Help on Keys

Here we provide help on using keys to select specific functions, enter text 
and numbers, and select menus and options.  The mouse can perform every 
function that keys do, except text entry.  

Using Keys to Select Functions 

When we talk about a key that performs a certain function, we talk about the 
logical key that performs that function, not the physical key.  The main 
reason for this is that the mapping of physical keys to logical keys may be 
changed at some sites.  

For example, the logical Help key may correspond to a physical key labeled 
Help or to one labeled F1.  Because of potential confusion in this area, we 
just tell you to press the Help key.

One key unique to the Macintosh is the Command key, sometimes called the 
"propeller" key, which is mapped to the logical key, Meta.  This Meta key is 
equivalent to the Alt key shown in some of the window menus.  If you are 
using a Macintosh keyboard, when you see Alt F1 on a window menu, hold down 
the Meta key while pressing the F1 key.  

You can use the Help key to get information whenever you see a "Help" button 
displayed.  Point to and then click on the "Help" button to display help 
information.  You can get the same result by pressing the Help key.  When you 
press the Help key, it is as if you pointed to and clicked on the "Help" 
button.  When you select "Help," a box is displayed that explains how the 
operation in the current window works.  

Any time you want to leave a main window, press the F4 key.  This does the 
same thing as if you clicked on "File" from the main window and then selected 
the "Quit" option.   When you press the F4 key, the window displays a 
confirmation box that asks you to confirm that you want to quit.  Click on 
"OK" in the confirmation box if you want to quit.  Otherwise, click on 
"Cancel" to return to the main window.  

These two methods (pressing the F4 key or selecting "Quit") are the only ones 
you should use to leave an application.  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 creates 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.  

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 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 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.  

If there are a number of related text input fields, you can usually use the 
Tab and Shift-Tab keys to move between them.  The Tab key moves you to the 
next text input field.  The Shift-Tab sequence (holding down Shift while 
pressing Tab) moves you to the previous text input field.  

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.  

Selecting Menus and Options 

Typical windows have a menu bar to show you the options available on that 
window such as "File," "Audit," or "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, hold down 
the Meta key, then press the A key.  

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 on the window menu, 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.  
