<Ctl>-?: What does it do?

[tcebob]

Accidentally hit <ctl>-?. The cursor changed to a dismembered finger over a key. Does not happen in other programs. Is this a warning? "Do not hit <ctl>-? or the evil tailor will come with his big scissors and cut off your finger"?* Or what?

tcebob

*Struvvelpeter

[MudGuard]

Go to Configure - Preferences - Keyboard

Click into the edit field labeled
"Press new shortcut key".

Press Ctrl-?

Does it say
"Currently assigned to
Prefix key"

below the edit field?

If so:
In Textpad, you can have quite a lot of shortcut keys. More than you have keys. So some of them are reachable by first pressing the Prefix key, then pressing another key.
The finger-on-a-key mouse cursor shows you that Textpad expects another key-press to complete the shortcut.


I don't know how to set the prefix key to some other key (as Prefix Key does not appear in the configurable commands).
I only found a way to disable it:
assign the key to some other command.
exit Textpad.
open Textpad.
remove the assignment.
exit Textpad.
open Textpad.

Now the Prefix key is no longer in use.
But be careful. I have not yet found a way to re-enable it (which does not matter to me as I don't use it anyway).

[ben_josephs]

You can have as many prefix keys as you please. Just enter two keys into the Press new shortcut key box. The first of them automatically becomes a prefix key.

[tcebob]

Thank you, MudGuard. The cursor icon is so bizarre I think I'll keep it. Doubt I will actually use it; I try to keep all keyboard shortcuts on the left hand to keep the right hand on the mouse.

(Correction: it was <ctl>-/.)

tcebob

[miked]

Ctrl+/ , ? (Ctrl +/ followed by ?) is by default assigned to enter an upside down ?.
Ctrl+/ , o (Ctrl +/ followed by o) is by default assigned to enter a slashed out O
There may also be other multi-key shortcuts starting with Ctrl+/ but I don't know them.

The icon you see is textpad waiting after the Ctrl+/ for you to enter the second part of the shortcut.