Dialog boxes

Much of the action in QuickBooks? happens in dialog boxes. Some forms are just large dialog boxes. They are designed to be intuitive, but a few pointers will help you understand some of the less obvious ways to operate in them.

Picking a spot to do something seems simple enough. Just click there. Well maybe not. The better choice is to click one place up or to the left, and then press Tab to move the action to where you want it. Any existing content will be highlighted to indicate that the field is selected and typing will replace its content. Use Tab to move between fields. There are times when the mouse is a must, and times to stay on the keyboard.

Check boxes toggle, meaning XE "check boxes" that repeated clicks will check or clear (blank) the box turning the function on or off.

Simple dialog boxes may need only one action. If there is only one button, usually OK, marked active (highlighted), pressing Enter pushes the button. (Maybe the news is not OK, but you have to accept it to go on.) The buttons may have underscored letters, to indicate shortcut keys (press that letter). Notice that Cancel has no underscore. The shortcut key for cancel is usually the Escape key.