Enter key as a Tab?

Hello,
I have 2 small questions:

  1. Is it acceptable to have the enter key act as a tab key, and allow users to move to the next TextField by tabbing AND entering - or should I avoid it?
    Everyone I know always presses the enter key to move to another field - but I am not sure if I should avoid it?

  2. I know that keyChar 13 is the enter key, but what is the key code for the return key?

Thank you all in advance.

  1. My opinion: Yes, for specialized apps (Accounting, ERP, etc.) - No, for other apps. I always add a check box to turn it on or off in the preferences window.

  2. This will show you any key code in a KeyDown event:

    MsgBox Str(Asc(key))

    OS X: Enter = 13, Return = 3 (note: some key codes are not the same on different platforms)

[quote=72072:@Richard Summers]Hello,

  1. Is it acceptable to have the enter key act as a tab key, and allow users to move to the next TextField by tabbing AND entering - or should I avoid it?
    Everyone I know always presses the enter key to move to another field - but I am not sure if I should avoid it?
    [/quote]

It depends on the platform but it’s certainly more acceptable on the Mac these days. Apple use it in a few places - for example, when composing a new message in Mail, the Return key moves the focus from the To field, to the CC field, to the body etc. iOS uses this device a lot more than the Mac but that’s not really relevant (yet!)

Hi Richard … as far as key codes go, I always keep the ASCII reference chart available at the link shown below readily available when I’m coding. The 1st column on the chart shows the decimal numbers of each key and the last column to the right has the description of the key.

[quote=72104:@Don Lyttle]Hi Richard … as far as key codes go, I always keep the ASCII reference chart available at the link shown below readily available when I’m coding. The 1st column on the chart shows the decimal numbers of each key and the last column to the right has the description of the key.

http://www.ascii-code.com/[/quote]

if you are on a Mac (or Linux perhaps) just write man ascii on the Terminal.

Thank you all very much.

The other key is not on the standard ascii chart. It’s Chr(3).

I had that trouble (entering a Tab character in a TextArea AND using Tab to navigate between the UI)… sometimes ago and I resolved it using Option-esc.

Seems to me that Option Tab was already used.

It is not a good compromise, but what other alternative to use ?