Some doubts about the keyboard. Can anyone define these, please?

Question

Computer characters comprise not only single symbols (letters, digits, etc.), but also compound tokens (keywords, function names, etc.).

As for 'single symbols', I believe it refers to those keys we press on their own. 'Compound tokens' those which require TWO keys. Now, 'keywords' and 'function names' I don't think I can fully understand how they differ from one another. HELP! LOL Ok, I'd appreciate any help and if anyone can come up with the terms in Spanish as well, that'd be just AWESOME! Thanks. :)

Answer 1

wikipedia.org
hope this helps!
pe@ce

Answer 2

HUH!

Answer 3

You can probably do a copy and paste on a Spanish translator page to get these in Spanish like http://babelfish.altavista.com/

F1- While working in an application, depressing this key will bring up the applications help menu. If there is no open application F1 will open Windows Help.
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F2 Choose this key to rename a selected item.
Alt + Ctrl + F2 to open a new document in MS Word
Ctrl + F2 to open print preview in MS Word
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F3- Depressing this key will display the Find: All Files dialog box.
Shift + F3 will change case in MS Word. Continue to press F3 (with the Shift key depressed) to toggle through all choices.
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F4- Holding down the Alt key while depressing F4 closes the current active window. If there is no active window this opens the Shut Down dialog box.
Repeat an action with F4. For example, if your last action was to format a word as Bold, you can repeat the procedure by highlighting another word and depressing F4. This continues to work until your next action. (Thanks to George Held for this shortcut) F5 Select this key to refresh the contents of a dialog box, such as the Save As or Open dialog boxes, or in a window such as a Windows Explorer window. Open the Find and Replace dialog box in MS Word
F5 + Ctrl + Shift to insert a bookmark in MS Word
Use this key to start a slide show in MS PowerPoint
F6 + Ctrl + Shift to move to a previous window in MS Word
F6 + Ctrl + Alt to move to a previous window in MS Word
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F7 Perform Spell and Grammar check in MS Word
F7 + Shift when a word is highlighted to access the thesaurus in MS Word see an activity using this feature of Word.
F10 Activates Menu Bar options. Use right and left arrows to select menus and down arrows to display pull down menus.
F10 + Shift - Depressing this key combination will display the selected item's shortcut window. This is the menu that is displayed by right-clicking.
F11
In Internet Explorer this key will allow you to toggle back and forth between full screen view (all toolbars compressed into one thin line) and normal view
In Excel this key will make a chart using data that you have highlighted

F12
Open a new document in MS Word
F12 + Ctrl + Shift to print in MS Word
F12 + Shift to Save in MS Word
F12 to open the Save As dialog box in MS Word
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Print Screen - Don't look at your printer after pressing this key. This sends a copy of whatever is on the screen to the clipboard. One common use of this action is to paste the clipboard into Paint to copy a portion of an image for use in another application. As an example look at the Windows logo in the Windows key section of this page. That was produced by copying a small portion of the desktop image and pasting into a web page developer. If you wish to copy only the active window, hold down the Alt key, then tap on the Print Screen key. It will copy only that window that is active, not the whole desktop. (Thanks to Bruce Ellis with Dallas ISD for pointing this out)
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Scroll Lock
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* (Asterisk)

Ctrl + Shift + * to select the current region around an active cell in MS Excel. This can be quite useful in creating charts.
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Hyphen (dash)

Ctrl + - (Hyphen) to bring up the Delete dialog box in MS Excel
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[
Ctrl + [ to decrease font size of highlighted text one point at a time (MS Word and MS PowerPoint)
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]

Ctrl + ] to increase font size of highlighted text one point at a time (MS Word and MS PowerPoint)
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P

Ctrl + P to print in many applications
Ctrl + P to bring up the pen if you are in a PowerPoint show
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E

E to erase whatever you drew using the pen in a PowerPoint show
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A

Ctrl + A to select all in many applications
Ctrl + A to replace the pen with the arrow pointer if you are in a PowerPoint show
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B

Ctrl + B to make selected text Bold
B to make the screen Black if you are in a PowerPoint show
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W

Ctrl + W to close a window
W to make the screen White if you are in a PowerPoint show
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Z

Ctrl + Z to undo (to Zap an error)
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X

Ctrl + X to cut selected text or images
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C

