The first thing you need to know is how to see the rest of this article, so let╒s see how you can do just that.
What is a Window?
As you read this, you will notice that the text is in a bordered area separate from everything else-this area is called the ╥Document Window.╙ On the right edge of the window are Up and Down arrows separated by a gray area that has a white box in it. That box is called the ╥Thumb,╙ and tells you the position of the document in the window. For example, if the Thumb were at the extreme top, next to the Up Arrow, you would be viewing the top of the article. To page the text up or down, simply move your Mouse Pointer (that floating arrow) into the gray area above or below the thumb and click the Mouse Button. Click below the Thumb now, so you may read more.
To move the text up or down by lines, move the Mouse Pointer (referred to as ╥mouse╙ hereafter) onto either the Up or the Down Arrow on the right edge of the text window and click the button on your mouse (hereafter, ╥click the mouse╙).
The only other attribute of this window that needs an explanation is the Close Box in the upper left corner. Clicking the mouse while the pointer is in this area closes the text window and returns you to the Main Menu.
What is Softdisk G-S?
Four basic types of features appear regularly on Softdisk G-S: Programs, System Extensions, Paint Files, and AppleWorks GS Documents.
Programs can be used directly from within Softdisk G-S. When you select a program, the dialog box gives you the option to run the program. Programs may also be run directly from Finder without opening Softdisk G-S.
System Extensions include: New Desk Accessories (NDAs), Classic Desk Accessories (CDAs), Control Panel Devices (CDevs), Fonts, and Sounds. These items generally require a hard drive or a system disk with room on it. You must install these items to your own system disk in order to use them (see Copying Files).
After installing, NDAs are available from the Apple Menu. CDAs are available from the Desk Accessories menu, (reached by pressing apple-control-Escape). Control Panels are available in the control panel under the Apple Menu. Fonts are used from within programs such as your word processor or paint program. Sounds are used in the Sounds CDev which came with your System 6 Disks (and many programs which utilize sound).
Paint files include clip art, and usually Spencer╒s Corner. These can be displayed from within Softdisk G-S, but are intended to be used from within a paint program such as Platinum Paint or AppleWorks GS. They are in Apple Preferred Format (APF). See your paint program manual for details on opening them.
Occasionally files in Spencer╒s Corner will only be in AppleWorks GS page-layout format. In order to utilize them, you need AppleWorks GS by Claris.
Always read the documentation for each feature for a complete description. A particular feature may be utilized in a different manner than explained here.
The Human Interface
Softdisk G-S was designed with strict attention to Apple╒s Human Interface guidelines to make its operation as friendly and recognizable as possible. If you know how to use programs in the desktop environment, you know how to use Softdisk G-S. If not, read on and we will shed some light on the subject. If some of the terms send you for a loop, don╒t worry. At the end of this article is a list of IIgs terms and definitions. If you are new to the IIgs, please have a peek at the glossary of terms; you may find it useful. The only shorthand you need to know right away is that the Open-Apple Key is often referred to by the apple symbol ╥╙.
Main Menu
The Main Menu is where most of the contents of Softdisk G-S can be selected. Simply move the mouse to the picture that represents the item of your choice and click the mouse. If it is an article, Softdisk G-S will display a window containing the article. If it is a program, clip art, or a font, a Dialog Box will appear asking if you want to read the documentation, run the program, view the clip art or font, or cancel this operation; click the mouse on the button corresponding to your choice.
The Menus
The one thing common to all IIgs desktop programs that is most recognizable is the menu system. Every well-thought-out program on the IIgs uses this type of menu structure (except for some arcade games where the whole screen is used), giving the user a knowledge of how to use a program without ever having seen it! For our purposes the menus are laid out as such:
Apple File Edit Articles Features
There are certain standards in motion when these menus appear. For example, opening the Apple menu (moving the mouse to the multi-colored Apple logo, pressing and holding the mouse down) will reveal the About box and a list of active New Desk Accessories (NDAs). If the program has any help associated with it, it is usually found below the About entry and above the NDA list.
The File Menu is where you will usually find the New, Open, Close, Save, Save As, Page Setup, Print, Print Articles, Print Features and Quit menu items. For Softdisk G-S, you will find the Apple file Installer, the printer selections and Quit. Print Articles and Print Features are the only options not found in most programs; they will allow you to print out all the articles or all the features at once.
The Edit menu will reveal Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Clear. This menu is provided in case an NDA supports the option of moving information onto the clipboard for pasting into a document from another application. Since Softdisk G-S doesn╒t support all these items, they are grayed out or unselectable because they have no use at this time.
The Articles and Features╒ pull-down menus allow access to any section of Softdisk G-S.
