This chapter introduces you to the basic skills that you need to work with your desktop. basic skillsmouse skills mouseskills Even if you are very familiar with mouse devices, you should still familiarize yourself with the use of the mouse in the desktop. mousebutton conventions All the instructions in this manual are for the following types of mouse devices: Devices that are configured for right-hand users. Three button devices. If you have a two-button mouse device, then you press the two buttons simultaneously to simulate the effect of a middle mouse button. The mouse button conventions used in this manual are as follows: Mouse ButtonDefinition Left mouse button The button on the left side of a mouse device configured for normal right-hand use. Middle mouse button The middle button of a mouse device configured for normal right-hand use. Right mouse button The button on the right side of a mouse device configured for normal right-hand use. To reverse the handedness of your mouse device, choose ApplicationsDesktop Preferences Mouse, then select the options that you require. If you do reverse the handedness of your mouse device, then you must reverse the mouse button conventions used in this manual. mouseactions When you use your mouse with the desktop, the following mouse conventions apply. Mouse ButtonDefinition Left mouse button Use to perform the following actions: Select text. Choose items. Drag items. Middle mouse button Use to perform the following actions: Paste text. Move items. Open a menu if a menu applies. Right mouse button Opens a menu for the selected object, if a menu applies. For example, if you want to copy text then perform the following steps: Select the text with the left mouse button. Move the mouse pointer to the location where you want to copy the text. Click on the middle mouse button. You can also right-click on the desktop background to open the Desktop Background menu. mouseaction terminology The conventions used in this manual to describe actions that you take with the mouse are as follows: Action Definition ClickPress and release the left mouse button, without moving the mouse. Click-and-hold Press and do not release the left mouse button. Left-click Same as click. Left-click clarifies the action when there might be confusion with right-click. Middle-click Press and release the middle mouse button, without moving the mouse. Right-click Press and release the right mouse button, without moving the mouse. Double-click Press and release the left mouse button twice in rapid succession without moving the mouse. DragClick-and-hold a mouse button, then move an object. For example, you can drag a window or an icon. In the desktop, the left and middle mouse buttons can perform drag actions. Drag-and-drop Click-and-hold a mouse button, then move an object. For example, you can drag-and-drop a window or an icon. Release the mouse button to place the object in a new location. GrabPoint to an item that you can move, and click-and-hold on the mouse button. For example, you can grab the titlebar of a window, then drag the window to a new location. mousepointers pointersmouse pointers As you use the mouse, the appearance of the mouse pointer can change. The appearance of the pointer can provide feedback about a particular operation, location, or state. The following table lists and describes some of the mouse pointers in the desktop. PointerAssociated Action Description Shows normal pointer. Point to an item, choose a menu itemNormal pointer. The pointer that appears during normal use of the mouse. Shows move pointer. Drag-and-drop Move pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, the object is moved from the old location to the new location. Shows copy pointer. Drag-and-drop Copy pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a copy of the object is created where you drop the object. Shows link pointer. Drag-and-drop Link pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a link to the object is created where you drop the object. Shows ask pointer. Drag-and-drop Ask pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a menu opens. You can choose to move or copy the object, or to create a link to the object. Shows not available pointer. Drag-and-drop Not available pointer. Indicates that you can not drop the object at the current location. Shows move panel object pointer. Move panel objectMove panel object pointer. Indicates that you have selected a panel object to move. Shows horizontal resize pointer. Resize window horizontallyHorizontal resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a vertical window border to resize the window horizontally. Shows vertical resize pointer. Resize window verticallyVertical resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a horizontal window border to resize the window vertically. Shows corner resize pointer. Resize window horizontally and verticallyCorner resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a corner of a window border to resize the window horizontally and vertically. Shows window pane or table column resize pointer. Resize window pane or resize table column Window pane or table column resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a column in a table to resize. This section provides information on how to use the keyboard to work with the desktop. For almost every task that you can perform with the mouse, you can use the keyboard to perform the same task. A shortcut key is a series of one or more keystrokes that provides a quick way to perform a task. You can use shortcut keys to work with the desktop and to work with interface items such as panels and windows. You can also use shortcut keys in applications. To customize your shortcut keys, choose ApplicationsDesktop Preferences Keyboard