Help on Fundamentals

Here we provide help on some window, mouse, and keyboard fundamentals.  

In a window environment, you directly manipulate objects in a window, using 
either a mouse or the keyboard.  Generally speaking, you perform specific 
actions on objects you select.  

A window is an area of the screen through which you communicate with your 
system.  Several windows may be present on your screen, but the active window 
is the one in front of all the others.  Shading or colors distinguish the 
active window from the other windows behind it. 

When multiple windows are displayed, they stack like sheets of paper, one 
over the other, with the active window in front.  If you click on a window in 
the background, it moves to the foreground, thus becoming your active 
window.  The window that was formerly in the foreground moves to the 
background.  

You can manipulate your windows to make your working environment comfortable, 
or arrange them for the task at hand.  Besides selecting menu options from 
windows, you can move, resize, enlarge, and shrink windows. 

Using a Mouse 

A mouse lets you select objects and actions.  It also lets you indicate where 
you want to enter or edit text.  An arrow on your screen indicates the 
relative position of the mouse.  The arrow moves when you move the mouse.  
You can move the arrow anywhere, even off the window.  

These are the different ways you can use the mouse:  

Clicking: Point the arrow and then click (press) the button to select an 
object or perform an action.  (If your mouse has more than one button, click 
the left one.)  Press and release the button quickly without moving the 
mouse.  When you click on an item, it is highlighted to indicate it has been 
selected.  

Double-Clicking: Point to your selection and quickly click and release the 
button twice without moving the mouse.  One use of double-clicking is to 
highlight text in a box so you can delete the text.  

Dragging: Press the button and hold it down while moving the mouse.  This 
drags the cursor across your window.  Do this to perform operations such as 
moving a window or selecting (highlighting) a block of text.  

Pressing: Press the button and hold it down.  This is useful for moving a 
scroll bar to view a list in a box.  

The mouse pointer changes shape to indicate its function.  It becomes: 

An "Arrow" or pointer shape to indicate that you can point to an object or 
action.  

An "I-beam" or thin upright line when you move around in text.  The I-beam 
indicates your exact position in the text.  

A "Wristwatch" or timepiece shape when you perform an operation that takes 
more than a moment to occur.  Do not do anything while this symbol is shown; 
wait until the arrow reappears.  

A "Star" to indicate that you can move or resize a window (explained later).  

Using a Keyboard 

For information about keys and using your keyboard, see "Help on Keys." 

Entering Text and Numbers 

Most of the text you enter in these windows, is entered into boxes we call 
"text input fields."  Text input fields let you communicate specific 
information, such as words, numbers, file names, or pathnames to the system.  
Text input fields usually appear as labeled boxes in a window.  Text input 
fields usually have default values.  You can either accept the default 
provided by the system or replace the default with something better suited to 
the situation at hand.  

The following rules apply to text input fields:  

A single click either moves or activates the text cursor.  If you can see the 
"I-beam" cursor, then the text cursor is already active.  If you move the 
I-beam to a different location and single click on the new location, the text 
cursor is active at that new location.  If you see the normal mouse pointer, 
move the pointer inside a text input field (or text box) and single click the 
mouse.  This activates the text cursor at the mouse pointer's current 
location and the I-beam appears instead of the mouse pointer.  

A double click highlights a string (such as a word, number, or pathname) 
inside the text input field.  A string is any sequence of characters and/or 
punctuation without any spaces in it.  A blank or space character separates 
one string from the next.  Once a sting is highlighted, you can directly 
overwrite that string simply by typing the new value.  Or, you can delete a 
highlighted string by pressing the Delete key and then enter a new string.  

A triple click highlights the entire contents (one or more strings) inside 
the text input field.  Once the entire contents are highlighted, you can 
overtype them or delete them as just described.  

Clicking on the "OK" button, usually found near the bottom of the window, 
accepts the contents of the text input field -- either the default or 
whatever you entered in place of the default.  

The size of the text input field often indicates the size of the string you 
can enter.  Do not use commas when entering numbers.  In the case of some 
strings, the text box is bigger than it looks.  When you fill up the part of 
the text input field that you can see, the text shifts to the left as you 
continue typing.  

When entering pathnames the number of characters you can enter in the text 
input field is equal to your system's default value for the legal maximum 
size of a pathname.  This varies from system to system but the value is more 
than you need in all but the most extreme circumstances.  If you reach the 
right side of the text input field while entering a pathname, just keep 
typing.  The text shifts to the left as needed to accomodate more text.  

If you make a typing error use the Delete key to backspace over the incorrect 
characters, then enter the correct characters.  If you decide to erase what 
is in text input field after typing something, use the double-click/Delete 
key sequence described above to remove the text box's contents.  

You can also erase text by pointing at the first character inside the box you 
want to delete and then dragging the pointer across the text to highlight 
some or all of the box's text.  To drag the pointer across the text, click 
and hold the mouse button and then move the mouse in the direction of the 
text you want to highlight.  Then press the Delete key to erase the 
highlighted text and re-enter your information.  

