path: root/gnome2-user-guide/C/goseditmainmenu.xml

<chapter id="goseditmainmenu-1">
<title>Working With Menus</title>
<highlights><para>This chapter describes how to use menus in the desktop.
</para></highlights>
<sect1 id="goseditmainmenu-2">
<title>Introduction to Menus</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>introduction</secondary></indexterm>
<para>You can access all desktop functions through menus. The Menu Panel contains
menus, so you can use a combination of menus and panels to perform your tasks.
You can perform various actions on your menus, such as copy menu items to
panels.</para>
<para>You can access the following menus from the desktop:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu: You can access many
of the applications, commands, and configuration options on your desktop from
the <guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu: You can access various desktop
commands from the <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu. For example, you can start
the <application>Search Tool</application> application, or log out of the
desktop. </para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>: You can also access the items
in the <guimenu>Applications</guimenu> and <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menus
from the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>. You can have many <guimenu>GNOME Menu
</guimenu> buttons in your panels. </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>You can also right-click on the desktop background to open the <guimenu>
Desktop Background</guimenu> menu. The <guimenu>Desktop Background</guimenu>
menu enables you to perform desktop background-related tasks. </para>
<para>All of these menus provide you with multiple ways to perform your tasks,
and enable you to work in the way that you prefer.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="goseditmainmenu-5">
<title>Menu Features</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>features</secondary></indexterm>
<para>Menus can contain the following items: </para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Submenus</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Launchers or menu items</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>An arrow to the right of an item in a menu indicates that the item is
a submenu. When you point to the submenu, the submenu opens. You can choose
items from the submenu. </para>
<para>When you choose a launcher, the launcher starts an application or runs
a command. You can also right-click on a launcher to open a popup menu. The
popup menu enables you to add the item to a panel, and perform other tasks.
For more information on the popup menu, see the next section. </para>
<para>You can change the theme for your session to change how all your menus
look. To change the theme, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Applications
</guimenu><guisubmenu>Desktop Preferences</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>
Theme</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
<sect2 id="goseditmainmenu-11">
<title>Launcher Popup Menu</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>launcher popup menu</secondary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>launcher popup menu</primary><secondary>description
</secondary></indexterm><para>Launchers on menus have an associated popup
menu that enables you to perform tasks related to launchers. When you right-click
on a launcher in a menu, the popup menu for the launcher opens. The popup
menu also contains a submenu that allows you to perform menu-related tasks. 
</para>
<para>You can use the launcher popup menu to perform the following tasks: 
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Add launchers to panels. </para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Open the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog with the
launcher command in the dialog.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Add menus to panels. You can add a menu as a menu object or
as a drawer object. </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para><xref linkend="goseditmainmenu-FIG-39"/> shows the popup menu.</para>
<indexterm><primary>launcher popup menu</primary><secondary>illustration</secondary>
</indexterm>
<figure id="goseditmainmenu-FIG-39">
<title>Launcher Popup Menu</title>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
  <imageobject>
    <imagedata fileref="figures/launcher_popup.png" format="PNG"/>
  </imageobject>
  <textobject>
	<phrase>Shows launcher popup menu. The context describes the graphic.
</phrase>
  </textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<para><xref linkend="goseditmainmenu-TBL-30"/> describes the items on launcher
popup menus. <indexterm><primary>launchers</primary><secondary>adding to panel
</secondary></indexterm></para>
<table frame="topbot" id="goseditmainmenu-TBL-30">
<title>Items on Launcher Popup Menus</title>
<tgroup cols="2" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><colspec colname="COLSPEC0" colwidth="42.71*"/>
<colspec colname="COLSPEC1" colwidth="57.29*"/>
<thead>
<row rowsep="1"><entry valign="top"><para>Item</para></entry><entry valign="top"><para>
Description</para></entry></row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Add this launcher to panel</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Adds the launcher to the panel from which you open
the menu.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Put into run dialog</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Displays the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog
with  the command from the <guilabel>Command</guilabel> field of the launcher
in  the command field on the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog. </para></entry>
</row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><guimenuitem>Help on <replaceable>application_name
</replaceable></guimenuitem></para></entry><entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>
Opens the online help for the application.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0" valign="top"><para><menuchoice><guimenu>Entire
menu</guimenu><guimenuitem>Add this as drawer to panel</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></para></entry><entry colname="COLSPEC1" valign="top"><para>
Adds the submenu as a drawer to the panel from which you open the menu.</para></entry>
</row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0" valign="top"><para><menuchoice><guimenu>Entire
menu</guimenu><guimenuitem>Add this as menu to panel</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></para></entry><entry colname="COLSPEC1" valign="top"><para>
Adds the submenu as a menu object to the panel from which you open the menu.