Ctrl + C to copy selected text or images
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V

Ctrl + V to paste text or images that have been cut or copied
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S

Ctrl + S to save a document
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D

Ctrl + D to make a favorite in Internet Explorer
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Pause
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Tilde
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Tab -

This key can be used to move forward through options in a dialog box.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab can be used to move backward through the options.
Ctrl + Tab allows movement from one open window to the next in an application with more than one open window.
Alt + Tab displays a list of open application windows. Keeping Alt depressed and selecting Tab cycles through the list. Releasing selects the highlighted application window.
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Caps Lock - An obvious function, but some things that are not so obvious need to be said. This key should be used with caution, if at all. A document, even a headline of a document, produced in all caps is hard for the eye to scan. If you are producing documents, or slide shows, for the purpose of communicating with some audience, you should avoid anything that makes that communication less clear. All caps is difficult for voice recognition software to interpret. All caps in Email is widely understood to be shouting or yelling at someone. Furthermore, new users should not be taught to use the caps lock key in place of depressing the Shift key to produce capital letters. Do you have thoughts on this matter? Please share them with me by Email.
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Shift

The obvious use of this key is to allow selection of capital letters when depressing the alphabet characters, or selecting the characters above the keys on the row just below the F keys.
Depressing the Shift key while inserting a CD-ROM will bypass auto play.
Use the keyboard combination Shift + Delete to permanently delete a selected item, not simply moving it to the Recycle Bin.
Shift + arrow key(s) to extend the area of selected data in MS Excel
Adding the Shift key to most keyboard shortcuts will perform the reverse action. For example: Spacebar scrolls down in IE but Shift + Spacebar scrolls up, in MS Excel depressing the Enter key moves to the cell below and Shift + Enter moves to the cell above, likewise in MS Excel depressing the Tab key moves to the cell to the right and Shift + Tab moves to the cell to the left.
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Ctrl - Depressing the Ctrl key while clicking allows multiple selections. Holding the Ctrl key down and pressing another key will initiate quite a few actions. Some of the more common are listed in the table below:

Ctrl + A to select all items
Ctrl + C to copy selected text or items
Ctrl + V to paste the contents of the clipboard

Ctrl + P to print
Ctrl + Z to undo
Ctrl + X to cut selected text

Ctrl + Esc to open the Start menu
Ctrl + = to bring up spell checker (pre Win XP)
Ctrl + Shift + *(Asterisk) to select the current region around an active cell in MS Excel. This can be quite useful in creating charts.

Ctrl + B to add/remove Bold formatting
Ctrl + I to add/remove Italic formatting

Ctrl + W to close the active window
Ctrl while dragging a file to copy the file
Ctrl + Shift while dragging a file to create a shortcut

Ctrl + P to display the pen in a PowerPoint show Ctrl + A to display the arrow in a PowerPoint show Ctrl + B to turn the screen Black in a PowerPoint show
Ctrl + W to turn the screen White in a PowerPoint show Ctrl + S to save the current document Ctrl + U to add/remove Underline formatting
Ctrl + 9 to hide rows in MS Excel (add Shift to the sequence to unhide.)
Ctrl + Tab allows movement from one open window to the next in an application with more than one open window.
Ctrl + F4 to close a window in an application without closing the application.

Ctrl + Enter while in Internet Explorer - Enter only the domain name then depress Ctrl before striking Enter/Return. IE automatically fills in the complete URL for a .com address.
Ctrl + - (Hyphen) to bring up the Delete dialog box in MS Excel Ctrl + C + C to open the clipboard (Alex Khouri told me about this one. Thanks Alex!) Ctrl + 0 to hide columns in MS Excel (add Shift to the sequence to unhide.)

Ctrl + arrow (in Excel) - In a large worksheet this combination allows you to quickly move left, right, up, or down. Starting from cell A1, depressing Ctrl and pressing the right arrow moves to the cell in row 1 adjacent to the first empty cell. Ever wonder how many rows are in a worksheet? On a blank worksheet hold down the Ctrl key and press the down arrow. (Thanks to George Held for this shortcut)


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Windows - On either side of the spacebar, outside the Alt key, is a key with the Windows logo. Holding the Windows key down and pressing another key will initiate quite a few actions. Some of the more common are listed in the table below:

+ F to display Find: All Files
+ F1 to display Help
+ R to display the Run command

+ D (or M)to minimize or restore all windows
+ E to display Windows Explorer
+ Break to display System Properties

+ Tab to cycle through buttons on the task bar
Shift + + M to undo minimize all windows
to display the Start menu

and then press U to display the Turn Off Computer menu, press U again (on laptops) or press S (on desktops) to Turn Off the computer.

