Lingua Cursor Movement Options |
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You can configure how the left and right arrow keys (in their unshifted state, where they move by character) operate when working with languages with a right-to-left orientation:
Left/Right: They always move left and right, regardless of the orientation of the language. For example, in a line of text that contains both English and Hebrew, the right arrow will move the cursor to the right one character at a time, even though this means moving backward across the reading direction of Hebrew. (This is the default.)
Previous/Next: The arrow keys move the cursor to the next and previous characters, taking into account the language. With this setting, repeatedly pressing the right arrow on a line with English first and then Arabic would move the cursor to the right through the English text, then jump to the beginning of the Arabic at the far right, then move to the left; when it reaches the end of the Arabic text (on the left), it would then move to the first English character on the right, and then continue right through the English
You can select the desired method as follows:
The change will be effective immediately and it will be retained in future Nota Bene sessions until you change it. Note also that the direction chosen for the arrow keys is also in effect when you use Shift and the arrow keys to extend an existing selection by character.
In contrast to the arrow keys, the Delete and Backspace keys always operate on the next and previous character. The Delete key deletes the next character (i.e., the character to the right in a left-to-right language; the character to the left in a right-to-left language). The Backspace key deletes the previous character (i.e., the character to the left in a left-to-right language; the character to the right in a right-to-left language).
Note that the default for cursor movement is to always move left/right, while the default for deletion is previous/next. That’s because the icons on the arrow keys (the arrows) are visual indicators which suggest left and right, not previous and next, while the captions of the delete keys suggest backwards (“Backspace or BkDel”) and forwards.
Similar options are available for the extended cursor movement keys (Ctrl + arrows for words; Alt + arrows for paragraphs, Ctrl+Alt + arrows for sentences, and Alt + Num-/Num+ [or Alt + open/close square bracket keys on keyboards without these keys,] for phrases):
Left/right: These combinations can always move left and right, regardless of the orientation of the language. In a line of text that contains both English and Hebrew, Ctrl and the right arrow, for example, will move the cursor to the right one unit (word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph) at a time, even if (in a Hebrew or Arabic section) this moves backwards (in reading direction). This is the default.
Previous/Next: These combinations can move the cursor to the next and previous unit (word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph), taking into account the language. With this setting, repeatedly pressing Ctrl and the right arrow on a line with English first and then Arabic would move the cursor to the right through the English text, then jump to the beginning of the Arabic at the far right, then move to the left; when it reaches the end of the Arabic text (on the left), it would then move to the first English word to the right, and then continue right through the English
You can select the desired method as follows:
Left/right is the current default setting for Nota Bene 10 (released in September 2014) and subsequent versions. Prior to the final release of Nota Bene 10, previous/next was the default. If you installed an older version of Nota Bene (e.g., version 9 or a beta edition of version 10), the old default settings will be retained when you install Nota Bene 10. This means that if you are installing over an existing version (NB 9, or earlier beta releases of NB 10), you will need to follow steps 4 - 7 above if you would like to use the left/right setting. (This is true even though, on those installations, if you go to the Tools, Lingua, Other Options dialog, the Move Previous/Next checkbox at the bottom will NOT be checked, even though it is in fact the current setting.)
As with the unshifted arrow keys, this selection is also in effect when you use Shift and the arrow keys to extend an existing selection (Ctrl+Shift for words; Alt+Shift for paragraphs; Ctrl+Alt+Shift for sentences; Alt+Shift + Num-/Num+ for phrases [Alt+Shift + open/close square brackets if those keys are not available] for phrases)
As with characters, extended deletion (with the Delete and Backspace keys) by word (Ctrl), sentence (Shift), and paragraph (Alt) always operate on the next and previous unit: The Delete key deletes the next word, sentence, or paragraph (i.e., the unit to the right in a left-to-right language; the unit to the left in a right-to-left language). The Backspace key deletes the previous word, sentence, or paragraph (i.e., the unit to the left in a left-to-right language; the unit to the right in a right-to-left language)
Note: While there is generally a parallel structure between moving and deleting units (for example, Ctrl + arrows to move by words; Shift added to Ctrl + arrows to extend selection by words; and Ctrl + Backspace and Delete to delete by words), this structure is not possible for sentence deletion, since Ctrl+Alt + Delete (which is the parallel to Ctrl + Delete) is used by Windows to start the Task Manager. Accordingly, sentence deletion (in both directions) is assigned to the Shift state of Backspace/BkDel and Delete.
See also: Moving through a document: arrow keys
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