If there are a set of related text boxes, all of which are not displayed at 
once, then a scroll bar appears to indicate that you can scroll to the other 
text input fields.  To do so, move the mouse pointer to the scroll bar in the 
direction you want to see, and click the mouse.  Some of the other text boxes 
scroll into sight.  

The RETURN key usually does not do anything when you are working with a text 
input field.  In appropriate areas of this manual, we tell you about the few 
special cases where pressing RETURN does have an effect.  Generally, you can 
ignore the RETURN key when working with text input fields.  

Basic Window Features 

We describe typical window features in this section, but you should know that 
sall of these features may not be available at your site depending on how 
your system is configured.  

Along the top of any main window, you can see the title bar, which includes 
the window's title.  Besides the window's title, the title bar contains:  

A minimize button to the right side of the title bar.  When you click on the 
minimize button you reduce the window to an icon, a small representation of 
the window.  If the window is an icon, that is -- minimized -- performing a 
double-click on that icon restores the window to its normal size.  

A maximize button to the far right side of the title bar, next to the 
minimize button.  When you click on the maximize button, the window is 
"maximized" to cover the entire screen.  You can restore it to its normal 
size by clicking anywhere in the window.  

A window menu button on the far left side of the title bar.  When you click 
on the window menu button, the pull-down window menu appears.  The options on 
this menu are explained in below.

Typical windows also have a "menu bar" to show you the options available on 
that window.  For example, a menu bar for Auditing might contain the three 
options: "File", "Audit", and "Help".  

You can select an option by clicking on it with a mouse or by using the 
keyboard.  When you use the keyboard to select one of these main menus, you 
must press the Meta key before you type the underscored letter that 
corresponds to the menu.  For example, to look at the Audit menu described 
above, you could hold down the Meta key, then press the A key.  

Using the Window Menu 

The window menu, which lets you perform common window operations, should be 
available on any main window.  The actual contents and even the availability 
of the window menu may vary from site to site.  Your window menu may be 
different from the standard one we describe here. 

Pull down the window menu by clicking on the small box at the far left side 
of the title bar.  Each option on this menu contains an underscored letter 
and, to the right of the option, an Alt-function key sequence.  Besides 
clicking on an option to select it, you can either type the underscored 
letter or hold down the Meta key while pressing the displayed function key to 
select it.  

For example, to select the "Move" option, you can click on it with the mouse, 
press the M key, or hold down the Meta key while pressing the F7 key.  You 
can also use the Meta-function key sequences to quickly access the window 
menu's options when the window menu is not displayed.  For example, pressing 
Meta-F7 selects the "Move" option.  

Here are the standard window menu options:  

"Restore" restores a minimized or maximized window to its normal size.  This 
option is dimmed and cannot be selected when the window is its normal size.  

"Move" moves a window around on the screen.  

"Size" stretches or shrinks a window in the direction indicated by the mouse 
pointer.    

"Minimize" changes a window into its icon, a small representation of the 
window.  

"Maximize" enlarges a window to its maximum size.  

"Lower" moves the active window to the bottom of the stack of windows.  The 
window that was immediately beneath the active window becomes the new active 
window.  

"Close" closes a window and removes it from the screen.  

A menu option may not always be available.  If an option does not make sense 
in a given situation, the option is dimmed, indicating that it is not 
available.  

Resizing Windows 

Changing a window's size can make certain tasks easier to perform.  For 
example, a large window may not fit entirely on your screen.  In this case, 
you may want to reduce its size so you can see all of it at once.  

You can use any of a window's borders -- top, bottom, two sides, and four 
corners -- to change its size.  To resize a window using the window's sides, 
point to a side.  Use the window's sides to adjust its width.  When the 
mouse's pointer touches the window's side, it turns into a star shape.  When 
this happens, hold down the mouse's button and drag the side of the window 
around your screen.  A measurement box in the center of the window displays 
the window's length and width in pixels.  Notice also the "rubber-band" 
outline of the window indicating its new dimensions.  Release the mouse 
button and the window is re-drawn at the new size.  

To adjust the window's height, drag the window upwards from the bottom, or 
drag it downwards from the top. 

If you hold down the mouse button on a window's corner and move it around, 
you can change two dimensions at once.  There are some limits on how big or 
how small you can make a window; feel free to experiment.  

If you make a window smaller, you may not be able to see or access all the 
features in that window, although the top left corner of the window is always 
present.  If you want to work with other items in the right side or bottom of 
the window, resize the window until everything disappears.  

Using Menus 

When you select an option from a window's menu bar, a "pull-down" menu 
appears with options of its own.  When you are not using the pull-down menu, 
it rolls up out of sight.  You can roll up a pull-down menu by clicking 
anywhere on the window outside the menu area. 

You select an option from a pull-down menu just like any other: by clicking 
on the option.  Some of these options have an arrow following the option 
name.  The arrow indicates that more selections are available.  When you 
click on one of these options, a cascade menu with its own options appears to 
the right of the option you selected.  You can release the mouse button and 
the cascade menu disappears.  Or, you can click on one of the cascade menu's 
options to select it.  

