# Use the string pop-up keyboard

To enter string values at run time, the operator must open the string pop-up keyboard by pressing a string input enable button. The keyboard also opens when the operator presses the User and Password buttons in the Login dialog box or the Old Password, New Password and Confirm Password buttons in the Change Password dialog box at run time.

If the operator opens the pop-up keyboard by pressing a String Input Enable button, the number of characters the keyboard accepts depends on how you set up the button.

When the keyboard is open, no other objects in the graphic display can accept input.

## To use the string pop-up keyboard

1. Press the buttons in the pop-up, or use the keys on an external keyboard or keypad, to enter a string in the pop-up’s scratchpad.
2. Press Enter ().

   Tip: | If the graphic display changes remotely before the operator has pressed the Enter button in the string pop-up keyboard, the pop-up closes without writing anything out. If the computer’s resolution is smaller than 236 pixels wide by 208 pixels high, the string pop-up keyboard cannot open. To use the string pop-up character input instead of the string pop-up keyboard at run time, from the Tools menu, select Options > String Pop-Up. Then click the string pop-up character input radio button. If the string input enable button has its Mask scratchpad option set to True, the string pop-up character input's scratchpad will show # characters instead of the characters entered. When invoked from the Change Password or from the Login dialog's Password button, the string pop-up character input's scratchpad will show # characters instead of the characters entered.

## Use the buttons

Except for the SHF and CAP buttons, you can use the keys on an external keyboard or keypad in place of the string pop-up keyboard's buttons, where an equivalent key exists.

- Shift

  Press the SHF button to capitalize a single character.

- Tab and Shift-Tab

  Press the TAB or SHF-TAB buttons to move input focus to another button. Pressing TAB moves input focus down and to the left, and pressing SHF-TAB moves input focus to the right and up.

- F1

  Press F1 to activate the button with the highlight focus.

- Caps

  Press the CAP button to capitalize multiple characters.

- Insert/Overstrike

  Press the INS/OVR button or the Insert key on an external keyboard to toggle between insert and overstrike modes.

- Left arrow

  Press the << button or the Left arrow key on an external keyboard to move the cursor to the left.

- Right arrow

  Press the >> button or the Right arrow key on an external keyboard to move the cursor to the right.

- Escape

  To close the pop-up without writing the string to the Login dialog box or the Value connection, press one of these:

  - the ESC button
  - the Esc key on an external keyboard or keypad
- Clear

  Press the CLR button or the Delete key on an external keyboard to clear the scratchpad.

- Backspace

  Press to delete the character to the left of the cursor. Hold the button down to delete multiple characters.

- Enter

  Press or the key on an external keyboard or keypad to write the string to the Login dialog box or Value connection.

## See also

How the string pop-up keyboard works at run time

Causes of run-time errors for the string pop-up keyboard

Use the Login dialog box