Last updated: 9/19/99
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AGS 3340: Windows common elements

1. Desktop. The opening Windows screen. Has icons and the Start button. Also, the Taskbar on the bottom shows programs that are running
2. Mouse actions
   1. Point - put the sensitive part of the mouse icon (point) on a screen feature
   2. Click - point and click the left button, once
   3. Right-click - point and click the right button, once
   4. Double-click - point and click the left button, twice, quickly (how quickly can be adjusted)
   5. Drag - point, hold down the left button, move the mouse and the feature, holding down the button, and release the button when the screen feature is in the desire position
3. Types of computer storage
   1. Computer information organized into bytes - eight bits. Roughly, one byte equals one character. In binary, one byte can store numbers ranging from 0 (eight zeroes) to 255 (eight ones), or 256 different numbers in all.
   2. RAM - Random access storage -- in MB (MegaBytes or Millions of Bytes). RAM is "working memory", but it is volatile -- information in RAM is lost when the computer is shut down.
   3. Permanent storage ("disk"). Also in MB or perhaps GB, but larger than RAM. Not really permanent, but it is non-volatile -- is not lost when computer is shut down. Types of disk drives:
      1. Hard drive or C: drive, inside computer. Very large capacity (MB or GB)
      2. Floppy disk or a: -- can be removed
      3. CD-ROM
      4. Zip
   4. To be used, information stored on a disk must be copied into RAM
4. Open Windows (NT) Explorer
5. A file is a set of bytes that
   1. are related
   2. have a location in permanent storage (disk) (but files must be loaded into RAM to be used)
   3. has a name, e.g. name.ext, * = "wildcard"
      1. Name
      2. In Windows, extension indicates type of file
         1. exe - main executable or program file
         2. dll - Dynamic Link Library, a collection of auxilliary programs loaded when needed
         3. doc - MS Word word processing file, also sometimes a WordPerfect word processing file
         4. xls - MS Excel spreadsheet/chart file, also xl* for other types
         5. mdb - MS Access file
      3. In Windows, programs will propose their "natural" extension when you save one of their files. If you change this extension, you make it more difficult for you to find the file.
      4. On the other hand, the file name should tell you about the content of the file, e.g. essay1.doc instead of File1.doc
6. Files are kept in folders and subfolders. Folders have names. You should use folders to organize your files. Use Windows (NT) Explorer to create and elete folders. (Example) Two files can only have the same name if they are in different folders.
   1. Path - the complete path to a file -- drive, folders and subfolders in order, filename (name and extension).
   2. Example: c:\MyDocuments\Internet\Essay1.doc
   3. Parts of a path
   4. In Windows, the file system is case-insensitive
7. Parts of a window - many windows have these parts
   1. Title bar - drag to move window
      1. Normally blue if active
      2. Grey if inactive
      3. Typing, mouse clicks go to the active window
   2. Border - drag to resize
   3. Close box, resize box, minimize box in upper right corner
   4. Click anywhere in a window to make it active
      1. or <Ctrl><Alt><Del> for Task Manager
      2. or <Alt><Tab> to cycle through names of open applications
      3. or <Alt><Esc> to cycle through the open applications themselves
8. Common elements of windows
   1. Menu. List of items near the top of the program window. Click on menu item, then click on desired item
   2. Button. Single click. (Some buttons have icons -- small pictures or symbols -- on them. By themselves, icons get double-clicked, but on a button, single-click.)
   3. Check box. Check to activate choice or unclick to disable
   4. Radio button. Click on one only in a group to make a choice among alternatives. If you click on another choice, the first choice becomes unclicked.
   5. Text line. Type in, generally hit <Enter> or click OK button
   6. Scroll bars. "elevator box" indicates how much and what section you are viewing. To move a little bit at a time, click on up or down arrows. To move one screen at a time, click on track above or below elevator box. Or - drag the elevator box.
   7. List, Scrolling list. Scrol, click on desired item and click OK button to select it. Or, double-click on desired item.
   8. Drop-down list. Click on down-pointing arrowhead to display list, then treat like a list. List may have scroll bars when pulled down.
   9. Dialog. Not a single element but a collection of elements to accomplish a complex task. Examples are File Open dialog and Save As dialog
9. Windows help comes in three forms
   1. Contents - like the contents of a book
   2. Index - detailed topics like the index of a book'
   3. Find - search for detailed topics
10. Selecting in Windows
    1. Select by
       1. Clicking on a single item
          1. In most cases, <Ctrl>click will add additional items, or unselect them if already selected
          2. In most cases, <Shift>click will add all elements between the first and the second
       2. Dragging over a group of items
       3. Edit / Select all and Invert Selection
    2. Selection turns darker
    3. Acted on as a single element -- a convenience and a danger
       1. Delete with Edit / Delete or <Del> key
       2. Copy to clipboard
       3. Drag 'N Drop to a new location (little box logo on mouse icon)
11. Common menu items
    1. File - treat files as a single item. Open a new document, Open and existing file, Save, Print, etc.
       1. Save As... - specify file format, drive, folder path, filename (name and extension). Warning - make sure the file name makes sense to you, but never change the extension without an extremely good reason. In Windows, programs recognize their files by the extension. (In contrast, Mac files contain the name of the application that created them. This is easier  that the Windows method, but less flexible.)
       2. Save saves a file according to the last Save As... If you want to change file format, drive, folder path or filename, you must do Save As...
    2. Edit - change content. Cut (to clipboard), Copy, Paste, Delete, SpellCheck, etc.
       1. ClipBoard is an invisible area to store elements. Use to copy selection to another or to multiple locations, move selection
    3. Format - change appearance. For example, change font, change line spacing, change paragraph indentation
       1. Character formatting - change individual characters. Font, font fize, attributes, color
       2. Paragraph formatting - indent, outdent, line spacing, space before paragraph
       3. Document formatting - margins orientation (portrait / landscape). Done under File / Page Setup.
       4. Can apply formatting after you enter content
    4. Toolbars hold icons representing popular menu items, such as the diskette icon for File / Save and the printer icon for File / Print. Even though these are icons, they are on buttons, and so take one click, saving considerable mouse action. Under the View / Toolbars menu, you can display and hide special-function toolbars. For example, if you are temporarily doing a lot of drawing, you can display the drawing toolbar and hide it later.
    5. On the other hand, toolbars take up room on the screen and leave less room for your document. So, it can pay also to temporarily hide toolbars that you use regularly.
    6. To see a context-sensitive menu of your current choices, right-click
12. Saving Files - know where your files are. Windows will tell you, if you look. You ignore this information at your peril; not being able to find the file again
    1. The first time you save a file, you must Save As... and specify path (drive, folders, name) and format
    2. If you want to change any one of these items, you must Save As... again
    3. If you want to repeat the last Save As... you can simply Save
    4. Word will make HTML files. Pick Save As HTML.... Best to do this early, because the menus are different and the formatting results are different.