Keyboard Navigation in VEXcode 123 on Mac (Experimental)

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

Three blocks are in the VEXcode coding interface. A when started block is on top, and beneath it is a When timer block and a When I Receieve block. A highlight box appears on the topmost When Started block.

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

VEXcode 123 interface showing the block categories on the left side, including Drivetrain, Looks, Sound, Actions, and more. A yellow when started block is placed in the coding workspace. The top menu includes options like File, Tools, and Tutorials. The toolbox opens and scrolls downwards through the Blocks.

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.

The user scrolls through the Looks category on the left side of the VEXcode 123 interface. The block list includes options like glow green, print VEXcode, set print precision to 0.1, clear all rows, set cursor to next row, set print color black, and play sound honk. The yellow when started block remains stationary in the coding workspace on the right while the scrolling occurs on the left.

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

A selection box moves down the blocks in the toolbox until it stops on the Wait block.

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

The toolbox disappears and the wait block is now in the coding environment with the Wehn Started 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:

The highlighting selection box on the When Started block gets wider around the block.

1. Press A to select the stack.

The highlighting selection box around the When Started Block disappears and a yellow, pulsing bar appears above the When Started block.

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

The yellow pulsing bar moves left and down in the VEXcode coding environment.

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.

The yellow pulsing bar changes to become a blue pulsing bar in the same location.

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

The toolbox is opened and scrolled through until the Reset Timer block is highlighted with a selection box. Afterwards, the Reset Timer block appears in the same location that the blue pulsing bar was previously.

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

Attach a Block to a Stack

The when started block's highlightng selection box disappears and is replaced by a yellow pulsing bar on the bottom of the block. Positioned below the When Started block is a Drive block.

1. Press D to go into the stack.

The pulsing yellow bar on the bottom of the wehn started block turns into a blue pulsing bar.

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.

The when started block becomes highlighted in a box, now including the blue bar on its bottom.

3. Press A to return to Block selection.

The highlight selection box around the When Started block moves to surround the Drive block underneath the When Started block.

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

The Drive block is moved to connect to the When Started block where the blue bar is. The blue bar does not disappear when this attachment happens.

5. Press i to attach the block.

The stack of blocks consisting of a When Started block and a Drive block is selected. The selection highlight disappears and is replaced by a bar, that moves to be below the Drive block and turns blue. The toolbox opens and scrolls through the blocks until the Wait block is highlighted. The toolbox then disappears and the Wait block is attached to the bottom of the Drive 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.

The stack of blocks consisting of a When Started block, Drive block, and finally a Wait block is selected. A yellow bard moves down the stack of blocks until it is under the Wait block, where it turns blue. The tool box is opened and scrolled through until the highlight selection box is around a round Drive heading block. The toolbox disappears and the Drive Heading blocks is placed in the coding interface, not attached to the Wait block.

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

A stack of blocks starting with a When Started block and a Drive block is highlighted with a selection box. The selection box disappears and the top of the Drive block has a pulsing yellow line over it.

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

The Drive blocks moves away from the When Started block, no longer having the two blocks connected. A yellow pulsing bar is now at the bottom of the When Started block where the Drive block used to be connected.

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

Edit Block Parameters

A Drive For block has a yellow outline on the top of the block, pulsing. The pulsing line disappears and instead the first dropdown box in the block, which currently says forward, is highlighted.

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

The highlight box leaves the first dropdown box of the Drive for block, which currently says forward, the highlighting circle moves to the text field, and then highlights the second dropdown menu, which says steps.

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

The second dropdown for the Drive for block opens to show steps and mm with a checkmark currently by steps. The darker blue highlight moves from steps to mm and the dropdown menu disappears. Mm now shows in the 2nd dropdown area instead of steps.

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

A drive for block that reads Drive forward for 1 mm. The first dropdown menu that says forward is highlighted.

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

Inside the Drive forward for 1 mm block, there is a small circle to the left of the text box that currently says 1.

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

The entire text field that says 1 is now highlighted in the Drive forward for 1 mm block.

3. Press S to select the text field.

A small circle is now inside the text field, surrounding only the number 1 inside the Drive forward for 1 mm block.

4. Press D to select the text.

The highlight circle around the 1 disappears and the number 1 is highlighted by a blue rectangle. It is replaced by  typed-in 50, which when completed being typed, is highlighted once more by the circle.

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

The highlight circle moves off of the 50 in the text field and moves back to the left of the text field in the Drive forward for (now 50) mm block.

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

Edit Text Inside a Comment Block

A comment block is highlighted with a selection box. The selection box then disappears and the top half of the comment block has a yellow pulsing outline.

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

The yellow pulsing line around the top half of the Comment block disappears, and the text field that currently says comment is now highlighted.

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

The comment text within the Comment block disappears and the user types the words Type here in the comment block. After the user is done typing, the text field is highlighted once more.

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

A Print Block that starts with a yellow pulsing outline on its top half. The pulsing outline disappears and a small circle appears by its text field before disappearing. The arrow expander on the right side of the block pointing to the right switches to pointing left as the Print Block expands and reads and set cursor to next row.

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

Showing the whole VEXcode coding interface, a Print block is in the coding area. The Print block has the yellow pulsing outline over the top half of it, which then disappears. A circle appears to the left of the Print Block's text field.

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.

The yellow circle to the left of the Print Block's text field fills in with the color blue.

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

The toolbox opens and is scrolled through until the highlight selection lands on the Timer in seconds block. The block then appears in the Print block's text field.

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

The Tools menu in VEXcode 123 is open, displaying options such as Theme, Keyboard Shortcuts, Speech Settings, and API Documentation. To the right, a list of keyboard shortcuts is visible, showing commands like Start, Step, Stop, and Open Help, each with corresponding key combinations. The Undo button is displayed in the top right corner of the interface.

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.

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

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