NewDeal Hot Tip 1525
General Use
NewDeal Terminology
This is a small dictionary for those terms you see bantered around
all the time and for which you might not know the real meanings.
The definitions appear in logical, rather than alphabetical, order.
- Window
- A rectangular area on your screen in which you can view an
application or document. It may take up a part of the screen
or even the whole screen. One difference between a window and
a screen is that a window can be moved and resized while a
screen cannot.
- Active Window
- The one window that will respond to keystrokes. You can
tell which window is active by looking at the title bar,
it will be highlighted. Also, the active window is usually
the one on top or in the foreground. To make another window
active, just click on any part of it with your mouse.
- Maximize
- Make a window as large as it can possibly be, often it
will take up the whole screen.
- Minimize
- Make a window as small as it can possibly be, often it
will be just an icon.
- Icon
- A small picture that represents an object, concept, or
message. In NewDeal software, icons may represent files,
directories, or applications. By clicking on the picture
you can select, open, or run the application or the file
it represents.
- Iconify
- Minimize a window so that it becomes an icon.
Anatomy of a Window
-
- Text area
- Area within a window, where text may be viewed or edited.
-
- Border
- Area around the outside edges of the window where your mouse
changes from a pointer to an arrow. If you place your mouse
right on the border so it's an arrow then press the left mouse
button and hold while dragging, you'll resize the window.
-
- Title bar
- The horizontal bar at the top of your window that displays
the name of the window. The title bar of your active window
will be highlighted (black). If you click your mouse
pointer on the title bar, it will change to four arrows
pointing in all directions. If you click and drag your
mouse, you will move your window without changing its size.
-
- Menu bar
- The horizontal list of menus, just below the title bar.
-
- Scroll bar
- If there's too much text to fit all in one window, you will
see either a vertical or horizontal scroll bar. Clicking on one
of the arrows at the ends will cause the text in your window
to shift one line or column. Clicking in the dark space next
to the arrows in the scroll bar will cause your text to shift
one screen's worth.
-
- Control menu
- The options you get when you mouse click the square in the
upper left corner of your window. This control menu will let
you maximize, minimize, move, resize, or close your window.
Note: not all options will always be available.
-
- Express Button
- Click here to open the Express menu and switch between
active applications or start a new application.
-
- Help button
- Click this button to open the context sensitive help. Most
applications have help buttons.
-
- Control Buttons
- Some windows have control buttons. These are the two small
squares in the upper right hand corner of the window. The
small dot will make your window an icon (minimize), the larger
square will maximize or make it full screen.
This image summarizes the anatomy of a window.
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Last Modified 2 Mar 1999