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I'm using Open Office 3.1.1 on Ubuntu 9.10. I want to change the shortcut for "Save As" to (the more logical) Ctrl+Alt+S instead of the default Ctrl+Shift+S.

I think I've finally got my head round how the bad interface for assigning shortcuts works, but under "Shortcut keys" there aren't any Ctrl/Alt shortcuts listed. Can I not set these? Or is there a different way to set shortcuts that I'm missing?

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  • Are you using Gnome? Chances are Ctrl-Alt is captured at that level. Where are you finding the bad interface, in Gnome or OO?
    – kmarsh
    Oct 29, 2010 at 17:11
  • Ctrl+Alt may be equivalent to the AltGr key for accessing third and fourth characters on keys, so Ctrl+Alt is often avoided in default shortcuts. You may be able to set Ctrl+Alt in your own personal shortcuts, but might have problems distributing them to friends who use a different keyboard layout.
    – Bavi_H
    Oct 31, 2010 at 5:12
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    I have OpenOffice.org 2.3 on Windows XP. If your version is similar to mine then I see what you mean: There's a fixed list of key combinations you can use for shortcuts. The omission of Ctrl+Alt is probably because of its AltGr use.
    – Bavi_H
    Oct 31, 2010 at 5:25

2 Answers 2

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From the OpenOffice.org documentation wiki, How Tos - Edit Keyboard Configuration File suggests making shortcuts containing the Alt key isn't available from the interface but can be done by editing a config file. The bug report linked to from that page says Alt shortcuts are available in OpenOffice.org 3.2.

However, at the bottom of the How To page, there's a section for Verson 3.1 on (Ubuntu) Linux that says

On Ubuntu Linux, it seems that the functionality of the Alt-Gr key can't be modified by OpenOffice. Therefore D_MOD1_MOD2 (=ALT-Gr) won't work. However, D_MOD2 for the standard ALT key (on the left side of the long space key) works well as described in the section on OOo 3.1 above.

Earlier in the page it's explained that MOD1 is Ctrl and MOD2 is Alt, so this seems to say that OpenOffice.org can't control Ctrl+Alt combinations in Ubuntu Linux.

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I'm not sure if this is just for windows, or in the GUI is relatively the same cross platforms, but I found the following information at http://www.ehow.com/how_6905778_set-keyboard-shortcuts-openoffice.html

  1. Run the OpenOffice program you want to modify. If you want to modify the shortcut keys for all OpenOffice programs installed on your PC, run any OpenOffice program.

  2. Select "Tools" on the top toolbar and click "Customize."

  3. Select the "Keyboard" tab.

  4. Click the radio dial button next to "OpenOffice.org" to modify the shortcut keys for all OpenOffice programs. Click the radio dial button for the current program to only edit the shortcut keys for that program.

  5. Select the key you want to modify under the "Shortcut Keys" list.

  6. Select its "Category," "Function" and "Keys" from the appropriate lists.

  7. Click "Modify" to change or set the new shortcut key.

  8. Click "OK" to confirm and save all changes.

-Good Luck

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