The Ingres forms-based tools consistently equate certain FRS keys with standard menu item operations. Because of this, the end user can always use the same function or control or arrow key to perform that operation, no matter what its position on the menu line. Because the end user does not need to refer to the menu item's label, these operations are usually located at the end of the menu line, allowing those operations that are unique to a particular frame to appear first. For example, if frskey1 is mapped to control-H, the end user can always get help by pressing Ctrl+H.

FRS key operations are predefined in the applications code for the Ingres forms-based tools as shown in the following table. The terminal level key‑mapping files contain default key assignments for these FRS keys. For more information, see FRS Mapping File (Windows) (see page FRS Mapping File (Windows)) and Terminal Type Level Mapping (see page Terminal Type Level Mapping) (for UNIX and VMS environments).

An application developed with an embedded query language or 4GL cannot automatically have the same FRS key-menu item linkage. By using this table as a model for associating FRS keys with program operations, an application developer can help provide a consistent end-user interface for all custom applications that is also consistent with key usage in the Ingres forms-based tools.

Specifications written using the function key facility provided in earlier releases of Ingres continues to operate correctly. If desired, such specifications can be placed in a mapping file containing statements using the new function/control/arrow key mapping facility. In a future release, however, the function key facility is phased out; therefore, it is not documented here.