The properties of a menu item

The properties window of a menu item is used to assign or modify the hot key or change its visibility. All menu items can be changed, making a distinction between menu commands and submenus.

A menu command always starts an action, for example the command to save a document. A hot key can be assigned to a menu command and its visibility can be changed.

A submenu is a container that contains menu commands or other submenus. Only the visibility can be changed to a submenu. For example, you can hide the entire File menu of the main Biblos window.

This window has the following fields:

- Hot key: field in which to press the key combination to be assigned to the menu item. Assignable key combinations can be made up of control keys, normal keys or special keys. The control keys that can be used are: Shift, Ctrl and Alt (also in combination). Windows, Applications, Caps_lock, Scroll_lock, Num_lock, Screen print, Pause keys cannot be used. There is also no difference between left and right control keys;

- Visible menu item: box to activate or deactivate. If activated, the menu item is visible, otherwise it is hidden. Even if a menu item is hidden, any hot key assigned to it is always usable.

Not all key combinations can be assigned. Some key combinations may already be used by your operating system or other software. In addition, assigning an acceleration key already available in a menu to an item may inhibit its acceleration key. For example, in the Biblos document window, if you assign the "Alt+F" combination, pressing this combination will not open the File menu (as is normally the case), but will activate the command to which the "Alt+F" key combination has been assigned. A good rule of thumb is never to assign hot key combinations that use only the Alt control key.

The hot keys that can be associated with the menus consist of key combinations, i.e. keys that are pressed simultaneously. If you want to operate a menu command with a sequence of keys, i.e. with keys pressed one after the other in sequence, you can use the acceleration keys or you can prepare a keyboard map (only for the document window).

A menu item can be displayed or hidden. This allows you to customize the visibility of entire menus. Even if a menu command is hidden, it can be used using the hot key assigned to it. The only exception to this feature is the Hot Keys menu command, which can never be turned off. In the document window, if you hide the entire Tools menu, which contains the Hot keys command, the latter moves to the system menu, which can be opened by clicking on the icon at the far left of the menu bar.