Bindings in the Ntext Binding Tag

This document is out of date: it applies to ntext 0.81, and early versions of Tk 8.5.

Red indicates differences from Text; grey indicates things removed from Text

The page on the Text bindings is more reliable; this page has the same information about "Text", but might need a little more grey and red ink to properly describe the Ntext bindings. Also, the page on the Text bindings has Tables 2,3,5,6, which are the same for both classes.

The "Ntext" binding tag has 97 bindings in X11, 108 in OS X, 95 in Windows (Table 1): 5 more bindings than the "Text" binding tag. In addition, several "real events" are mapped to "virtual events" that are bound in the "Ntext" binding tag (Table 2).

Table 1: List of Bindings

Column Headings

• Event is the event "sequence" specified in the bind command
• Type is either "keyboard" or "mouse" (either may include keyboard modifiers), or "configure"; other types of event are not bound in the Ntext binding tag
• The next six columns describe the effects of the binding, in eight categories. The columns are:
  • Navigation - a change in the position of the insert mark ("cursor"), other than to accommodate insertion or removal of text at the cursor
  • Text - a change in the text content of the widget
  • Selection - effect on the selection
  • Focus - changes in keyboard focus
  • Undo Stack - the insertion of separators, and changes to the stack itself (other than the default, i.e. recording the modifications to the widget)
  • Other - other effects are
    • scrolling
    • changes to the clipboard contents
    • 'break' commands
    • changes to selection and scroll view when the mouse pointer leaves the widget while Button 1 is pressed
    • initialization for subsequent events
• The next two columns give further information on the effects of the binding:
  • Conditions - if the conditions stated in this column are not satisfied, the binding has no effect. (Information in this column that is not a condition is given in italics and brackets.)
  • Description - may be provided in an attempt to clarify the effects of the binding
• Windowing System Specific - availability on different windowing systems - Tk may not provide certain bindings on all windowing systems, and even if it does, the windowing system may intercept the event and not pass it on to the application

Abbreviations used in Table 1:

• "DSE" = "delete selection if it exists"
• "DSEC" = "delete selection if it exists and if the insert mark is inside the selection or at its boundaries"
• "blocks" = "the existence of this binding prevents the event from being handled by the binding for"
• "ignore sel[ection]" means that the selection is not automatically cancelled or overwritten, but its contents may be changed if the alteration to the text lies within the selection boundaries; this is the default (i.e. applies if the table cell is empty)
• "Std Kbd Navigation" (standard keyboard navigation) means navigation, combined with changing the selection if the event includes the Shift modifier, or cancelling the selection and inserting a separator on the undo stack if the event does not include the Shift modifier
• "(a)", "(b)" and "x2 (c)", in the Undo Stack column, refer to the placement of autoseparators (note that if a separator is already present at the top of the undo stack another will not be inserted):
  • "(a)" is a single autoseparator that is placed in order to split keyboard-entered text into lines
  • "(b)" is a single autoseparator that is placed in order to record movement of the insert mark: the purpose is to separate changes made to the text in different places
  • "x2 (c)" is two autoseparators that are placed before and after the change to the text, in order to make that change atomic
• In the Focus column, "take" means "take keyboard focus for the widget"; "move" means "keyboard focus is moved to another widget"
• "NSM" = "not strict Motif", meaning that the variable ::tk_strictMotif is set to boolean false. (For convenience, all consequences of "NSM" are listed in the Conditions column, but information that is not a condition is given in italics and brackets.)
• "CE" = "Classic Extras", meaning that the variable ::ntext::classicExtras is set to boolean true. ("CE" has no other consequences.)
• "preceded by" - does not necessarily mean "immediately preceded by", for example a series of events might be <Button-1>, <Double-Button-1>, <Double-Button-1>.
• "EOL" = "End Of Line", really means "End of Logical Line", not end of display line

