Keyboard shortcuts using punctuation keys

[TedTabler]

Is there a workaround by which I can create shortcut keys using punctuation? The issue is that I sometimes have to use Excel and I wish I could make certain shortcut keys consistent between the two. Someone asked something similar ~4 years ago in the Open Office forum but I figured enough had changed that it was worth checking again.

The closest I’ve found in this page full of extensions and other useful info which includes a tool that lets you use the Alt key in shortcuts, but no help on punctuation.

[ROSt53]

Please have a look at Tools>Customize>Keyboard and look at Ctrl+… and Ctrl+Shift+…

[ROSt53]

What I wrote above is checked with LibO 4.1.4.2 at a PC, XP. I expect that this should also work for other MS OSs.

At a Mac I did not find a customize keyboard function. But this may be due to my pure Mac knowledge.

[TedTabler]

@ROSt53, my comment about the version was a response to @oweng. I can indeed find the Tools>Customize>Keyboard but I have to have a document open. On a Mac the program can get into a state where the pulldown menu is still there but nothing’s open, and in that context I don’t find the option either. Presumably the program wants to know whether I’m setting up keys for a text document, a spreadsheet, etc.

[oweng]

Using the English (Australia) locale the only punctuation marks available for combining with modifier keys are:

Windows and GNU/Linux

• Semicolon ;
• Left square bracket [
• Right square bracket ]
• Full stop .

MacOS

• Full stop .

Other locales may offer other punctuation characters, but are probably limited in a similar manner. It is also worth noting that according to bug fdo#39477 the manner in which shortcuts are displayed under MacOS has problems with distinguishing Alt|Option and Ctrl keys.

[TedTabler]

What version of LibreOffice are you using? I’m on Version 4.1.4.2 for Mac and neither the semicolon nor the brackets are on my list, even if I set my locale to Australia and restart LibreOffice. Thanks.

[oweng]

Interesting. I will check my MacOS install on the weekend. The above answer was provided using v4.1.4.2 under GNU/Linux.

[TedTabler]

Could you also let me know what kind of document you are working with when you can find the option for these shortcut keys (spreadsheet, text doc, …)? I can imagine the set of available keys varies by document type, though I don’t find the keys you list above no matter what.

[oweng]

I have updated my answer for greater clarity. I confirmed that v4.1.4.2 under MacOS only has the full stop as a combining mark. The Windows build appears to be the same as GNU/Linux. The options are the same regardless of the type of document being worked on. The LibreOffice option at top right can be selected to ensure the chosen setting applies to all components.