Leaving an Application 

Whenever you want to exit an application, use the "File" option provided on 
the main application window.  That is, select "File" from the menu bar and 
then select "Quit" from the pull-down menu that appears.  When you do so, the 
application immediately closes the main application window and removes it 
from your workspace.  You are not asked for confirmation, so make sure you 
want to leave the application before selecting "Quit."  

Alternatively, you can leave a main application window by pressing the F4 
key.  This does the same thing as clicking on "File" and selecting "Quit" -- 
it immediately terminates the application without any further intervention on 
your part.  

These two methods are the only ones you should use to leave an application.  

Note: Do not use the window menu to leave an application.  If you click on 
the small rectangle in the upper left corner of the window, the window menu 
appears.  If you then select the Close option from the window menu, the 
window is closed and removed from your workspace.  Double-clicking on the 
small rectangle in the upper left corner of your window has the same effect: 
it removes the current window.  

This is NOT the recommended method for leaving an application window because 
it can create a problem.  Basically, this method does not allow the 
application to properly finish its processing and clean up after itself.  
When this happens, there may be, for example, stray files that should have 
been removed by the application upon termination.  To exit gracefully, these 
applications require that you terminate them using the method recommended 
above.  Avoid using the window menu to terminate an application.  

Changing the Appearance of an Application's Windows 

You can change the appearance of application windows on your screen by 
changing the "resource file" for that application.  This allows you to change 
a window's border sizes, fonts in which text is displayed, positions of 
elements inside the window, and so on.  We suggest that you make these 
changes with careful forethought since drastic changes to certain window 
parameters may generate unpleasant results.  

Using Boxes and Buttons 

Most windows contain boxes.  We use boxes to gather information from you 
(such as the name of a file) or to display information to you (such as a list 
of reports).  We call the boxes in which you enter information text input 
fields.

Boxes help isolate different activities from one another in a window.  Boxes 
are unlike regular windows in that you cannot move or resize them.  

Scrolling Through a Box

If a box contains more items than can be displayed at one time, a scroll bar 
is added to the box.  A scroll bar is a narrow rectangle with an arrow at 
each end.  You can scroll through a list as frequently as you like.  Use 
these three methods to scroll through a list in the box:  

1. Point at the scroll bar, hold down the mouse button, and drag the bar in 
the direction you want.  

2. Point at one of the two arrows and click or hold down the mouse button to 
scroll the box's contents in that direction.  

3. Point in the open area of the scroll bar rectangle and click the mouse 
button to scroll the box's contents one window at a time.  

To select an item from a list inside one of these boxes, scroll through the 
list until you see the item you want.  Then click on it to highlight the 
item.  The item remains highlighted (that is, selected) until you explicitly 
deselect it.  

Deselect an item in a scroll box in one of two ways.  If the box with which 
you are working only allows you to select one item at a time, just select 
another item and the first, previously-selected item is deselected.  If the 
box allows multiple selections, click on the selected (highlighted) item to 
deselect it.  When an item is deselected, it is no longer highlighted.  

Using Buttons 

Windows often contain buttons.  When you "push" a button by clicking on it, 
you select the feature or operation the button represents.  

There are three types of buttons:  

1. Radio buttons are like the buttons on a car radio: as soon as you push 
one, the one you had previously selected is unselected.  Radio buttons 
usually represent single choice answers, such as a yes or no answer to a 
question.  Click on the button or on the button's label to select it.  

2. Check or Toggle buttons let you make selections that are not mutually 
exclusive.  You can click on several check buttons and each one you select 
initiates the action it represents.  For example, when working with Audit, 
you can apply certain audit parameters to the current session, to future 
sessions, or both by clicking on the appropriate check buttons.  Select a 
button by clicking either on the button or on the button's label.  

3. Push or Command buttons initiate action.  Click on the push button to 
initiate the action you want.  Some frequently used push buttons are "OK" to 
accept an operation, "Print" to print information displayed on the screen, 
and "Help" to obtain a help message.  

Responding to Messages 

When you enter text or accept certain selections, the system may respond with 
a message inside a box.  When a message box appears, you must respond to it 
before you can continue.  

If the operation you want to perform is particularly drastic, potentially 
dangerous, or time-consuming, an alert box appears.  An alert box tells you 
what is about to happen and lets you confirm or cancel the operation.  

Other messages remind you that you must take a specific action in order to 
continue.  Often they flag entries that the system cannot recognize and that 
you must correct before you can continue.  These types of messages are shown 
in boxes that appear in the lower right corner of your window.  Once you have 
read the message, click on the "OK" button in the message box to remove it 
from the window.  

Confirmation boxes appear in the upper left corner of your window after you 
make selections or entries and select "OK" to accept them.  This gives you a 
chance to confirm the operation at hand.  If you change your mind, or want to 
review what you have entered, select "Cancel".  This returns you to where you 
made your selections or entries.  Otherwise, select "OK" to accept your 
entries or the operation.  This performs the operation and returns you to the 
previous window.  
