options via the keyboard?

for example, on my macbook pro - if i press the power key to bring up the shutdown dialog box, i have four options: restart, sleep, cancel, shutdown. is there anyway to cycle through these options using just the keyboard?

i do this all the time on my windows machine...

[stravinsky1911]

Yes! Make sure that you have turned on this feature in System Prefs: Keyboard and Mouse: Keyboard Shortcuts: check the box for "all controls".

Now when you get a dialog, you can tab to the next button and select it using the space key. Esc always cancels the dialog, and Return always selects the default. You will see a faint blue selection box around the other buttons when you are tabbing through them.

[Sage]

Also, that blue selection box is called the “focus ring”, and when it surrounds a button, you can press the space bar to “click” that button.

In addition, some buttons have key strokes matched to them. For example, when you bring up the shutdown dialog box, if you press “S” on your keyboard, the Sleep key will be activated (makes it really easy to put your computer to sleep – hit the power button, then just hit “S”). This seems to be rather rare though – I’ve only noticed it with the shutdown dialog, and with some Carbon apps (you can hit “D” for Don’t Save).

[wynn]

stravinsky1911 and sage: thanks so much! the ability to do that is one of the things i miss from the windows-side of things.

the full switch is almost complete

thanks again

[Madrag]

a bit OT, but you also have a shortcut for sleep:
command + option + eject key (if available)

the others also have shortcuts, do a search

[JKT]

Originally Posted by Sage 

Also, that blue selection box is called the “focus ring”, and when it surrounds a button, you can press the space bar to “click” that button.

In addition, some buttons have key strokes matched to them. For example, when you bring up the shutdown dialog box, if you press “S” on your keyboard, the Sleep key will be activated (makes it really easy to put your computer to sleep – hit the power button, then just hit “S”). This seems to be rather rare though – I’ve only noticed it with the shutdown dialog, and with some Carbon apps (you can hit “D” for Don’t Save).

IIRC, the standard is actually command-S to select the save button and is command-D for Don't Save and this works in pretty much every dialogue.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by wynn 

stravinsky1911 and sage: thanks so much! the ability to do that is one of the things i miss from the windows-side of things.

the full switch is almost complete

thanks again

You should take a moment to look at the Full Keyboard Access options in the system Help. E.g. control-F2 will select items on the left side of the menu bar and you can use the arrow keys to navigate through the menus, space bar to select as before; control-F3 will select the Dock; etc.