Global F1 help key

F1 key usually displays help in any context. Classic Swing action model would require that you set a key listener for all components on the screen. If you use input maps, you can install a central listener for all components inside a frame. This code installs a listener for F1 for all components in top-level JComponent (you cannot use this with a a JFrame, but can attach actions to the content panel of a JFrame - for a full example, see interacting with users):

    KeyStroke ks=KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_F1,0);
    topComponent.getInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_ANCESTOR_OF_FOCUSED_COMPONENT).put(ks,"HELP");
    topComponent.getActionMap().put("HELP",new AbstractAction(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt){
         // do something here, display a dialog or whatever
    });