ListTbl Users Guide
Doug Lee
Last Revised July, 2023

This short document explains how to use the ListTbl scripts for navigating supported controls with JAWS in any application. These scripts require JAWS version 15.0 or later.

Table of Contents

• What Is ListTbl?
• Script Installation Instructions
• Commands and Features
• Usage Examples
• Revision History

What Is ListTbl?

These scripts make standard HTML table navigation commands (Ctrl+Alt with arrows, Home, End, etc.) apply to various types of controls. This facilitates scanning down columns other than column 1 without having to type numerous or difficult key sequences. There are also a few added commands for clicking cells and column headers without having to use the JAWS cursor. The JAWS Table Layer commands also work on supported controls.

The types of controls supported by these scripts are

• ListView controls such as are found in Windows Explorer and many applications.
• The Windows 10 Task Manager lists in the various tabs, including the TreeView controls in the Processes and Users tabs.

Script Installation Instructions

To install these scripts on a new system:

1. Load JAWS if this has not already been done. This will require administrative privileges on the computer.
2. Run JAWS as the user for whom the scripts are to be installed. This and the following steps must be performed for each user of the computer who will be using JAWS with these scripts.
3. Download and run, or run directly, the installer for these scripts; and follow the on-screen directions. Be sure to install the scripts in the currently running JAWS version if a JAWS version list is presented.

Commands and Features

The primary feature of these scripts is to make the standard JAWS table navigation commands work in supported controls. This works in all supported JAWS keyboard layouts and uses the same keystrokes in each as appear in HTML environments. The Table Layer commands also work on supported controls.

In addition to the standard table navigation commands though, these scripts add a few commands for left-clicking and right-clicking "cells" and column headers in supported controls. These added commands work only in supported controls and do not carry over to HTML environments. The following table lists the available functions with the commands for each supported keyboard layout:

Note: Though standard JAWS Table Layer commands do not exit the Table Layer, the above Table Layer commands will do so. This is because clicking cells and headers usually causes new or reorganized screens to appear, whereas the standard JAWS Table Layer commands simply navigate among cells. As a side effect, it will be necessary to use commands outside of the Table Layer in order to double-click cells.

Usage Examples

In the following examples, the Common/Desktop layout is assumed. For other layouts or the Table Layer, substitute appropriate keystrokes as necessary.

Revision History

Here is the revision history of these scripts, most recent revision first. Note that revision numbers for these scripts are artificially high because these scripts were initially part of BX.

Revision 2392, released July 10, 2023

• The UIA support is refactored significantly and updated to account for recent increases in JAWS' UIA support. A JAWS restart after installing this script update is recommended, though not required. This refactor is being applied to several projects. Users who use several of this author's script sets may notice a slight reduction in JAWS' memory consumption as these updates progress.
• The installer and uninstaller more carefully check for errors while updating .ini-style files.

Revision 2387, released September 08, 2020

• The table commands supported for ListView controls in these scripts also work in Windows 10 Task Manager tree controls for Processes and Users tabs. They already worked in the lists under other tabs. The commands for clicking cells and headers also work in the Windows 10 Task Manager.
• The minimum JAWS version is changed from 14.0 to 15.0 to better support UIA as required for the above feature.
• A rare condition was fixed in which information for a list could be "remembered" for too long and reported in place of current information. Technical information on this multi-project fix appears in The JAWS Script Cache Life Cycle (CLC) Bug and Resolution.
• The release history is now part of the manual rather than being in a separate file/page.
• Keystroke names in this document are more consistent, and there are other minor documentation improvements, including how well screen readers respond to activation of links in this document.
• The installer contains version and product information visible from the Details tab in Windows Explorer, to better identify its contents. This update is being applied to all projects.
• A "directives" text file is included that provides information on how to install this set of scripts manually. See "Handling Directives Files" in the "Common Script Elements" document for further information.
• Source code to the scripts is no longer included. See my Script Distribution Policy document for details. As one side effect, this will cause installation to run somewhat faster.
• The messages for these scripts are now distributed in XML files so that translators can create translations with no need for script source recompilation. See the Script Translation Procedure document for details on how to translate these scripts, including how to update the XML message file.

Revision 2119, April 9, 2019

• JAWS 14.0 or later now required (changed from 11.0 because of a performance update that only works starting in JAWS 14).
• Installer built with older, safer NSIS version.
• Installer language updates.
• JAWSUtil guesses drives D and E along with C when seeking the JAWS executable while unable to read the Windows registry.

Revision 1878, September 11, 2017

• This update fixes a beep on Ctrl+Alt+Up and Ctrl+Alt+Down in some cases and adds installer support for JAWS 2018.

Revision 1691, July 22, 2016

• This update just prevents the script installer from installing into a JAWS version that has default scripts with no provided source code. This usually indicates a script set that is commercial and that does not support script chain management. For those who attempted installation of these scripts prior to this update and who are having problems using JAWS as a result:
  • Run the uninstaller for these scripts.
  • Rename default.jkm in the JAWS user folder, then restart JAWS. The JAWS user folder can be opened via Start, All Programs, JAWS <your JAWS version>, Explore JAWS, Explore My Settings. This step should make JAWS commands work as expected if they did not. If you do not see a default.jkm file, skip this step.
  • Reinstall the commercial scripts that were present before you attempted to install these scripts.

Revision 1689, July 19, 2016

• The installer name for this script set is changed.
• Script source code is distributed starting with this revision and is compiled during installation.
• default.jkm is updated by the installer instead of by the autoStartEvent in the scripts. This should avoid a possible minor delay on JAWS start.
• The JAWS Table Layer, introduced in JAWS 13, is supported for supported controls.
• The user guide for these scripts is updated and is placed in the script folder alongside the scripts themselves.

Revision 1600, January 19, 2016

• This update fixes installer issues for JAWS 17 and includes minor code updates acquired from other projects over the previous two years.
• A note on the revision number: Shortly after the publication of this ListTbl script set in January of 2014, I chose to incorporate ListTbl into a set of files for another project. They are still managed that way, and so the revision number reflects modifications made to files that are not related to ListTbl; hence the huge jump in revision number.

Revision 57, January 7, 2014

• This is the first release of these scripts.