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Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Business Intelligence Development Studio

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When you work in Business Intelligence Development Studio, you have access to all the shortcut keys for navigation that are provided by the Visual Studio and Windows environments. You can select from several standard keyboard mapping schemes, or customize the mapping scheme by adding or changing keyboard shortcuts. For more information on how to determine the current mapping scheme, or to change keyboard options in the Visual Studio environment, see Visual Studio Help, or press F1 in the Keyboard, Options Dialog box.

You can navigate through the windows in Business Intelligence Development Studio, or select and change options in dialog boxes, without using the mouse. For example, to view a list of the Active Tools Windows in Business Intelligence Development Studio and the Active Files in the current solution, press Ctrl+TAB. You can then use the arrow keys to move between the Active Tools and Active Files, or to select a tool or file. For more information about how to navigate without using the mouse, see the topic "How to: Use the Keyboard Exclusively", in Visual Studio Help.

In addition, Business Intelligence Development Studio provides many shortcut menus for quick access to frequently used wizards and commands. Shortcut menus are dynamic and may contain different options, depending on the user configuration and the current objects. As you explore Business Intelligence Development Studio, make sure that you right-click objects to explore the menu options and learn about these shortcuts.

Tip

You can display the shortcut menu for the selected object or option by pressing Shift+F10.

For more information about common shortcut keys for the Visual Studio environment, see the topic, "Accessibility Tips and Tricks", in Visual Studio Help.

Customizing Shortcut Keys in Business Intelligence Development Studio

You can also customize some menus and toolbars to add or change keyboard accelerators. For information about how to assign a keyboard accelerator to a command, see Customizing Menus and Shortcut Keys.

To customize keyboard mappings in Business Intelligence Development Studio

  1. On the Tools menu, select Options.

  2. Expand the Environment folder and select Keyboard.

  3. To apply the Visual C++ or Visual Studio 6 mapping schemes, select the mapping scheme from the list.

Note

The default keyboard scheme is the same as the default keyboard scheme for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

To determine the shortcut key assigned to a command

  1. On the Tools menu, select Options.

  2. Expand the Environment folder and select Keyboard.

  3. In the Show commands containing box, enter the name of the command or object without spaces.

  4. Scroll through the list until you find the desired command.

  5. The current shortcut keys appear in the Shortcuts for selected command box.

To change the shortcut key associated with a command

  1. On the Tools menu, select Options.

  2. Expand the Environment folder and select Keyboard.

  3. In the Show commands containing box, enter the name of the command without spaces, or scroll through the list until you find the desired command.

  4. In the list, select the command you want to assign to a shortcut key combination.

  5. On the Use new shortcut in drop-down list, select the feature area in which you want to use the shortcut. For example, you can choose Global if you want the shortcut to work in all contexts, or you can limit the shortcut to a specific context, such as the Data Warehouse Designer.

  6. Select the Press shortcut keys box, and then use the keyboard to enter the key combination to use for the command.

Note

   Shortcuts can contain the SHIFT, ALT, and/or CTRL keys in combination with letters.

Note

The following keys cannot be assigned: ESC, PRINT SCRN/SYS RQ, SCROLL LOCK, PAUSE/BREAK, TAB, CAPS LOCK, INSERT, HOME, END, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, Windows logo keys, Application key, any of the ARROW keys, or ENTER; NUM LOCK, DEL, or CLEAR on the numeric keypad; or CTRL+ALT+DELETE.

Keyboard Shortcuts in Analysis Services

Description Key combination

Open Solution Explorer

Ctrl+Alt+L

Open shortcut menu for current object

Shift+F10

Open Properties for current object or window

F4

Cycle through pages in a tabbed document window

Ctrl+TAB

Cycle through objects in a window

Shift+TAB

Navigate within forms-based designers

F6/Shift+F6

TAB/Shift+TAB

Arrow keys

Cycle through the windows

Ctrl+F6/Shift+Ctrl+F6

Switch between major areas of a designer

F6/Shift+F6

Move between the tabs of a designer (available with SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1)

F8/Shift+F8

Note

Analysis Services displays many project-specific menus for each designer, and the menu options change in response to the object type that you are working with. To facilitate navigation, we recommend that you explore these menu options and the shortcut menus on each object.

Keyboard Shortcuts in Integration Services

Description Key Combination

Open Solution Explorer

Ctrl+Alt+L

Display Toolbox

Ctrl+Alt+X

Move among sections of the Toolbox

CTRL + UP ARROW

CTRL + DOWN ARROW

Add the selected item from the Toolbox to the Data Flow or Control Flow tabs

ENTER

Display Output window

Ctrl+Alt+O

View Data Flow

Alt+S, V, D

View Control Flow

Alt+S, V, C

View Package Explorer

Alt+S, V, K

Move between packages

Ctrl+TAB

Move between tasks or containers in a package

Shift+TAB

Move between objects within a group

Arrow keys

Zoom in and out on window

Ctrl+PLUS SIGN

CTRL+MINUS SIGN

Note

Integration Services displays project-specific menus for each window in SSIS designer. To facilitate navigation, we recommend that you explore these menu options and the shortcut menus on each object that you work with.

Keyboard Shortcuts in Reporting Services

Description Key Combination

Build the selected project

Ctrl+Shift+B

Display Properties window

F4

Start debugging

F5

In Report Designer, toggle between selection of report and report body

TAB

See Also

Reference

SQL Server Management Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

Other Resources

Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release History

17 July 2006
Changed content:
  • Added F8/Shift+F8 keyboard shortcut

14 April 2006
Changed content:
  • Added keyboard shortcuts for Toolbox navigation and data flow components