Manual Menu

Lists & Items

Overview

Launching

Creating A New List

Creating A New Item

Editing An Item

Cutting, Copying, Pasting...

Deleting Items

Saving & Closing Lists

Opening Lists

This chapter introduces you to List Pad lists and items, and to the two central windows of a List Pad document: the List Browser and the Item Editor.

Overview

In the previous chapter you learned that a List Pad document is basically a list of user-created items, or records. You could picture a List Pad document as a filing cabinet and each individual item as a file in that cabinet. Sort of like the folder and file metaphor of the Macintosh.

You could also, perhaps more appropriately, picture each document as a card box, and each item as an individual card in that box (think 3x5 cards). A card that you can write various pieces of information on.

You also learned that a List Pad document is viewed with a List Browser window, and that items are edited in the Item Editor window.

In this chapter you will learn the basics of lists and items, specifically:

Launching List Pad

If you haven't already done so, do the following to launch List Pad:

  1. Locate the List Pad 1.2 application icon on your hard drive. It should be in the same folder as this manual, and will be named List Pad 1.2 68K or List Pad 1.2 PPC.
  2. Launch List Pad by double-clicking the List Pad 1.2 icon.

The first window you see will be the List Pad Startup Menu. Don't worry about this window for now. We will cover its features more completely in a later chapter.

Creating A New List

It is important to remember that each List Pad document (file on disk) is a list. The two words mean the same thing, and are used interchangeably in this manual.

To create a new List Pad document (list), do either one of the following:

You will see a new List Browser window for browsing your new list. Right now this list contains no items and is not saved to your hard disk. It is like an empty card box.

Creating A New Item

To create a new item in your list, do either one of the following:

When you do this List Pad creates a new item in the front document and opens an Item Editor for the new item.

For now, close the Item Editor by clicking the close box in the upper left hand corner, or by selecting Close from the File menu (command-W).

You will edit a few fields of this item in the next step.

Editing An Item

Go ahead and reopen the Item Editor for the item you created above.

To open an Item Editor for any item in a list, do the following:

  1. Select the item to be edited by clicking on it in the table of the List Browser.
  2. Click the Edit button in the List Browser, or select Edit Item... from the Item menu.

If you cannot click the Edit button or select Edit Item... from the Item menu (i.e. they are dimmed) then an item is not selected in the List Browser. Click again on the item you wish to edit. It should be hilited after you've clicked on it (i.e. shaded in the hilite color chosen on your Macintosh, which may be blue, yellow, etc.).

Now that you've reopened the Item Editor for your new item, take a look around. Click on the various tabs to see the different groups of fields. For now, leave most of these fields alone (unless you're the adventurous type). But go ahead and do the following:

  1. Delete the text "Untitled" in the text field labeled Field 1 at the top of the Item Editor. Now type "My 1st Item" in the same field.
  2. Click the Save button in the Item Editor or select Save Item (command-8) from the Item menu.
  3. Close the Item Editor.

Hint: You can also double-click an item in the List Browser to open the Item Editor directly. And, depending on how you've set the File Preferences, items are saved whenever you close the Item Editor. But we'll go over File Preferences in a later chapter.

Should you ever make a change and decide that you would like to revert the Item Editor to the original values, you can do the following:

  1. Click the Revert button in the Item Editor or select Revert Item (command-9) from the Item menu.

Cutting, Copying, Pasting, & Duplicating

You can cut, copy, paste, and duplicate items much like you can cut, copy, paste, and duplicate text in any standard Macintosh application.

Go ahead and copy your one item using the instructions below.

To cut, copy, or duplicate an item or group of items, do the following:

  1. Select the item or items you wish to manipulate in the List Browser.
    1. To select an individual item: click the item in the table.
    2. To select a continuous range of items: click the first item in the table. Then click the last item in the table while holding down the shift key on your keyboard.
    3. To select a discontinuous range of items: click each item you want to select while holding down the command key (the key with the Apple symbol).
  2. Select the appropriate command from the Edit menu.
    1. Select Cut (command-X) to move the items from the list to the Clipboard.
    2. Select Copy (command-C) to copy the items onto the Clipboard.
    3. Select Duplicate (command-D) to copy the items within the list.

Now that you've copied your item, go ahead and paste it into the same list.

To paste the contents of the Clipboard into a list:

  1. Make sure the table in the List Browser is selected and not the Filter edit text field by clicking any where in the table.
  2. Select Paste from the Edit menu.

You now have two copies of the same item. Better open the Item Editor and rename the new item to "My 2nd Item". While you're at it, go ahead and create several more items. Use both the New item button or command, the Duplicate command, and Cut/Copy and Paste. But don't cut all of them yet! You may want to also try undoing your actions by selecting Undo from the Edit menu. Do these actions until you fill comfortable with what you've learned so far.

Deleting Items

Though you can delete an item simply by cutting it, there's another, better way. Go ahead and delete one item from your list using the instructions below.

To delete an item or items from a list:

  1. Select the item or items to delete in the table of the List Browser.
  2. Click the Delete button in the List Browser, or select Delete Item... from the Item menu.

Poof! The item is now gone. You can reverse this action by selecting Undo from the Edit menu.

When is this better than cutting? When you want to delete an item without erasing the contents of the Clipboard. The Macintosh Clipboard can only store the contents of one cut or copy at a time. If you cut an item, it will replace whatever is currently on the Macintosh Clipboard. Deleting an item leaves the Clipboard alone.

Saving & Closing Lists

By now you're probably ready for a break, so lets save and close this list.

To save a list:

  1. Select Save or Save As... from the File menu.
    1. Save saves changes to the document file on disk. If the document has never been saved, then Save As... is automatically invoked.
    2. Save As... presents the standard Macintosh Save dialog, allowing you to save the list in a new location and with a new name.

To close a list:

  1. With the List Browser in front, select Close (command-W) from the File menu.

If the file on disk is identical to the list in memory, the list is closed immediately. If they are different, or if the list has never been saved, then List Pad asks you if you would like to save changes. Clicking Save saves the list. Clicking Discard discards the list (but leaves the file on disk alone, if there is one). Clicking Cancel cancels the close and leaves the list open.

Opening Lists

Now that you've closed your list, you're probably wondering how to open it again.

To open a list:

  1. Select Open... (command-O) from the File menu.
  2. Using the standard Macintosh Open File Dialog that appears, locate the list you wish to open on your hard drive.
  3. Select the file in the Open File Dialog and click Open, or double-click the list.

Congratulations! You have made it through the first instructional chapter. In later chapters you will use these basic skills to create items to store, organize, and view useful information. Take a short break, perhaps practice the skills you have learned, and then go on to the next chapter.