AmigaOS Manual: Workbench Fundamentals

This chapter describes the elements of the Amiga Workbench including:

• Screens
• Menus
• Windows
• Gadgets
• Icons
• Requesters

Screens

A screen is one of the key features of the Amiga's display system. The screen is an area of the monitor display with a given display mode and set of properties, including the resolution, size, and number of colors. Screen resolution is determined by the number of pixels - the tiny dots of light that make up the screen display - placed horizontally and diagonally. Different display modes are used for different purposes and present different memory and processing loads on the system. (For more display mode information, see Chapter 7.)

A screen is always at least the full width of the monitor display. All windows open within a screen. The Workbench screen, shown in Figure 3-1, is the first thing displayed when you turn on your Amiga or following reboot.

Workbench Screen

Using Screens

Several screens can be open at the same time. New screens normally open on top of other screens, covering them. To view and access screens that are covered by others, drag the frontmost screen down or use gadgets or keyboard shortcuts to depth-arrange them. When working with screens, remember these helpful hints:

• Use left Amiga+M to page through open screens.
• Use left Amiga+N to bring the Workbench screen to the front, regardless of how many other screens are open.
• Items cannot be dragged between screens, although the mouse pointer moves freely from screen to screen.
• Only one window on one screen at a time can accept keyboard or mouse input.
• Most screens have a title bar that you can use to move them. Screens that do not might still respond to mouse clicks in the depth area. A screen with no title bar can be dragged using the qualifier key set in the IControl Preferences editor, described in Chapter 5.
• Screens larger than the monitor's display area can be opened. The Amiga can be set to scroll the unseen areas of the screen into view when you move the pointer to the edges of the viewable area.
• A screen cannot be dragged so that the bottom of the screen rises above the bottom of the monitor display.

Dragging a Screen

If your Workbench screen, a terminal program screen, and a text editor screen are open all at the same time, you can see parts of each screen by dragging them into view.

To drag a screen:

• Point to the screen's title bar.
• Hold down the selection button.
• Move the mouse down.

To expose a screen, you can drag any screens that are in front of it down. If a screen is larger than a monitor's display area, you can drag it up or down or side to side so that you can see all areas of the screen.

To drag a screen when its title bar is covered by widows or not on the visible part of the display, hold down the left Amiga key and then the selection button. This lets you drag the screen, regardless of the mouse pointer position.

Menus

Menus are lists of commands and options displayed on a screen by holding down the mouse menu button. These commands control the actions of the program in the currently selected window. Most Amiga programs have menus for some or all of their functions. For example, you can rename a disk or copy a file by choosing items from the Workbench menus.

Using Menus

Menus vary from program to program; however, the steps used in choosing menu items are the same for all Amiga software. A program's window must be selected to see its menus. Click in a window to select it. For detailed information about using menus, see the menu button description in Chapter 2.

Windows

Windows are areas on a screen that display and accept information. When you first boot the Amiga, the Workbench window is displayed on the Workbench screen. When you double-click on the Workbench disk icon the Workbench disk window opens on the Workbench window, as illustrated in Figure 3-2. Many of the Workbench icons create windows when opened.

Workbench Disk Window Open on Workbench Window

Working with Windows

A new window appears on the front of the screen when you open almost any icon. Unlike screens, windows usually cover only a portion of the display area. Although several windows can be open on a screen at one time, only the selected window can accept information. The selected window's border or frame is a different color than the other windows on the screen.

Several open windows on one screen often overlap one another. To see particular windows, arrange them using the gadgets in the window's border; as explained on page 3-7. Windows can also be manipulated using the Window menu.

The following sections describe the mouse operations that can be performed with windows, including selecting, opening, and dragging.

Selecting Windows

To select a window, click the selection button anywhere inside the window or its title bar, but not over an icon. To deselect a window, click anywhere outside that window.

When a window is selected, the frame surrounding the window changes color. Only one window can be selected at a time. The selected window is the one that accepts your mouse and keyboard input.

