Tips and keyboard shortcuts for the web Process Designer

In the web Process Designer and its editors, you can perform many actions by using keyboard accessibility features.

The following tips improve your efficiency in the web Process Designer.

To hide or show the library, click Library at the top left corner of web Process Designer.
To maximize the space available in the main canvas, resize the palette and the main canvas. To hide the property manager, click the arrow below the main canvas.
To move from one open library item to another, press the arrow keys or click the menu at the top of the window.
To choose multiple items in a category, press and hold the Ctrl key and then click each item.
To prevent you from losing changes, unsaved changes are flagged with an asterisk next to the item name in the editor toolbar, at the top of the window.
To learn how to capture your development progress in snapshots, see Creating snapshots in the Designer view.
To use the library items from a toolkit, add a dependency to that toolkit, as described in Creating, changing, and deleting a toolkit dependency in the Designer view.
To see updates that are made by other users, refer to Concurrent editing.
To tag library items for easy access, follow the instructions in Tagging library items.
To move or copy library items from one process application to another, follow the instructions in Copying or moving library items.
To add and manage external files as part of your IBM® BPM project, see Managing external files.

Keyboard shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts improve your efficiency when you use Process Designer without a mouse.

General shortcuts
Library shortcuts
Shortcuts for the client-side human services and process editors
Shortcuts for the coaches and coach views editor

General shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available for the Process Designer.

Table 1. General keyboard shortcuts that are available for the Process Designer
Action	Keyboard shortcut	Description
Open	`Enter`	Open the widget that has the focus.
Trigger optional action	`Ctrl+Enter`	Trigger an optional action for an in-focus widget that has an optional menu.
Move selection	Up or down arrow	Move between open items.
Expand or collapse item	Right or left arrow	Expand or collapse an in-focus item that has child items.
Move focus	`Tab`	Move the focus to the next logical user interface option.
Select all	`Ctrl+A`	Select all the text elements in the Process Designer window.
Clear selection	`Esc`	Clear the current selection and hide its properties.
Save	`Ctrl+S`	Save the changes.
Undo	`Ctrl+Z`	Undo the last action that you performed.
Redo	`Ctrl+Y`	Redo the last action that you undid.
Zoom in	`Ctrl+Plus sign (+)`	Zoom in on the Process Designer window.
Zoom out	`Ctrl+Minus sign (-)`	Zoom out of the Process Designer window.
Zoom reset	`Ctrl+0`	Display the Process Designer window by using the default zoom setting.
Return focus to library item	`Shift+Ctrl+L`	Open the library (if it is not already open) and return the focus to the last active library item.
Return focus to specific page in an editor	`Shift+Ctrl+E`	Return the focus to the last accessed editor at the last active page.
Run process or service	`Shift+Ctrl+X`	Run the current process or service in a playback window.
Debug service	`Shift+Ctrl+S`	Debug the current service in the web Process Inspector.
Return focus to main toolbar	`Shift+Ctrl+M`	Return the focus to the main toolbar at the Library icon.
Return focus to first toolbar item in instance summary pane	`Shift+Ctrl+O`	Open the web Process Inspector page (if it is not already open) and return the focus to the first toolbar item in the instance summary pane.

Library shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available for the Process Designer library.

Table 2. Keyboard shortcuts that are available for the Process Designer library
Action	Keyboard shortcut	Description
Add item	`Ctrl+Enter`	Add a new item to the selected library category.
Open list	`Enter`	List all the existing items for the selected library category.
Move selection	Up or down arrow	Move the selection to the previous or next open library item.
Move focus	`Tab`	Move the focus to the next logical option in the library.
Close	`Esc`	Close the context menu for the current selection.
Expand or collapse toolkit library	Right or left arrow	Expand or collapse the selected toolkit library.
Open context menu	Right arrow	Open the context menu for the selected library item.
Preview error validation messages	Left arrow	Preview the messages for the selected error validation library item.

Shortcuts for the client-side human services editor and process editor

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to work more efficiently with diagrams when you build your IBM BPM client-side human services and processes.

Table 3. Diagram shortcuts that are specific to or have a specific action in the client-side human services and process editors
Action	Keyboard shortcut	Description
Quick add	`Q`	Use Quick Add to add nodes to the diagram. For details, see Adding nodes to diagrams by using the keyboard.
Delete	`Delete` or `Backspace`	Delete the selected node or connection.
Move	Arrow	Move the selected elements on the canvas in the direction that the arrow indicates.
Fine move	`Shift+Arrow`	Move the selected elements on the canvas one pixel in the direction that the arrow indicates.
Select	Space bar	Select the node or connection that has the focus.
Multiple select	`Ctrl+ the space bar`	Add or remove the focused node or connection to or from the current selection.
Clear selection	`Esc`	Clear the current selection and the currently focused node.
Select all	`Ctrl+A`	Select all the graphical elements that are in the diagram.
Connect	`J`	Connect two selected nodes.
Show context menu	`Shift+F10`	Show the context menu for the selected element.
Switch modes	`F9`	Switch between the edition mode and navigation mode. Use the edition mode to author a process or service flow diagram by adding, removing, and connecting elements on the canvas. Use the navigation mode to move between diagram elements. The navigation mode has further modes, as described for the `F8` key.
Change navigation style	`F8`	Switch between the disconnected-node navigation and connected-node navigation. Use this shortcut only in the navigation mode. In the disconnected-node navigation, use the arrow keys to navigate through the nodes in your diagram, ignoring connections. You also use the disconnected-node navigation when you have disconnected nodes on your canvas. The nodes are traversed in the order in which they were created. In the connected-node navigation, use the arrow keys to navigate through connected nodes and their connections. You cannot navigate through disconnected nodes by using the connected-code navigation.
Open inline editor	`F2`	Open the inline editor for the first editable label of the currently focused graphic element.
Attach boundary event	`B`	(Applicable to service nodes only) Attach an error boundary event to the boundary of a selected node. Use the arrow keys to move the event along the boundary of the node.
Resize note	`Ctrl+ an arrow`	Resize the selected note in the direction that the arrow indicates.
Fine resize note	`Shift+Ctrl+ an arrow`	Resize the selected note one pixel in the direction that the arrow indicates.
Pan	`Alt+Shift+ an arrow`	Pan the diagram in the direction that the arrow indicates.
Zoom in	`Ctrl+Plus sign (+)`	Zoom in on a diagram area.
Zoom out	`Ctrl+Minus sign (-)`	Zoom out of a diagram area.
Zoom reset	`Ctrl+0`	Display the current area of the diagram by using the default zoom setting.

Shortcuts for the coach and coach view editor

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to work more efficiently when you build coaches and coach views in the coach view editor.

Table 4. Keyboard shortcuts that are specific to the coach and coach view editor
Action	Keyboard shortcut	Description
Remove items from or add items to the coach canvas	`Shift+F10`, then the up or down arrow, and then `Enter`	Press `Shift+F10` to show the context menu for the currently focused coach view, then press the down arrow to select Delete, and then press `Enter` to remove the selected coach view. Press `Shift+F10` to show the context menu, then press the down arrow to select the appropriate Add option, and then press `Enter` to access the coach view list. Use the up or down arrow keys to select a coach view from the list, and then press `Enter` to add the selected coach view to the coach canvas at the specified location.