File: lib/tk8.5/text.tcl

Event	Type	Navigation	Text	Selection	Focus	Undo Stack	Other	Description	Conditions	Windowing System Specific
<Key>	Keyboard		Y	DSEC		if DSEC or overwrite, then x2 (c)		DSEC, then insert or overwrite the keypress character into the widget; overwrite if switched on by <Insert> and if insert mark is not at EOL	widget is not disabled and key is one that inserts text
<Key-BackSpace>	Keyboard		Y	DSE				DSE, else delete prev char
<Key-Delete>	Keyboard		Y	DSE				DSE, else delete next char
<Key-Return>	Keyboard		Y	DSEC		if DSEC x2 (c), else (a)		DSEC, then insert newline, add autoseparator	widget is not disabled
<Key-Tab>	Keyboard		Y	DSEC	take@	if DSEC x2 (c)	break to prevent the binding tag "all" from changing the focus	DSEC and insert tab, then take focus, then break	widget is not disabled
<Shift-Key-Tab>	Keyboard						break to prevent the binding tag "all" from changing the focus	no action except break; blocks <Key-Tab> note that your "Shift Tab" key probably has a different name and is not covered by this binding but by <<PrevWindow>>: see Tables 5, 6 below.
<Control-Key-Tab>	Keyboard				move			move focus to another widget		intercepted by KDE
<Control-Shift-Key-Tab>	Keyboard				move			move focus to another widget		intercepted by KDE
<Control-Key>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>
<Alt-Key>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>
<Meta-Key>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>
<Command-KeyPress>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>		Aqua only
<Key-Escape>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>
<Key-Escape>	Keyboard			cancel sel		(b)		(event is used in Text for a different purpose)
<Key-KP_Enter>	Keyboard							no action; blocks <Key>
<Key-Insert>	Keyboard		Y	DSEC		if DSEC x2 (c)		DSEC, then insert selected text (use with <Control-1>)	widget is not disabled and selection is not empty
<Key-Insert>	Keyboard						toggle Insert/Overwrite mode	(event is used in Text for a different purpose)
<Meta-Key-b>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to previous word-start	NSM
<Meta-Key-d>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				delete to next word-start	NSM
<Meta-Key-f>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to next word-start	NSM
<Meta-Key-less>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to top (1.0)	NSM
<Meta-Key-greater>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to bottom (end-1c)	NSM
<Meta-Key-BackSpace>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				delete to previous word-start	NSM
<Meta-Key-Delete>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				delete to previous word-start	NSM
<Control-Key-a>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to display line start	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-b>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move -1 char	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-d>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				delete next char	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-e>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to display line end	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-f>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move +1 char	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-h>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				Backspace: delete previous char	NSM, and CE, and insert mark not at 1.0
<Control-Key-i>	Keyboard		Y	DSEC		if DSEC x2 (c)		DSEC, then insert tab char	CE, and widget is not disabled
<Control-Key-k>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				if at EOL, delete EOL; else delete to EOL	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-n>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to next line	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-o>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel				insert newline after insert mark	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-p>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation; move to previous line	NSM, and CE
<Control-Key-t>	Keyboard		Y	ignore sel		x2 (c)		swap chars each side of insert cursor; move cursor +1 char	NSM, and CE, and insert mark not at 1.0
<Control-Key-backslash>	Keyboard			cancel sel		(b)		Clear Selection
<Control-Key-slash>	Keyboard			change sel				Select All
<Shift-Key-Select>	Keyboard			change sel				select from anchor to insert
<Control-Shift-Key-space>	Keyboard			change sel				select from anchor to insert	CE
<Key-Select>	Keyboard			ignore sel; set anchor				set selection anchor
<Control-Key-space>	Keyboard			ignore sel; set anchor				set selection anchor	CE
								Navigation Events
<Key-Left>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Right>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Up>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Down>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Left>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Right>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Up>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Down>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Left>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Right>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Up>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Down>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-Left>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-Right>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-Up>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-Down>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Home>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-End>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Home>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-End>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Home>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-End>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-Home>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Shift-Key-End>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Next>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Key-Prior>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Next>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Shift-Key-Prior>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation
<Control-Key-Next>	Keyboard						horizontal scrolling	No navigation (insert cursor is unchanged)
<Control-Key-Prior>	Keyboard						horizontal scrolling	No navigation (insert cursor is unchanged)
<Option-Left>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Option-Right>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Option-Up>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Option-Down>	Keyboard	Y		cancel sel		(b)		Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Shift-Option-Left>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Shift-Option-Right>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Shift-Option-Up>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Shift-Option-Down>	Keyboard	Y		change sel				Std Kbd Navigation		Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Control-v>	Keyboard						vertical scrolling	No navigation (insert cursor is unchanged)		Aqua Only
<<Undo>>	Keyboard	Y	Y	ignore sel		x2 (c) (bugfix) move item to redo stack		Undo changes back to previous separator	undo activated for the widget
<<Redo>>	Keyboard	Y	Y	ignore sel		move item from redo stack		Redo "undone" changes up to the next separator	undo activated for the widget
<<Cut>>	Keyboard		Y	cancel sel		x2 (c)	change clipboard	Move text from selection to clipboard	selection not empty
<<Copy>>	Keyboard			ignore sel			change clipboard	Copy text from selection to clipboard	selection not empty
<<Paste>>	Keyboard		Y	DSE		x2 (c)		Copy text from clipboard to widget. If selection exists, delete it and replace with clipboard text; else insert clipboard text at insert mark.	clipboard not empty
<<Clear>>	Keyboard		Y	DSE				delete selected text		Aqua Only*
<<PasteSelection>>	Mouse	Y	Y	ignore sel	take	x2 (c)		Mapped to <ButtonRelease-2>. If "strict Motif", or if the mouse pointer has not moved since <Button-2>, then navigate, paste selection, and if widget not disabled take focus. If "not strict Motif" ("NSM"), and if the mouse has moved since <Button-2>, then nothing is done, and instead <B2-Motion> implements ScanDrag.	(N.B. precise action depends on NSM)
<Button-1>	Mouse	Y		cancel sel	take	(b)		navigate; if widget not disabled or if platform is windows, take focus
<ButtonRelease-1>	Mouse						See "Description"	See <B1-Leave>
<B1-Motion>	Mouse	Y		change sel
<Shift-Button-1>	Mouse	Y		change sel
<Control-Button-1>	Mouse	Y		ignore sel		(b)
<Double-Control-1>	Mouse							(new binding) no action; blocks <Double-Button-1> so that only <Control-Button-1> fires
<Control-B1-Motion>	Mouse							(new binding) no action; blocks <B1-Motion> so that only <Control-Button-1> fires
<B1-Enter>	Mouse						See "Description"	See <B1-Leave>
<B1-Leave>	Mouse						See "Description"	Start monitoring the mouse coordinates in order to update the selection range and scroll view of the widget. Do not stop until either <B1-Enter> or <ButtonRelease-1>.
<Double-Button-1>	Mouse	Y		change sel				preceded by <Button-1>
<Double-Shift-Button-1>	Mouse			change sel				preceded by <Shift-Button-1>
<Triple-Button-1>	Mouse	Y		change sel				preceded by <Button-1>, <Double-Button-1>
<Triple-Shift-Button-1>	Mouse			change sel				preceded by <Shift-Button-1>, <Double-Shift-Button-1>
<Quadruple-Button-1>	Mouse						Housekeeping for multiple Button-1 events	(new binding) preceded by <Button-1>, <Double-Button-1>, <Triple-Button-1>
<Quadruple-Shift-Button-1>	Mouse						Housekeeping for multiple Button-1 events	(new binding) preceded by <Shift-Button-1>, <Double-Shift-Button-1>, <Triple-Shift-Button-1>
<Button-2>	Mouse			ignore sel			See "Description"	Initialization for <ButtonRelease-2> and possible <B2-Motion> events	NSM
<B2-Motion>	Mouse			ignore sel			ScanDrag scrolling	No navigation (insert cursor is unchanged)	NSM
<Button-4>	Mouse						vertical scrolling		NSM	X11 only - for Mouse Wheel
<Button-5>	Mouse						vertical scrolling		NSM	X11 only - for Mouse Wheel
<MouseWheel>	Mouse						vertical scrolling			Not Aqua
<MouseWheel>	Mouse						vertical scrolling			Aqua Only
<Option-MouseWheel>	Mouse						vertical scrolling			Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Shift-MouseWheel>	Mouse						horizontal scrolling			Aqua Only
<Shift-Option-MouseWheel>	Mouse						horizontal scrolling			Aqua Only (Option Key)
<Configure>	Configure						adjust hanging indents	(new binding)	-wrap word mode, and !$classicWrap

