VEXcode offers a keyboard-only mode for creating and editing Blocks projects. This guide covers the 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.
Note: New Variables or My Blocks can not be created with the keyboard-only mode.
Enable Keyboard Navigation
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
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.
2. Navigate to the section containing the Block you want to add to the workspace.
3. Press D, then press S until you reach the desired Block.
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:
1. Press A to select the stack.
2. Press A again to go to the cursor select.
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.
4. Press return to save the cursor's current location.
5. Use the steps from above to scroll through the Toolbox and add a Block to the workspace.
Attach a Block to a Stack
1. Press D to go into the stack.
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.
3. Press A to return to Block selection.
4. Use W and S to navigate to the Block you want to attach.
5. Press i to attach the block.
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.
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
1. Select the Block in the stack that you want to detach.
2. Press X to detach the Block and any attached Blocks beneath it.
Edit Block Parameters
1. Press D to return the block and access its first parameter.
2. Use W and S to navigate through the block's parameters.
3. Press return to open the parameter's dropdown menu.
Use W and S to navigate to the desired option, then press return to select it.
Edit Text Inside a Non-Comment Block
1. To edit text inside of a Block, navigate to the circular highlight to the left of the text field.
2. Press D to go inside the text field parameter.
3. Press S to select the text field.
4. Press D to select the text.
5. Press return to start typing in the field. Once you are finished, press Esc to deselect the text field.
6. Press A twice to go back to the parameter select.
Edit Text Inside a Comment Block
1. Once the stack that the Comment Block is inside is selected, press D to select the Comment Block.
2. Press D again to select the Comment Block's text field.
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.
Expand a Block
For any Block that can be expand 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 expand the block. Pressing return again will disable it.
Attach Blocks Inside of Other Blocks
1. Press D to go inside the Block's parameters and use S or W to navigate through the Block's parameters until a highlighted circle beside the parameter you want to fill with the Block appears.
2. Press return to save that parameter as the attach point.
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, Step, and Stop the Project
Once you are finished coding your project, you can use keyboard shortcuts to activate the project:
- ⌘ + return will start the project.
- ⌘ + return will start the project.
- ⌘ + e will stop a running project.
- ⌘ + h will open the help documentation for Blocks.