Windows Phone


This topic describes the keyboard mapping in the Windows Phone Emulator and how to use the keyboard. The emulator supports mapping of the keyboard on your development computer to the hardware keyboard on a Windows Phone. By default, the keyboard is not enabled. This implementation is equivalent to a sliding keyboard that must be deployed before you can use it. Before you enable the keyboard, the emulator accepts key input only from the control keys such as F1.


Note:


The emulator does not support orientation changes when the keyboard is enabled. You must disable the keyboard, and then rotate the emulator.



Important Note:


Special characters on the keyboard of a localized version of a Windows development computer are not supported by Windows Phone Emulator in this release. To enter special characters that are present on a localized keyboard, use the Software Input Panel (SIP) instead.



Enabling and Disabling the Keyboard


To enable the keyboard in the emulator



  • Press the PAGE UP key.
    -or-
  • Press the PAUSE/BREAK key.


To disable the keyboard in the emulator



  • Press the PAGE DOWN key.
    -or-
  • Press the PAUSE/BREAK key.


Keyboard Mapping


The following table lists the keys on a development computer keyboard and their corresponding keys on a Windows Phone hardware keyboard.


Computer keyboard key

Windows Phone hardware key

Notes


ESC



Not applicable.



Disabled.



F1



BACK






F2



START






F3



SEARCH






F4



Not applicable.



Disabled.



F5



Not applicable.



Disabled.



F6



CAMERA HALF



A dedicated camera key that is pressed halfway. Not supported in Windows Phone Developer Tools.



F7



CAMERA FULL



A dedicated camera key. Not supported in Windows Phone Developer Tools.



F8



Not applicable.



Disabled.



F9



VOLUME UP






F10



VOLUME DOWN









F12



Not applicable.



Disabled.



PRINT SCREEN



POWER



Not supported in Windows Phone Developer Tools.



PAUSE/BREAK



Not applicable.



Enables the hardware keyboard.



PAGE UP



Not applicable.



Enables the hardware keyboard.



PAGE DOWN



Not applicable.



Disables the hardware keyboard.



TAB



Not applicable.



Disabled, except in a multiline text box, if the application supports tabbing.



CAPS LOCK



Not applicable.



Disabled.






Left CTRL



FN






Windows logo key



Not applicable.



Disabled. Shows the development computer Start menu.



Left ALT



ACCENT



The ACCENT key on the device has the ÄÉ symbol on it.



Right ALT



EMOTICON



The EMOTICON key on the device has a smiley face on it.



MENU



Not applicable.



Disabled.



Right CTRL



SYMBOL (SYM)






Using the Keyboard


This section describes how to use some of the keyboard keys on the Windows Phone Emulator. The behavior of the keys is the same as on a Windows Phone device.

Special Keys


The following table describes the behavior of special keys on the keyboard.


Key Name

Hardware button

Key usage


ENTER



Press to insert a new line. Press and hold to insert multiple lines.



BACKSPACE



Press to delete a single character to the left of the cursor. Press and hold to delete multiple characters. Press and hold for a longer period to delete multiple words.



SPACE



Press to insert a single space. Press and hold to insert multiple spaces.




SHIFT



Press to switch between Shift On and Shift Off. Shift On mode remains in effect until the next key press completes. Press and hold to switch between Shift Off and Shift Lock. When FN mode is FN On or FN Locked, press SHIFT to switch between Shift Off and Shift Lock.




FN



Press to switch between FN On and FN Off. FN On mode remains in effect until the next key press completes. Press and hold to switch between FN Off and FN Lock.



SYM



Press to open the symbol picker. Press and hold to open the language picker. When FN mode is FN On or FN Locked, press SYM to switch to the next language.




ACCENT



Press to add an accent to the letter positioned to the left of the cursor. Press multiple times to cycle through the available accented forms of the letter. Press and hold to open the accent picker. When FN mode is FN On or FN Locked, press ACCENT to cycle in reverse order through the available accented forms of the letter.




EMOTICON




Press to open the emoticon picker.



Shift Mode


Use Shift mode to type uppercase letters.

If you switch between editable fields, the Shift mode resets to Shift Off.

The Shift mode state of the hardware keyboard is independent of the Shift mode state of the SIP. software input panel (SIP).

If you press the SHIFT key, and while holding the Shift key down press a second key, the second key is treated as if Shift mode is set to Shift On. This action is not treated as a press-and-hold action of the SHIFT key. After you release the SHIFT key, Shift mode is set to Shift Off.

The following table shows the supported Shift modes.


Mode

Symbol

Notes


Shift Off



This is the default Shift mode.



Shift On



Shift On mode remains in effect until the next key press completes, unless the next key pressed is FN or SYM, which do not reset the Shift mode.



Shift Lock (CAPS LOCK)



Shift Lock locks the keyboard in Shift On mode.



FN Mode


The FN mode determines whether the primary or secondary actions of a key are enabled. In FN On mode, the secondary action is enabled.

If you switch between editable fields, the FN mode resets to FN Off.

If you press the FN key, and while holding the FN key down you press a second key, the second key is treated as if FN mode is set to FN On. This action is not treated as a press-and-hold action of the FN key. After you release the FN key, FN mode is set to FN Off.

The following table shows the supported FN modes.


Mode

Symbol

Notes


FN Off



This is the default FN mode.



FN On



FN On mode remains in effect until the next key press completes, unless the next key pressed is SHIFT or SYM, which do not reset the FN mode.



FN Lock




FN Lock locks the keyboard in FN On mode.



Shift Mode and FN Mode Combinations

The following table shows the input result for various combinations of Shift mode and FN mode.


FN mode

Shift Off

Shift On

Shift Lock


FN Off



Primary action or character, lowercase characters.



Primary action or character, uppercase characters.



Primary action or character, consecutive uppercase characters. Used for acronyms or inserting words in all uppercase.



FN On



Secondary action or character, lowercase characters. Used for symbols or accented letters.



Secondary action or character, uppercase characters. Used for uppercase accented letters.



Secondary action or character, consecutive uppercase characters. Used for acronyms or inserting words with accents in all uppercase.



FN Lock



Secondary action or character, lowercase characters. Used for numeric values.



Not supported.



Not su