* The virtual event <<Clear>> is provided on all windowing systems, but is used only on Aqua, where it is mapped to the <Clear> key.
@ Why does <Key-Tab> take focus? The widget must already have focus to receive the event, so why take it? ??Possibly some platforms respond to <Tab> by moving the focus before passing the event to the application/window that received it - if so, reclaiming the focus would be necessary here.

The widget prevents text insertion or deletion if its state is "disabled". However, the widget's bindings still fire, and so the bindings test the widget state, to provide control over operations other than text manipulation - usually changes to focus, and placement of autoseparators.

Table 4: Actions that modify the text contents of the widget

File: lib/tk8.5/text.tcl - data extracted from Table 1.

Binding	Mapped To	Notes
<Key>
<Key-BackSpace>
<Key-Delete>
<Key-Return>
<Key-Tab>
<Key-Insert>		Modifies text in Text bindtag, but not in Ntext
<Meta-Key-d>
<Meta-Key-BackSpace>
<Meta-Key-Delete>
<Control-Key-d>
<Control-Key-h>
<Control-Key-i>
<Control-Key-k>
<Control-Key-o>
<Control-Key-t>
<<Undo>>	windowing-system-dependent: e.g. in X11 <Control-Key-z> (and others)
<<Redo>>	windowing-system-dependent: e.g. in X11 <Control-Key-Z>
<<Cut>>	windowing-system-dependent: e.g. in X11 <Control-Key-x> (and others)
<<Paste>>	windowing-system-dependent: e.g. in X11 <Control-Key-v> (and others)
<<Clear>>	windowing-system-dependent: Aqua only, <Clear> key
<<PasteSelection>>	<ButtonRelease-2>