Keyboard interaction with the grid (and other controls)

Question

Hi, I've just started using the SF UWP controls and had a general question about the use of the keyboard.

Can I expect controls (primarily the datagrid) to be keyboard-enabled for productivity applications? I was in the sample browser and noticed that combos can't be immediately expanded using the normal shortcuts (ALT+down or F4). Sometimes it would work if I used F2 first. Also the ESC key didn't always have the intended effect. In the case of the "dialog editing" sample I was hopeful that the datagrid would be fully keyboard-enabled ... but even that one had no way to begin editing without grabbing the mouse.

Two other controls that were not as keyboard-friendly as I would like are the menu and the groupbar. Neither of these seemed to want to respect my use of the keyboard. For classic windows apps, these are typically very keyboard-friendly controls.

I'd love to get started developing simple desktop applications with UWP but, at a minimum, the apps need to be accessible to advanced users who use their keyboards. Nobody wants to grab the mouse all day long if they are doing large amounts of data entry.

I suppose the answer is that I will need to handle/code for my own keyboard events; but I was wondering if I should expect your controls to support keyboarding out-of-the-box.

Thanks, David

Jai Ganesh S · Answer

Hi David, 
 
We have analyzed your queries and please find the responses for your queries as below, 








S. No  

Controls  

Response  


1 

SfDataGrid 

1.Combos can't be immediately expanded using the normal shortcuts  
ComboBox keys can be accessible when the cell is in edit mode. You could press F2 key to make the cell is in edit mode and then you can press the ComboBox keys ((ALT+down or F4) to do changes. 
2. ESC key didn't always have the intended effect 
ESC key will be worked whether any column is in edit state otherwise it will not have notified while pressing. Can you revert the if you face any issue with this. 
3. "dialog editing" sample I was hopeful that the datagrid would be fully keyboard-enabled: 
This application customized to perform the UI interaction by mouse clicks in the dashboard samples. This also customizable using keyboard keys. You can customize this based on your working scenario using Keyboard keys. You can get the SfDataGrid samples from the below installed location: 
C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Local\Syncfusion\EssentialStudio\16.1.0.24\UWP\SampleBrowser\SfDataGrid\ 


2  

SfMenu  

We have checked your query “KeyBoard interactions are not working properly with SfMenu control” and we are facing issues with following scenarios,  
Scenarios :   

We were unable to open the popup using “Up” or “Down” or “Right” arrow keys when the SecondLevel MenuItem has sub menu items

Escape key doesn’t close the popup items. 
 Could you please confirm whether you are facing the same issues. If not please explain about your expectation in SfMenu control regarding Keyboard interactions. This would help us to provide solution at earliest.  


3 

SfGroupBar  

In our GroupBar control we have provided keyboard interactions for followings,  

Opening and closing the OverFlow popup.
Expanding and collapsing GroupBar using Enter key press.
 We are attached our demo video,  
Demo : http://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/GroupBar_Mouse_Interaction-389839910.zip  
The above demo shows that the keyboard interactions in GroupBar and OverFlow popup in GroupBar. If we have misunderstood your query, please share the details about how you are expecting Keyboard interaction in GroupBar.  This would help us to provide solution at earliest.   
  
Regards,  
Jai Ganesh S

David · Answer

Jai,Thanks for taking a look at my posting.  I don't have a specific problem I'm trying to solve at this time, but was making general observations about the keyboard-friendliness of your UWP controls.   It sounds like you were able to confirm some of my observations as well.It seems to me that the goals for your UWP controls may not always include keyboarding functionality .  While I understand that most controls can probably be customized for keyboard usage, it would be nice to have more capabilities "out-of-the-box".  For example, a menu or a groupbar should definitely support keyboarding.  (I do like how the groupbar's overflow list was keyboard-friendly, but in the normal case when the groupbar was expanded, I found no way move between groups with the keyboard.)For my initial UWP project, I will try to build an application that doesn't rely as much on the keyboard.  I will be watching your release notices and hope to see you start introducing more keyboarding functionality in the future.Thanks, David

Jai Ganesh S · Answer

Hi David,  
 
Thanks for suggestions about Keyboard interactions in SfMenu and SfGroupBar controls.  We will consider your suggestions as enhancement and it will be included in any of our upcoming release.  
 
Regards,  Jai Ganesh S