If your computer has XP installed and you want to lock your computer when you walk away from it use + L
OK, I won't leave you hanging. Your Windows password will unlock your computer. (Thanks to William Grimes)
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Alt - Located on either side of the space bar. Holding the Alt key down and pressing another key will initiate quite a few actions. Some of the more common are listed in the table below:

Alt + F4 closes the current active window. If there is no active window this opens the Shut Down dialog box Alt + underlined letter in menu to carry out the corresponding command on the menu Alt + left/right arrows in a browser moves forward or back through the pages visited in a window
Alt + Spacebar displays the current window's system menu. This is the same as left clicking on the application icon at the top left of the window. Alt + Enter displays a selected items properties. This can also be done with Alt + double-click. Alt + PrintScreen Captures the top window of the active application (Thanks to Bruce Ellis with Dallas ISD for pointing this out)
Alt + Spacebar (then C) after the system menu is displayed (see above), this combination will close a window. This works the same way as Alt + F4 but requires less stretch. Thanks to Brad Knaack for this one.
Alt + Space displays the main window's system menu. This is the same as clicking on the application icon at the left end of the title bar. Alt + - (hyphen) displays the current window's system menu. This is the same as left clicking on the application icon at the top left of the window. Alt + Tab displays a list of open application windows. Keeping Alt depressed and selecting Tab cycles through the list. Releasing selects the highlighted application window.

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Application key - This key has an image of a mouse pointer on a menu. Depressing this key will display the selected item's shortcut window. This is the menu that is displayed by right-clicking.
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Spacebar - Yes, you know it makes spaces between characters, but what else? In Netscape the Spacebar acts like the Page Down button.
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Enter/Return - In any dialog box a selected button or command can be selected by depressing this key. Selected buttons can be recognized by their darker borders.
Ctrl + Enter while in Internet Explorer - Enter only the domain name then depress Ctrl before striking Enter/Return. IE automatically fills in the complete URL for a .com address.
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Pipe - Adding this character in an Infoseek search is a way to limit hits about a larger topic to a smaller sub-topic. For example a search for Al Gore | Internet should yield only sites about Al Gore AND the Internet.
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Backspace - While working with text, use this key to delete characters to the left of the insertion point.
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Insert
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Home - Depress and hold the Ctrl key as you select Home to go to the first line of a document
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Page Up - In a Netscape window use this key to move up one full screen on a currently displayed web page.
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Delete - While working with text, use this key to delete characters to the right of the insertion point. This key can also be used to delete selected files. If you use the keyboard combination Shift + Delete the item is permanently deleted, not simply being moved to the Recycle Bin.
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End - Depress and hold the Ctrl key as you select End to go to the last line of a document
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Page Down - In a Netscape window use this key to move down one full screen on a currently displayed web page.

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Up Arrow

Navigate in a document to the line above. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move to the beginning of the second line above.
Shift + arrow key(s) to extend the area of selected data in MS Excel
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Left Arrow

Navigate in a document one character to the left. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move one word to the left.
Shift + arrow key(s) to extend the area of selected data in MS Excel
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Down Arrow

Navigate in a document to the line below. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move to the beginning of the second line below.
Shift + arrow key(s) to extend the area of selected data in MS Excel
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Right Arrow

Navigate in a document one character to the right. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move one word to the right.
Shift + arrow key(s) to extend the area of selected data in MS Excel
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Num Lock

If you wish to use the numeric keypad, on the right end of the keyboard, to display numbers, the Num Lock key must be selected (a light will tell you that it is on). If you wish to use the keypad to navigate in a document, turn off Num Lock by pressing the key (the light will go off if Num Lock if off)..
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Ins

Keypad keys
* (asterisk)- In Windows Explorer this expands everything under the current selection. Caution: do not try this with the C drive icon selected.

- (minus) In Windows Explorer this collapses the current selection

+ (plus) In Windows Explorer this expands the current selection.
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