Environment - Keyboard
This page lets you assign keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) to your most commonly used tools.
Choose the tool Category (or use All Tools if you don't know which category the tool is in), then choose the tool name from the Commands list.
You can also search for the required tool by entering its name (or part of its name) in the Look For: field. Then press the Find Now button to start the search. The Clear button can be used to clear a previous search. The search will be done on the chosen Category and all matching tools will be displayed in the list. If you start a search from the All Tools category, the actual category in which the tool is located will be shown as part of the Description. The screenshot, below, shows an example of this, with the New Standard tool found in the File Tools category.
Environment - Keyboard with Look For example
Notice that any existing shortcuts are shown in the list. In the Shortcuts area at the bottom, press the hotkey (or combination of keys - you can use Control, Shift and Alt) you wish to use. These should appear in the Press new shortcut key field. If this key combination is already assigned, a Currently assigned to message appears below to inform you which tool already uses the hotkey.
Now press Assign and the hotkey will appear in the Commands list.
You will be warned if you try to re-assign standard Windows hotkeys (such as Control+C for Copy).
You can delete hotkey definitions using the Remove button. First ensure you have highlighted the tool name and if it has more than one hotkey definition, highlight the one you want to delete.
In the Options area:
Environment - Keyboard - Options
Show shortcut keys in ToolTips
When the mouse is over a tool button, the Tooltip (if enabled) shows the tool name and optionally the hotkey.
Show shortcut keys in Visibility tab
Options on the Visibility (Other Attributes) page of the Impact Explorer can be activated with hotkeys. Switching this option on causes them to display the associated hotkeys.
TIP: It is possible to assign a hotkey to cycle through different tool modes. Line Multiple is a good example where it is possible to assign a key to cycle through 2 Pt. Arc, 2 Pt. Line, 3 Pt. Arc and Arc StartEndRadius.
You can also Import or Export shortcut definitions to/from a file, or Reset All shortcuts to the Impact default settings. Use the Print button to print the currently displayed tools along with their shortcut keys.
TIP: It is possible to assign a hotkey to restart the last tool used (General Tools - Restart Current Tool). This essentially acts like the right-click restart option. It is also possible to assign a key to cancel all tools that are running (General Tools - Cancel All Tools).
TIP: It is also possible to assign a key to run the last query that was run in the browser (Database Tools - Last Query).