Control-\
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In computing, control-\ is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the file separator or field separator (FS) character. It is generated by pressing the \ key while holding down the Ctrl key on a computer keyboard.
In its use as a file separator, this character can be used to subdivide textual data into records or other semantic units; for instance, it has this role in the ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial & Other Biometric Information. It is the highest-level of the four separators in the ASCII C0 and C1 control codes; the others are control-] (group separator), control-^ (record separator), and control-_ (unit separator).[1]
Under most UNIX-based operating systems control-\ is used to terminate a running process from a command shell and have it produce a memory core dump by sending it a SIGQUIT signal.[2] Other similar ways of terminating or interrupting a shell process include Control-C, Control-Z, and the kill command.
As a character that can be easily typed on most keyboards, but with no standardized meaning, control-\ is often used as a keyboard shortcut in different graphical user interfaces, with various unrelated effects. For instance, some versions of Windows File Manager use it to de-select all selected files.[3] In Adobe InDesign, it has been used to mark a point in a line of text as the starting position of a hanging indent.[4]
References
- ^ Mangold, Kevin (August 22, 2016), "Annex B: Traditional Encoding", Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial & Other Biometric Information ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2011 NIST Special Publication 500-290 Edition 3, American National Standards Institute and National Institute of Standards and Technology, pp. 509–522, doi:10.6028/NIST.SP.500-290e3
- ^ Stevens, W. Richard; Rago, Stephen A. (2013), Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, Addison-Wesley professional computing series, Pearson Education, p. 300, ISBN 9780321637734
- ^ Livingston, Brian (October 19, 1992), "More on file managing, networking, and mouse customization", Window Manager, InfoWorld, p. 22
- ^ Cohen, Sandee (2008), InDesign CS4 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, p. 161, ISBN 9780321648853
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