All Topics  
Control-C

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Control-C
 
 
  Topics Control-C Topic Home

In computing
Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, control-C is a control character
Control character

In computing and telecommunication, a control Grapheme or non-printing character is a code point in a character encoding, that does not in itself represent a written symbol....
 in ASCII code, also known as the end of text (ETX) character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard.

In many GUI
Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface is a type of user interface which allows people to human-computer interaction such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment....
 environments, including Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
 and most desktop environment
Desktop environment

In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today....
s based on the X Window System
X Window System

The X Window System is a computing software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface for networked computers. It implements the X Window System protocols and architecture and provides windowing system on raster graphics Visual display units and manages Keyboard and pointing device control functions....
, and in applications such as word processing
Word processor

A word processor is a computer Application software used for the production of any sort of printable material.Word processor may also refer to an obsolete type of stand-alone office machine, popular in the 1970s and 80s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter with a dedicated computer for th...
 software running in those environments, control-C can be used to copy highlighted text to the clipboard
Clipboard (software)

The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term Computer data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Control-C'
Start a new discussion about 'Control-C'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


In computing
Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, control-C is a control character
Control character

In computing and telecommunication, a control Grapheme or non-printing character is a code point in a character encoding, that does not in itself represent a written symbol....
 in ASCII code, also known as the end of text (ETX) character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard.

In many GUI
Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface is a type of user interface which allows people to human-computer interaction such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment....
 environments, including Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
 and most desktop environment
Desktop environment

In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today....
s based on the X Window System
X Window System

The X Window System is a computing software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface for networked computers. It implements the X Window System protocols and architecture and provides windowing system on raster graphics Visual display units and manages Keyboard and pointing device control functions....
, and in applications such as word processing
Word processor

A word processor is a computer Application software used for the production of any sort of printable material.Word processor may also refer to an obsolete type of stand-alone office machine, popular in the 1970s and 80s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter with a dedicated computer for th...
 software running in those environments, control-C can be used to copy highlighted text to the clipboard
Clipboard (software)

The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term Computer data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations....
. Control-C was one of a handful of keyboard sequences chosen by the program designers at Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC

PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology....
 to control text editing
Text editor

A text editor is a type of software application used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
. Presumably these particular keystrokes were chosen because of their location on a standard QWERTY keyboard, since the Z
Control-Z

In computing, control-Z is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the substitute character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
 (undo), X
Control-X

In computing, control-X is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the cancel character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
 (cut), C (copy), and V
Control-V

In computing, Control-V is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the synchronous idle character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
 (paste) keys are located together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard QWERTY
QWERTY

QWERTY is the most used modern-day keyboard layout on English-language computer keyboard and typewriter keyboards. It takes its name from the first six Graphemes seen in the far left of the keyboard's top row of letters....
 keyboard. The equivalent Mac OS
Mac OS

Mac OS is the trademarked name for a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems....
 key combination on Apple computers is Command
Command key

The Command key, also historically known as the Apple key or open-Apple key, is a modifier key present on Apple Keyboards. An "extended" Macintosh keyboard?the most common type?has two command keys, one on each side of the space bar; some compact keyboards have one only on the left....
-C (or Apple-C).

Under most Unix-like
Unix-like

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
 systems control-C is used to terminate the process currently in the foreground in a command shell
Shell (computing)

In computing, a shell is a piece of software that provides an Interface for users. Typically, the term refers to an operating system shell which provides access to the services of a kernel ....
 by sending it a SIGINT
SIGINT (POSIX)

On POSIX-compliant platforms, SIGINT is the Signal sent to a process when a user wishes to interrupt it. In source code, SIGINT is a C_preprocessor defined in the header file signal.h....
. This system is usually preserved even in graphical
Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface is a type of user interface which allows people to human-computer interaction such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment....
 terminal emulator
Terminal emulator

A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video Computer terminal within some other display architecture....
s; in this case, different keystrokes are usually chosen for copying the selection, such as control-insert or control-shift-C.

Representation

  • ASCII
    ASCII

    American Standard Code for Information Interchange , is a coding standard that can be used for interchanging information, if the information is expressed mainly by the written form of English words....
     and Unicode
    Unicode

    Unicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate Character expressed in most of the world's writing systems....
     representation of "End Of Text":
    Octal code: 3
    Decimal code: 3
    Hexadecimal code: 03, U+0003
    Mnemonic symbol: ETX


See also

  • Control-D
  • Control-V
    Control-V

    In computing, Control-V is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the synchronous idle character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
  • Control-X
    Control-X

    In computing, control-X is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the cancel character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
  • Control-Z
    Control-Z

    In computing, control-Z is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the substitute character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....
  • Control-\
    Control-

    In computing, control- is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the field separator character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard....