FIX: Hot Keys Do Not Work If TabStop Is Set to False

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b

SYMPTOMS

Assigning access keys (hot keys) to a command button in Visual FoxPro is done by placing the "\<" characters in front of the character that is in the name of the caption name property of the command button. When the form is run, you can press the ALT key and the access key character to activate the command button. This works as long as the TabStop property of the command button is set to the default of True. If the TabStop property is set to False, pressing ALT+access key doesn't activate the command button.

WORKAROUND

If TabStop property must be set to false, place the following command in the form's Init event procedure to make the access key work:

   ON KEY LABEL ALT + U _SCREEN.ACTIVEFORM.COMMAND2.CLICK

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem has been fixed in Visual FoxPro 5.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Create a new form in Visual FoxPro.

2. Add a text box and two command buttons to the form.

3. In the Caption property of the first command button, type "\<Button1" (without the quotation marks). In the command button's Click event procedure, add this code:

   WAIT WINDOW "Button1"

4. In the Caption property of the second command button, type "B\<utton" (without the quotation marks), and change the TabStop property to False. In the command button's Click event procedure, add this code:

   WAIT WINDOW "Button2"

5. Run the form. Press the TAB key several times, and note that the mouse pointer is never positioned on the second command button. Press ALT+B and a wait window box appears. Pressing ALT+U will not display a wait window as it should. If either command button is clicked, the wait window for each is displayed.

6. Modify the form to change the TabStop property to True on the second command button. Now you can press ALT+U to display the wait window, but it also allows tabbing to the second command button.