Opening a Window

Double-clicking on an icon opens a window or starts a program. Adjust the time allotted for a double-click with the Input Preferences editor, explained in Chapter 5.

Dragging a Window

When several windows are open on the Workbench screen, they might overlap each other. Rearrange the windows on the screen by dragging them, to show the information presented in all the windows.

To drag a window:

1. Point of the title bar, but make sure the pointer is not over any of the gadgets at either end.
2. Hold down the selection button and move the mouse. An outline of the window appears and moves across the screen.
3. Drag the outline into position and then release the selection button. The window appears in the new location.

AppWindows

An AppWindow is a type of window that allows you to drag an icon into it to run a program or display files that the icon represents. The following are AppWindows:

MultiView window	Displays the text, graphic, or animation represented by the icon. For more information about MultiView, see Chapter 4.
IconEdit window	Has three separate blocks into which you can drag an icon for editing. For more information about IconEdit, see Chapter 10.
File requesters	Displays the path of the files represented by the icon. For more information on file requesters see page 3-20.
Preferences editor windows	Presets can be dragged into the Preferences editors windows for loading.

Gadgets

Gadgets are programmed graphic images that appear in a window, requester, or screen. Like icons, gadgets often have a raised three-dimensional appearance and when selected appear to sink into the screen. Like icons, they are selected with the mouse. Cancel the selection of button-type gadgets by moving the pointer off the gadget button before releasing the selection button.

Window Gadgets

Window borders often contain several gadgets for moving windows, changing their size, scrolling (moving) their contents, and closing them. Figure 3-3 illustrates some typical window gadgets.

Figure 3-3. Window Gadgets

Window borders can contain any of the following gadgets:

Title Bar

The title bar is a gadget that identifies each window or screen in the system. The title bar of a disk window also contains:

• The name of the disk.
• The percentage of the disk that is full.
• The number of free bytes available for storage in Kilobytes (K) or Megabytes (M).
• The number of bytes in use for existing data.

Depth Gadget

The Depth gadget changes the depth position of a window or screen. Selecting the depth gadget on the front-most window on the screen moves it to the rear.

Selecting the depth gadget on any window other than the front moves it to the front. A window brought to the front with the depth gadget is automatically selected.

Holding down Shift while selecting the depth gadget on any window always sends it to the rear.

Zoom Gadget

The Zoom gadget provides a quick way to switch between two different window size/position settings. The zoom gadget toggles between two window sizes and positions. The first use of the gadget zooms the window to a preset size and position. Selecting the gadget again returns the window to its original size and position. The window may be moved or resized to change its zoomed or original position.

Sizing Gadget

The Sizing gadget allows you to change the size of a window. To size a window:

1. Point to the sizing gadget.
2. Hold down the selection button and move the pointer. An outline of the window appears with its lower right corner following the pointer.
3. Release the selection button. The window is redrawn to the size indicated by the outline.

The sizing operation can be cancelled by pressing the menu button before releasing the selection button.

Scroll Gadgets

The Scroll gadgets move the area inside a window to show unexposed icons without changing the window's size. Use scroll gadgets after resizing a window or choosing Show All Files. Scroll boxes, scroll bars, and scroll arrows are all scroll gadgets.

Scroll bars are the highlighted rectangular areas inside the scroll boxes. They indicate how much of a window's contents is visible. When the scroll bar completely fills a scroll box, all of the window's icons are visible. When the scroll bar fills half of the scroll box, only half of the window's icons are visible.

To see the area of a window that is not visible:

1. Point at the scroll bar.
2. Hold down the selection button.
3. Drag the scroll bar to an empty area of the scroll box. The viewing area is redrawn to show the new position when you release the scroll bar.

Another method to move the scroll bar is:

1. Point to an empty area of the scroll box.
2. Click the selection button.

The scroll bar moves towards the area where you pointed.

Scroll arrows are for scrolling continuously through the viewing area of a window. By pointing to a scroll arrow and holding down the selection button, you shift the viewing area in the direction of the arrow. Move the window contents one pixel at a time by holding down Shift while selecting a scroll arrow.

