&hotkey

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Summary

The &hotkey store defines a default hotkey that can be used to switch on the keyboard.

Syntax

store(&hotkey) virtualKey

Parameters

virtualKey : A virtual key format key code, including square brackets. See format note below for versions 12.0 and earlier.

The &hotkey store specifies the hotkey that Keyman will use to turn the keyboard on. When this hotkey is pressed, any active keyboard will be turned off and the new keyboard will be turned on. The hotkey must be enclosed in square brackets.

The hotkey can be any standard, non-modifier key, with any combination of the Shift, Control and Alt keys also pressed. Only SHIFT, CTRL and ALT modifiers are permitted.

The &hotkey store is optional. Earlier versions of Keyman also used the now-deprecated HOTKEY statement.

Note that the default hotkey can be changed by a user after a keyboard is installed. Don't rely on it never changing in any documentation that you include with the keyboard.

Format Note

In Keyman Developer 12.0 and earlier, the virtualKey parameter had to be enclosed in both quotes and square brackets. As of Keyman Developer 13.0, the quotes are no longer required.

Examples

Example: Using &hotkey

store(&hotkey) [ALT SHIFT K_PAUSE]   c Alt+Shift+Pause

Platforms

The &hotkey store is used in keyboards on the following platforms.

Windows	macOS	Linux	Desktop web	Mobile web	iOS	Android
✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘

Version history

Hotkeys were introduced in Keyman 1.0.

The virtual key hotkey format was introduced in Keyman 3.1.

Keyman Developer 13 no longer requires the virtual key to be in quotes as well as square brackets.

See also

• Virtual keys