You can easily make a "hot" key for any button on a form by putting and ampersand (&) immediately in front of the button text letter that you want to be used as a hot key.  A "hot" key is the keystroke you press along with the CTRL key to activate the button.

For example, assume you have a button on your Customer form that takes the user to the Sales form and the text on the button is Sales.  When you design the button, in Properties/Set-up/Label, put the & just before the S so it will appear underlined on the button (i.e., if you enter the label text as &Sales, it will appear as Sales).  Now the user will know what the "hot" key is for that button.  They can either click on the button, or press CTRL-S to go to the Sales form.

Note: While this will work with most alphabetic keys (the M does not work), it will not work with other characters.  Also, keep in mind that this will also override the built-in function of some keys.  For example, if you use the K as a hot key, you will no longer be able to use CTRL-K as a way to execute Find by Key.

To set up single-stroke hot keys, see Menu Hot Keys - this method also allows the use of special characters and function keys.

Editor's note:  Do you have a tip or trick that makes your programming easier?  If so, please send it to Tips & Tricks (http://www.alphasoftware.com/tips/default.asp).
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