Human Interface Note #8    
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Note #8    Keyboard Equivalents

           Revised by:    Scott Jenson                             June 1990
           Written by:    Scott Jenson                             April 1990
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A discussion of the standard Apple Human Interface keyboard equivalents.
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Standard Keyboard Equivalents

               N    New            Z    Undo
               O    Open...        X    Cut
               W    Close          C    Copy
               S    Save           V    Paste
               P    Print...       A    Select All
               Q    Quit

These keyboard equivalents are reserved across all applications.  If 
your application does not support one of these commands, it should not 
use these keys for any other function.  This restriction is for the 
user's benefit; it gives them guaranteed, predictable behavior across 
all applications.  Using Command-O to mean "Open..." ninety-nine percent 
of the time and "Ostracize..." in your special case does two things:  1) 
users do not consider using Command-O, as it is already taken by all 
other applications, and 2) the variability of the equivalent only 
weakens their perception of consistency.


Other Common Keyboard Equivalents

               F    Find...        T    Plain Text
               G    Find Again     B    Bold
               I    Italic
               U    Underline

These Command keys equivalents are secondary to the standard keys 
previously listed.  If your product does not support one of these 
functions, then feel free to use these equivalents as you wish.

Note that the keyboard equivalents for Print... and Plain Text are 
different from past Human Interface guidelines, which suggested P for 
Plain Text and nothing at all for Print.  The marketplace has, by and 
large, standardized upon P for Print, leaving no common Command key 
equivalent for Plain Text.  Apple has accepted this change and now 
suggests standardizing on T for Plain Text, based upon its mnemonic 
value and common usage among applications that use P for Print.


Unnecessary Command Keys

There should not be Command key equivalents for infrequently used menu 
commands.  This type of usage only burdens your users and constrains 
your life even more.  Only add Command key equivalents to commands your 
users use most frequently.  As infrequently as it is chosen by most 
users, "Page Setup..." is an example of menu command that does not need a 
key equivalent.

