Using the keyboard

You can do most work from the keyboard. The full list of shortcuts, with Mac and Windows/Linux keys, is in Keyboard shortcuts. This page explains how the keys behave in each area. Mod means ⌘ (Command) on Mac and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.

The essentials

Mod+K opens the command palette (see The command palette). Type to search, use the arrow keys to move, Enter to run and Esc to close.
? opens this documentation when you are not typing in a field. The help button in the top bar, labelled Open documentation, does the same.
Mod+S saves the design you are editing: a table design, a query, a form, a report, a script or a job.
Shift+F10, or the context-menu key, opens the menu you would get from a right-click. This works in the navigation pane, document tabs, datasheets, query results and designers.
Esc closes dialogs and panels. In the documentation panel, the first Esc clears the search and the next one closes the panel.

AbiData never uses F1 or Ctrl/Cmd with N, T, W, E, L or P, so your browser's own shortcuts keep working.

The command palette

The palette is the fast way to do almost anything. With no text it lists the objects you opened lately (Recent) and the main actions. Type a few letters of a name or an action to narrow the list; letters need not be next to each other, so cstmr finds Customers.

Objects. Inside a workspace, every table, query, form, report, script and job is listed under its own heading with its icon. Enter opens it, the same as clicking it in the navigation pane. A heading shows up to five matches; choose Show N more to see the rest.
Actions. New table, New query, SQL console, New form, New report, New script, New job, Import data… and Workspace settings appear only when your role allows them in the interface. Switch workspace, theme, documentation, keyboard shortcuts, Change password… and Sign out are always there. Platform administrators also get Admin console and one entry for each of its tabs.
Phones. The palette fills the width of the screen and its rows are large enough to tap. The search button in the top bar opens it.

Moving between areas

Tab and Shift+Tab move the focus to the next or previous control, in the order they appear on the screen.

In the tab strip, press Delete to close the focused tab. If the tab has unsaved changes, AbiData asks you to confirm before it discards them.

Datasheets

The datasheet is a grid.

Arrow keys move between cells and records. Tab and Shift+Tab move to the next or previous cell. Page Up and Page Down move one page. Mod+Home and Mod+End go to the first and last record.
To leave the grid, go to the first cell with Mod+Home and press Shift+Tab (back to the toolbar), or go to the last cell with Mod+End and press Tab (on to the rest of the page). In between, Tab stays inside the grid and moves from cell to cell.
Enter or F2 edits the current cell. Typing a character starts an edit with that character. In a long text cell, Alt+Enter adds a line break.
Shift+Enter saves the record. Esc cancels the edit, or discards your unsaved changes to the record.
Space toggles a Yes/No cell. Shift+Space selects or deselects the current record.
Delete deletes the selected records, after you confirm.
Mod+Shift+N opens the quick-add row under the column headers: type the values, press Enter to save the record and start the next one, Esc to close it. Mod+End goes to the new record row at the bottom. Mod+F moves to the filter box. Elsewhere, Mod+F is your browser's find.
With a column header focused, Alt+Left and Alt+Right make the column narrower or wider.

See Tables for editing and conflicts.

Forms

Alt+Up and Alt+Down move to the previous and next record.
Mod+Shift+N starts a new record.
Shift+Enter saves the record. Esc discards unsaved changes.

Designers

In the form and report designers, every control can be reached without a mouse.

Tab and Shift+Tab move the focus between controls.
Enter selects only the focused control. Space adds or removes it from the selection.
The arrow keys move the selected controls by one grid step. Shift with an arrow key resizes them.
Mod+Arrow moves the focus without selecting.
Mod+A selects all controls, Mod+D duplicates the selection, and Delete or Backspace deletes it.
Esc clears the selection.

Lists, grids and viewers

Command palette: the arrow keys move the highlight, Page Up and Page Down move a page at a time, and Enter runs the highlighted result. Home and End go to the first and last result once the text cursor is already at the start or end of what you typed.
Documentation contents: the arrow keys move the highlight, Enter opens the item, and Home and End go to the first and last item.
Query results: arrow keys move between cells, Page Up and Page Down move one page, and Home and End go to the first and last row.
Script Studio problems list: the arrow keys and Home and End move through the problems, and Enter jumps to the line of the selected one.
Report viewer: Page Up and Page Down move between pages, and Home and End go to the first and last page.
Panel dividers: when a divider between panes has focus, the arrow keys move it. Hold Shift for bigger steps.

Screen readers

Controls have labels, and changes such as the number of search results are announced politely. If something is not reachable by keyboard or is not announced, that is a bug worth reporting.