Close Gadget

Selecting the close gadget closes the window and removes it from the screen. If the last window of an application program is closed, the program is usually exited.

Action Gadgets

Action gadgets are found in requesters, Preferences editors, and other windows, usually at the bottom of the window. The most common action gadgets in Workbench windows include:

Save	Implements and saves any changes to program settings and closes the window.
Use	Implements changes to program settings without saving them and closes the window. Rebooting the Amiga returns to the default or previously saved changes.
Cancel	Cancels changes to program settings that you made in the window. The settings in effect prior to opening the window remain the same.
OK	Acknowledges and closes a requester.
Retry	Retries the current operation after you have attempted to correct what the requester indicates is wrong, such as a disk error or a write-protected disk.
Continue	Starts next step of operation.
Help	Displays help information.

Additional Gadgets

In addition to the gadgets described previously, there are several other types of standard gadgets used by Amiga programs. Always read your application documentation carefully for exact information about their use.

Check Box

Check boxes indicate if an option is turned on or off. When an option is on, the box contains a check mark. If the option is off, the box is empty. To change the check box setting, click on the box.

Cycle Gadget

Cycle gadgets contain lists of options. The displayed option is the selected option. Pointing to the cycle gadget and repeatedly clicking the selection button cycles through the list, showing the available options. Cycle backwards through the list by holding down Shift while selecting.

Radio Button

Radio buttons allow you to select one option from a fully displayed list. Each option in the list has a radio button next to it.

Selected radio buttons are highlighted and appear indented. Unselected radio buttons remain one color and appear raised above the screen.

Select a radio button by clicking on it. The previously selected option in the list is automatically deselected.

Text Gadget

A text gadget is a rectangular box within a requester or window for entering a file name, drawer name, or other text.

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for editing text within a text gadget:

Del	Erases the character highlighted by the cursor.
Backspace	Erases the character to the left of the cursor.
Right Amiga+X	Erases all the text in the gadget.
Right Amiga+Q	Retrieves the information that was in the gadget before the text was changed.
Left Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the left.
Right Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the right.
Shift+left arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Shift+right arrow	Moves the cursor to the end of the line.
Shift+Del	Erases the character highlighted by the cursor and all characters to the right of the cursor.
Shift+Backspace	Erases all the characters to the left of the cursor.

When you are finished entering the text, press Return to perform the action.

Scrolling List Gadgets

Scrolling list gadgets allow you to select from options displayed in a scrolling list.

A scrolling list shows all of the available choices when scrolled, rather than one option at a time. To select an option, click on it. The selected option is highlighted. In some scrolling lists, you can select more than one option.

Scrolling list gadgets also contain scroll arrows and a scroll bar similar to window scroll gadgets.

If a text gadget appears under the scroll gadget, you can type in a choice not displayed in the scrolling list, such as a new file name for saving information.

Slider Gadget

Slider gadgets allow you to select a value within a given range. These are similar to scroll gadgets in that you drag a slider bar through a slider box to select a specific value.

The slider value shown next to the slider is the value associated with the current position of the slider bar.

To change the value, drag the slider bar. When the desired value is shown, release the selection button.

Icons

Icons are movable graphic representations of disks, drawers, files, and programs that you manipulate with the mouse.

The Workbench uses the following types of icons:

	A disk icon represents any disk that is available or accessible by the Workbench. Disk icons appear only in the Workbench window.
	A drawer icon represents a directory, which is a subdivision of the disk storage area.
	A tool icon represents a specific program, such as the Clock utility. When a tool icon opens, the program is started.
	A project icon represents a file created or used by a tool, such as the Prefs Preset icons.
	A project pseudo-icon represents a project file that does not have an icon.
	A drawer pseudo-icon represents a directory that does not have an icon.
	A tool pseudo-icon represents a tool file that does not have an icon.
	The Trashcan represents a special drawer used to store unwanted items until you remove them from the disk. A Trashcan is found in the Work partition.