Your system can have a display, keyboard, and mouse attached to it, in addition to a wide range of other available options. Examples of these options are tape drives, printers, terminals, and plotters. Such items are called devices. The operating system controls the devices attached to your system.
This section discusses the following:
The Typical Computer System Arrangement illustration shows one possible office arrangement.
Note: Your system may not look exactly like any of the illustrations given in this guide.
The System Unit Features illustration shows some system features.
If you are on a network, you may not have a system unit on your desk. In this case, you probably have a terminal that only has a power switch.
The terminal is the device you use to interact with your computer system. It is composed of a display (or monitor), a keyboard, and sometimes a mouse. There are several types of terminals: dumb terminals, smart terminals, and graphics terminals. The Terminal Setup illustration shows a typical terminal setup.
The various keys on the keyboard allow you to enter data and control the cursor location. Keyboards for different countries can have their keys engraved with their character set. Some keyboards also have more keys. There are several kinds of keyboard designs. This section explains how keyboards work in general, and discusses the various keys and their use. The Typical Keyboard illustration shows a possible keyboard layout.
The keyboard has four sections:
The functions of each keyboard depend on the software you use.
Certain keys or combinations of keys make working in a command line interface easier.
The control (Ctrl) key is used in combination with other keys to make control characters. You press and hold the Ctrl key, and then quickly press another key. Some control keys appear on the display; others are invisible.
The following is a list of useful key sequences and their functions:
Though rarely used, in some instances the escape (Esc) key is also used in combination with other keys to make control characters. You press and release the Esc key, and then press another key.
Some characters on your keyboard are referred to by more than one name. The following is a list of some key names with their nicknames:
The mouse allows you to move the pointer quickly to all areas of your screen. You use the mouse to tell the AIX Common Desktop Environment or AIXwindows what you want to do. The mouse allows you to manipulate icons, menus, and windows. The Three Button and Two Button Mouse illustration shows a three-button and a two-button mouse.
The mouse most commonly used with AIX has three buttons. Each button provides a different function. If you have a two-button mouse, pressing both buttons at the same time is equivalent to pressing the middle button on a three-button mouse.
When you perform a command with the mouse, first point and then do one of the following: press and hold, click, double-click, drag, drag and drop, or rubber-band with the mouse buttons.
Note: The specific mouse button to use depends on the application in which it is used.
| Point | To point to an object, move the mouse until the tip of the mouse pointer is on the object (icon, menu, window, or window selection). |
| Press-and-Hold | To press and hold, point to the object (icon, menu, or window), and then hold down the mouse button without moving the mouse. |
| Click | To click, point to the object (icon, menu, window, or window selection), and then press and quickly release the mouse button without moving the mouse. |
| Double-Click | To double-click, point to the object (icon), and then quickly press the mouse button twice without moving the mouse. |
| Drag | A drag usually refers to moving windows and selcting menu options.
To drag a menu selection, point to the menu you want to display, and press and hold the mouse button. Slide (drag) the pointer to highlight the desired menu option, and release the button. |
| Drag-and-Drop | Drag-and-drop usually refers to icons. This action only functions in some applications.
To drag and drop, point to the icon, hold down the mouse button, and move (drag) the pointer (while still holding down the mouse button) in the direction you want to move the object. When the object is where you want it, release (drop) the mouse button. |
| Rubber-Band | Rubber-banding usually refers to toggling (also referred to as selecting and deselecting) an icon's selection state and is used for manipulating a group of icons. Toggling refers to selecting an icon if it is currently unselected or deselcting an icon if it is currently selected. This action only functions in some applications.
To rubber-band, point to a position near the icon or icons to toggle (not touching any part of the icon or its title). Press and hold the mouse button, and drag the pointer. A rubber-band box is displayed, which you "stretch" to enclose the icons you want. When you release the mouse button, all icons inside or touching the rubber-band are toggled. The example of Rubber-Banding illustration shows rubber-banding. |
When AIXwindows starts, an X-shaped pointer appears at the center of the screen. As you move the mouse on your desktop, the pointer on the screen moves correspondingly.
The pointer shape changes according to its location. For example, when the pointer is directly over the root window (the backdrop behind all windows), the pointer has an X shape. When the mouse points inside a terminal window, the pointer changes to an I shape. A description and illustration of pointer shapes follows.
An arrow pointing to the upper-left corner is the general-purpose pointer used in most window areas for single-object selection and activation.
An arrow pointing to the upper-right corner indicates a pending menu action. This shape indicates that a menu is popped up or pulled down and waiting for a menu item to be activated or the menu to be removed.
The caution pointer indicates action is expected in another area before input can be given to the current area and that the pointer has no effect in the area where the caution pointer appears. While the caution pointer is active, all mouse button and keyboard events are ignored in the current area.
Four-Directional Arrow Pointer
The four-directional arrow pointer indicates a move operation is in progress. During a move operation, the object, or an outline of the object, should move to track the location of the pointer.
The hourglass pointer, a working pointer, indicates that an action is in progress in the area and that the pointer has no effect in that area. While the hourglass pointer is active, all mouse-button and keyboard events are ignored in the area. The hourglass pointer can be used interchangeably with the watch pointer.
The I-beam pointer performs actions on the text and changes the location of the text-insertion cursor.
The resize pointer indicates a resizing position. The direction of the arrow in the pointer indicates the direction of increasing size. The horizontal and vertical pointers indicate that the window is changed in either the horizontal or vertical direction. The diagonal pointers indicate that the window is changed in both the horizontal and vertical directions simultaneously. The pointer that appears depends on the resize operation you do.
The sighting pointer is used to make precise position selections. For example, in a drawing program, it may be used to indicate a pixel to fill or the connecting points of lines.
The watch pointer, also called a working pointer, indicates that an action is in progress in the area and that the pointer has no effect in that area. While the watch pointer is active, all mouse-button and keyboard events are ignored in the area. The watch pointer can be used interchangeably with the hourglass pointer.
The X pointer indicates when the pointer is outside any application area.
