messages

main menu
Across the top of the main window is the main menu.  Each word on the menu-bar names a category of commands.  When you select⁽¹⁾ a category, a pulldown menu appears below it.  Any command in the pulldown menu can be executed by selecting it.

To select a menu category, point at it with the mouse⁽²⁾ cursor and depress the left button⁽³⁾.  Or press Alt+?, where ? is the underlined letter of the menu bar entry - as in Alt+F for File.

upper text area
The upper text area is a small text area directly below the menu bar.  Messages are printed here, and you can enter keyboard commands.

lower text area
The lower text area has room for a number of visible lines of text.  You can edit programs and text files in this area.

text cursor - keyboard focus
A text cursor is usually visible in one of the text areas.  It is the shape of a large | and may blink.  If the text cursor is hard to see, select Option ColorTextCursor in the main menu bar and change color.

The text area that contains the text cursor has keyboard focus - when you type on the keyboard, characters appear to the right of the cursor.  You can place the text cursor anywhere in text areas - just point the mouse cursor and click the left button.   To toggle back and forth between the two text areas, press the Escape key.   This instantly moves the text cursor back to its previous position.

status labels
In the upper right corner are status labels that display the name of the loaded file, the name of the function displayed in the lower text area, the current program state, and compile errors.

hot buttons
Between the upper and lower text area are some hot buttons for quick execution of common commands.  A single click or keystroke will execute a hot-button command.

1. Select is a general term that includes any means of activating or selecting an entry or command, including mouse button clicks, specially-defined keystrokes, and keyboard commands.

2. Any functionally equivalent pointing device can be used in place of a mouse.  Trackballs are one popular alternative.  This document prefers "mouse" to the more abstract "pointing device".

3. On the mouse, the left button is generally considered the primary button.  On some systems the order of the buttons can be reversed, making the right button primary.