Keyboard Navigation in VEXcode V5 on Mac (Experimental)

VEXcode offers a keyboard-only mode for creating and editing Blocks projects. This guide covers the essential keyboard commands for navigating the interface, manipulating blocks, and adjusting parameters in VEXcode.

The keyboard-only mode is currently in its experimental phase. Users may encounter occasional inconsistencies as our development team actively refines and enhances this feature.

Current Blocks not compatible with the keyboard-only mode:

  • Switch Blocks
  • New Variables or My Blocks can not be created with the keyboard-only mode.

Enable Keyboard Navigation

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks in a tutorial, showcasing various block types and their connections for educational purposes.

To enable keyboard navigation, press the shift + control + k keys at the same time. When keyboard navigation is enabled, the Block that's highest on the workspace will be highlighted.

To disable keyboard navigation, press shift + control + k again.

Add a Block from the Toolbar

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks tutorial concepts, showcasing various block types and their connections in a robotics programming context.

1. Press T on the keyboard, then press S to open the Toolbox. Use S to scroll down and W to scroll up through the Block categories in the Toolbox.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing their configuration and connections for educational purposes.

2. Navigate to the section containing the Block you want to add to the workspace.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in programming tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections for educational purposes.

3. Press D, then press S until you reach the desired Block.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their functions and connections in a tutorial format.

4. Press return to add the Block to the workspace.

Change Where Blocks are Added on the Workspace

The location where Blocks are added to the workspace can be changed by doing the following:

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks and their functionalities in the Blocks Tutorials section, showcasing various components and their connections for educational purposes.

1. Press A to select the stack.

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various block types and their connections for programming tasks.

2. Press A again to go to the cursor select.

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks tutorial concepts, featuring various block types and their connections, designed to help users understand the functionality and application of V5 robotics components.

3. Hold shift and use WASD (W and S move up and down, A and D move left and right) to move the cursor to where you want the new Block to be added.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks for programming tutorials, showcasing their connections and functionalities in a visual format.

4. Press Enter to save the cursor's current location.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their functions and connections in a tutorial context.

5. Use the steps from above to scroll through the Toolbox and add a Block to the workspace.

Attach a Block to a Stack

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their connections and functionalities, as part of the Blocks Tutorials in the V5 Category Description.

1. Press D to go into the stack.

Diagram illustrating the various types of blocks in V5 robotics, showcasing their functionalities and connections for educational purposes in the Blocks Tutorials section.

2. Press W and S to move up and down through the Blocks until you reach the desired attach point. Press return to save the attach point.

A blue line will appear in the stack to show where the attach point was saved.

Diagram illustrating V5 category blocks tutorial, showcasing various block types and their functions in VEX robotics programming.

3. Press A to return to Block selection.

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks for programming tutorials, featuring various block types and their connections, designed to assist users in understanding block-based coding concepts.

4. Use W and S to navigate to the Block you want to attach.

Illustration of V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various block types and their connections for programming tasks.

5. Press i to attach the block.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics programming, showcasing their functions and connections in a tutorial format for enhanced understanding of V5 Category Description.

You can select an attach point and attach a Block directly from the Toolbox. Follow the steps above to mark an insertion point. Once marked, pressing return on any block in the Toolbox will attach it at that point.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their functions and connections in a tutorial format for better understanding of programming concepts.

If the selected Block is incompatible with the marked attach point, the attach point will be discarded. Instead, the Block will be added to the workspace at its default location.

Detach Blocks from a Stack

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various block types and their connections for programming tasks.

1. Select the Block in the stack that you want to detach.

Diagram illustrating various block types and their functions in V5 robotics, as part of the Blocks Tutorials section in the V5 Category Description.

2. Press X to detach the Block and any attached Blocks beneath it.

Edit Block Parameters

Diagram illustrating various block types and their functions in VEX V5 robotics, used in the Blocks Tutorials section to enhance understanding of programming concepts.

1. Press D to enter the block and access its first parameter.

Diagram illustrating various blocks used in V5 robotics tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections for enhanced understanding of programming and building with V5 robotics system.

2. Use W and S to navigate through the block's parameters.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing different block types and their functions in a clear and organized layout.

3. Press T on the keyboard, then press S to open the Toolbox. Use S to scroll down and W to scroll up through the Toolbox.

Edit Text Inside a Non-Comment Block

Illustration of various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their shapes and functions for educational tutorials on building and programming with VEX robotics systems.

1. To edit text inside of a Block, navigate to the circular highlight to the left of the text field.

Diagram illustrating various blocks used in V5 robotics tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections for educational purposes.

2. Press D to go inside the text field parameter.

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics, showcasing their functions and connections in a tutorial format for better understanding of block programming.

3. Press S to select the text field.

Illustration of V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various block types and their connections for programming, designed to aid users in understanding block-based coding for VEX robotics.

4. Press D to select the text.

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various block types and their functions in programming, relevant to the V5 Category Description section.

5. Press return to start typing in the field. Once you are finished, press esc to deselect the text field.

Diagram illustrating V5 block components and their functions in VEX Robotics, part of the Blocks Tutorials section in the V5 Category Description.

6. Press A twice to go back to the parameter select.

Edit Text Inside a Comment Block

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks tutorial concepts, showcasing various block types and their connections for educational purposes in robotics programming.

1. Once the stack that the Comment Block is inside is selected, press D to select the Comment Block. 

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections for educational purposes.

2. Press D again to select the Comment Block's text field.

Diagram illustrating various block types and their functionalities in V5 robotics, as part of the Blocks Tutorials section in the V5 Category Description.

3. Press return to start typing and press esc once you are finished to save what was written.

Note: Pressing return to type inside a Comment Block will delete all text that was previously in the text field.

Add "and don't wait" to the End of a Block

Diagram illustrating various block components and their functions in V5 robotics, as part of the Blocks Tutorials section.

For any Block that has the "and don't wait" option (the arrow) at the end of it, go into the Block's parameters and navigate the parameters until the highlight disappears. Pressing return will enable the "and don't wait" option. Pressing return again will disable it.

Attach Blocks Inside of Other Blocks

Diagram illustrating various V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections for educational purposes.

1. Press D to go inside the Block's parameters and use or W to navigate through the Block's parameters until a highlighted circle beside the parameter you want to fill with the Block appears.

Diagram illustrating V5 blocks used in robotics tutorials, showcasing various components and their connections for educational purposes.

2. Press return to save that parameter as the attach point.

Diagram illustrating various blocks used in V5 programming tutorials, showcasing their functions and connections within the VEX robotics system.

3. Using the steps above, navigate through the Toolbar to select the Block you want to insert into the parameter. Press return on the Block to insert it.

Start and Stop the Project

VEX V5 Blocks tutorial image illustrating various programming blocks and their functions for robotics programming, showcasing a visual guide to help users understand block-based coding.

Once you are finished coding your project, you can use keyboard shortcuts to activate the project:

  • + return will start the project.
  • + e will stop a running project.
  • + h will open the help documentation for Blocks.

For more information, help, and tips, check out the many resources at VEX Professional Development Plus

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