Shortcuts. For more information, see . You can also customize the desktop to use keyboard accessibility features. For more information, see . The following sections describe the shortcut keys that you can use. shortcut keysdesktop Desktop shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform desktop tasks. The following table lists some desktop shortcut keys: Default shortcut key Function AltF1 Opens the GNOME Menu. AltF2 Displays the Run Program dialog. Print Screen Takes a screenshot. AltPrint ScreenTakes a screenshot of the window that has focus. CtrlAltright arrow Switches to the workspace to the right of the current workspace. CtrlAltleft arrow Switches to the workspace to the left of the current workspace. CtrlAltup arrow Switches to the workspace above the current workspace. CtrlAltdown arrow Switches to the workspace below the current workspace. CtrlAltdMinimizes all windows and gives focus to the desktop background. shortcut keyswindow Window shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform window tasks. The following table lists some window shortcut keys: Default shortcut key Function AltTab Switches between windows. Release the keys to select a window. AltEsc Switches between windows in reverse order. Release the keys to select a window. Altspacebar Opens the Window Menu. Arrow keys Moves the focus between items in a menu. Return Chooses a menu item. EscCloses an open menu. CtrlAltright arrow Switches to the workspace to the right of the current workspace. CtrlAltleft arrow Switches to the workspace to the left of the current workspace. CtrlAltup arrow Switches to the workspace above the current workspace. CtrlAltdown arrow Switches to the workspace below the current workspace. CtrlAltdMinimizes all windows and gives focus to the desktop background. shortcut keyspanel Panel shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform panel tasks. The following table lists some panel shortcut keys: Default shortcut key Function CtrlAltTabSwitches the focus between the panels and the desktop background. CtrlF10 Opens the popup menu for the selected panel. TabSwitches the focus between objects on a panel. Return Chooses the selected panel object or menu item. ShiftF10 Opens the popup menu for the selected panel object. Arrow keys Moves the focus between items in a menu. Also moves the focus between interface items in an applet. EscCloses an open menu. F10Opens the Applications menu on the Menu Panel, if the Menu Panel is selected. shortcut keysapplication Application shortcut keys enable you to perform application tasks. You can use shortcut keys to perform application tasks more quickly than if you use a mouse. The following table lists some application shortcut keys: Shortcut Key Command CtrlNNew CtrlXCut CtrlCCopy CtrlVPaste CtrlZ Undo CtrlS Save CtrlQ Quit access keysAn access key is an underlined letter in a menu or dialog that you can use to perform an action. On a menubar, the access key for each menu is underlined. To open a menu, press Alt, then press the access key. In the menu, the access key for each menu item is underlined. To choose a menu item, press the access key for the menu item. The following table shows example access keys from the Text Editor application: Access KeyFunction AltF Opens the File menu. N Chooses the New item on the File menu. You can also use access keys to access elements in a dialog. In a dialog, one letter in most dialog elements is underlined. To access a particular dialog element, press Alt, then press the access key. The following table shows an example access key from the Preferences dialog in Text Editor application: Access KeyFunction AltU Gives focus to the Use default theme font check box. You can use also other keys to navigate within a window or dialog. Key Function Tab Moves the focus from element to element in a window or dialog. Arrow keys Perform the following actions: On a menubar, moves the focus from one menu to the next menu. In an open menu, moves the focus from one menu item to the next menu item. Moves the focus from one option to the next option to make your selection, for example, within a group of radio buttons in a dialog. Changes the value that a spin box displays. basic skillsusing windows and dialogs This section provides information on how to use windows and dialogs. windowsresizing panes panesresizing Some windows contain more than one pane. A pane is a subdivision of a window. For example, the Nautilus window contains a side pane and a view pane. A window that contains panes has a resize handle on the edge between the panes. To resize the pane, grab the resize handle, then drag the edge to the size you require. windowsusing tables tablesusing Some windows contain information that is organized in a table. This section describes how to work with tables. To change the width of a column, drag one of the vertical edges of the column. In some tables, you can sort the information by a particular column. To sort information in a table, click on the heading on top of the column by which you want to sort the information. An up arrow is displayed in the column heading by which the table is sorted. The following figure shows the up arrow. Shows an up arrow in a column heading. To reverse the sort order, click on the column heading again. The up arrow changes to a down arrow. The down arrow indicates that the information in the column is sorted in reverse order. In some tables, you can select multiple items. The following table describes how to select items in tables. TaskAction Select an item Click on the item. Select a group of contiguous itemsPress and hold Shift. Click on the first item in the group, then click on the last item in the group. Select multiple items Press and hold Ctrl. Click on the items that you want to select.