What is the Tab key on a microcomputer keyboard?

The Tab key on the microcomputer keyboard is: the tab positioning key. On a computer keyboard, the Tab key is the abbreviation of tabulator key or tabular key, which is used to advance the cursor to the next anchor point.

On a computer keyboard, the Tab key (short for tabulator key or tabular key) is used to advance the cursor to the next on an anchor point.

The word "Tab" is derived from the English "tabulate", which means "arranging data in a table, or tabular form." If you want to enter a text or numerical table on a typewriter, you must constantly use the blank key and the Backspace key, which is not only repetitive but also very time-consuming.

In order to simplify this process, people invented movable levers, which can be entered at different locations on the page by moving on the horizontal bar.

At first these mechanisms had to be set manually, but soon there were "Tab set" and "tab clear" buttons.

When the Tab key pops up, the typewriter's sliding frame will advance to the next anchor point (tab stop), and these anchor points correspond to the specific field positions of the current form (ie, tab). The Tab mechanism has also become a way to quickly and consistently indent the first line of each paragraph.

In many programming languages, you can use the escape character \t to insert an anchor character.

The purpose of the Tab key

In word processing programs, the Tab key is usually used to advance the cursor to the next anchor point. In other graphical applications (GUI), the Tab key moves input focus to the next control.

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