Controlling gnome-panel menus/applets via command-line

[Ryan Jendoubi <ryan jendoubi gmail com>]

Hello list,

I've often wanted to find out how to evoke gnome-panel menus via textual 
commands, so that I could open and switch focus to a menu via a keyboard 
shortcut. For example, GNOME 2's "shutdown menu" part of the Indicator 
applet is mapped to <Super-S> on my system, and the main Applications 
menu is accessible via <Alt-F1>.

Say I'd like to change these mappings, or create similar mappings in 
GNOME Classic - I'd need to have a "command" to evoke on pressing my 
desired keyboard combination, right? I don't know how else to describe 
what I want to the system. So:

What command can be used to interact with gnome-panel menus / applets?

And, is there a generalised way I can find out what internal signals or 
commands are executed when I interact with parts of the GNOME desktop 
with the mouse?

Thanks!
--
--Ryan