Next to most of the menu items you may have noticed an Apple symbol followed by a character; this is called the keyboard shortcut. There are many standard shortcuts: C should always be Copy, X should be Cut, V should be Paste, ? Help, and Q Quit to name a few. We say ╥should be╙ because the programmer has control over these and may change them to anything at all, no matter how wrong it is. It╒s best to scan the menus to be sure the standards have been followed, just in case. These shortcuts are provided as a quicker alternative to the menus and, as time goes on, you will find yourself using them more and more. Trust us, you will!
Copying Files
You may copy files, individual programs, or the entire issue to your hard drive or another disk by using the Installer. Selecting the Installer (press I) will launch Apple╒s Installer program with all the items available to be duplicated in the left box. To duplicate a file, or set of files, select the destination disk in the right box by clicking the Disk button until the drive you want appears above the right box. Finally, click on the Install button and the GS will copy everything to the designated location.
The only special requirements the Installer has is that the Softdisk G-S volume (disk) name be the same as it was when you first got it. If you copied Softdisk G-S onto your hard drive or changed the disk name, Installer will no longer work.
Glossary of Terms
Button: A selectable area on the screen used to pass information back to the computer. If a button has a double outline (two circles) frame, it is the default choice and ╥Return╙ can be used to select it.
Classic Desk Accessory (CDA): A ╥mini-program╙ that you can use without leaving your main program. Classic Desk Accessories are available from the Desk Accessories menu (reached by pressing apple-control-Escape). CDAs usually use the text screen as a display and can be reached from either desktop programs or ProDOS-8 programs. (Inside View on issue #33 takes an in-depth look at System Extensions, such as CDAs.)
Close Box: Small box in the upper left-hand corner of a document window. Clicking it will close the window.
Control Panel (CDev): Control Panels are a graphic equivalent of the Control Panel options available from the CDA menu. Control Panels are accessed by opening the Graphical Control Panels NDA from a desktop program (they are not accessible from ProDOS-8 programs). Control Panels function as a mechanism enabling you to change various system options such as keyboard, mouse and monitor settings. Under System 6.0, Control Panels can be reached by pressing apple-shift-Escape. (Inside View on issue #33 takes an in-depth look at System Extensions, such as Control Panels.)
Desktop: In terms of your IIGS, the desktop is a metaphor for the screen. That is to say, the screen is like your desktop; the open document windows are like sheets of paper, the items in the menus are the actions you may take, and so on. In terms of software, when a program uses a menu bar, document windows, dialog boxes, etc. it is said to be a desktop application.
Dialog Box: The computer╒s way of requesting information or issuing a warning about a potentially dangerous situation.
Drag (ging): To position the mouse on something, press and hold the mouse button, move the mouse and release the button. When you release the button, you either confirm a selection or move an object to a new location.
Finder Extension: Finder Extensions are new with System 6.0. A Finder Extension can be quite powerful╤╤by adding new, or enhancing existing features in Finder 6.0. Some Finder Extensions are always active in Finder, others are available in the Extras menu of Finder. (Inside View on issue #33 takes an in-depth look at System Extensions, such as Finder Extensions.)
Font: A complete set of characters in one design, size and style. In traditional typography usage, font may be restricted to a particular size and style or may comprise multiple sizes, or multiple sizes and styles, of a typeface. (Inside View from issue #31 covered fonts in-depth.)
Hilite: To make something visually distinct. For example, when you select a block of text using a word processor, the selected word is hilited╤it appears as light letters on a dark background, rather than dark on light. Hiliting is accomplished by inverting the display.
Icon: An image that graphically represents an object, a concept or a message.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Any character used with the apple key to speed the process of menu selections. The actual shortcut keys are listed next to their corresponding choices in the menus.
Menu Bar: The list of menu titles at the top of a desktop-style program.
Mouse Button: The button on the mouse.
Mouse Pointer: The floating cursor (usually an arrow) used to point at items.
New Desk Accessory (NDA): A ╥mini-program╙ that you can use without leaving your main program. New Desk Accessories are available from the Apple menu whenever you╒re using Finder or any other desktop program that supports the Apple menu. (Inside View on issue #33 takes an in-depth look at System Extensions, such as NDAs.)
Scroll Bar: The Thumb and arrow boxes on the right side of a window.
Size Box: A box in the lower-right corner of some active windows. Dragging the size box resizes the window.
Thumb: The box in between the Up and Down Arrows on the right edge of a document window that denotes the position of the document in the window.
Up and Down Arrow Boxes: Found on the right edge of a document window and are used to move up or down by single lines of text.
Zoom Box: A small box with a smaller box enclosed in it found on the right side of the title bar of some windows. Clicking the zoom box expands the window to its maximum size; clicking it again returns the window to its previous size.
This is only a small subset of the terms used with your IIgs. For more complete information, please consult your Owner╒s Manual or System Software Manual.
If you have any trouble or questions about Softdisk G-S, don╒t hesitate to call our Technical Support Staff at (800) 831-2694.