</para></entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>adding to panel</secondary>
</indexterm></sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="goseditmainmenu-8">
<title>Applications Menu</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>Applications menu</secondary>
</indexterm><para>The <guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu contains a hierarchy
of submenus, from which you can start the standard GNOME applications and
preference tools. The <guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu also includes the
file manager and the help browser.</para>
<para>The <guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu resides in the following places: 
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Menu Panel</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Start Here</guilabel> location in <application>
Nautilus</application></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu></para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="goseditmainmenu-51">
<title>Actions Menu</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>Actions menu</secondary></indexterm>
<para>The <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu contains various desktop commands. <xref
linkend="goseditmainmenu-TBL-52"/> describes the commands in the <guimenu>
Actions</guimenu> menu.</para>
<table frame="topbot" id="goseditmainmenu-TBL-52">
<title>Actions Menu Commands</title>
<tgroup cols="2" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><colspec colwidth="38.48*"/><colspec
colwidth="61.52*"/>
<thead>
<row rowsep="1"><entry valign="top"><para>Menu Item</para></entry><entry valign="top"><para>
Function</para></entry></row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Run Program</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Opens the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog.
Use the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog to run commands. For more
information, see <xref linkend="gospanel-23"/>.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Search for Files</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Starts the <application>Search Tool</application>
application. For more information, see the <citetitle>Search Tool</citetitle>
manual.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Screenshot</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Takes a screenshot of your desktop,
and opens the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog. Use the <guilabel>Screenshot
</guilabel> dialog to save the screenshot.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Lock Display</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Locks your screen. </para></entry></row>
<row><entry valign="top"><para><guimenuitem>Log Out</guimenuitem></para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Logs you out of the current session. </para></entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<para>The <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu resides in the following places: 
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Menu Panel. </para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>. The items in the <guimenu>
Actions</guimenu> menu are at the top level of the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<sect2 id="gospanel-23">
<title>Using the Run Program Dialog</title>
<indexterm><primary>Run Program dialog, using</primary></indexterm><para>
The <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog gives you access to the command
line. When you run a command in the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog,
you cannot receive output from the command.</para>
<para>To run a command from the command line perform the following steps: 
</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Display the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog. You can
display the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog in any of the following
ways:<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>From the Menu Panel</para>
<para>Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Run
Program</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>From the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu></para>
<para>Open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>, then choose <guimenuitem>Run
Program</guimenuitem>.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use shortcut keys</para>
<para>The default shortcut keys to display the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel>
dialog is <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>. You can change the shortcut
keys that display the <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog in the <application>
Desktop Preferences</application>. To change the shortcut keys, choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Applications</guimenu><guisubmenu>Desktop Preferences
</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Keyboard Shortcuts</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>From a launcher popup menu</para>
<para>Right-click on a launcher in a menu, then choose <guilabel>Put into
run dialog</guilabel> from the popup menu. The <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel>
dialog opens with the command from the menu in the command field.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist></para>
<para>The <guilabel>Run Program</guilabel> dialog is displayed.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Enter the command that you want to run in the blank field.
Alternatively, to choose  a command that you ran previously, click the down
arrow button beside the command field, then choose the command to run.</para>
<para>Alternatively, click on the <guibutton>Known Applications</guibutton>
button to display a list of available applications.</para>
<para>You can also use the <guibutton>Append File</guibutton> button to choose
a file to append to the command line. For example, you can enter <application>
emacs</application> as the command, then choose a file to edit.</para>
<para>Select the <guilabel>Run in terminal</guilabel> option to run the application
or command in a terminal window. Choose this option for an application or
command that does not create a window in which to run.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guibutton>Run</guibutton> button on the <guilabel>
Run Program</guilabel> dialog. </para></listitem>
</orderedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="goseditmainmenu-53">
<title>Taking Screenshots</title>
<indexterm><primary>screenshots, taking</primary></indexterm><para>You can
take a screenshot in any of the following ways:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Use the <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu</para>
<para>To take a screenshot of the entire screen, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>
Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Screenshot</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
A <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog is displayed. To save the screenshot,
select the <guilabel>Save screenshot to file</guilabel> option. Enter the
path and filename for the screenshot in the drop-down combination box. Alternatively,
to save the screenshot to another directory, click <guibutton>Browse</guibutton>.
When you select a directory, click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. </para>
<para>You can also save the screenshot to the desktop background. To save
the screenshot to the desktop background, select the <guilabel>Save screenshot
to desktop</guilabel> option. </para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use shortcut keys</para>
<para>To take a screenshot, use the following shortcut keys:</para>
<informaltable frame="topbot">
<tgroup cols="2" colsep="0" rowsep="0">

<colspec colname="COLSPEC0" colwidth="35.67*"/><colspec colname="COLSPEC1"
colwidth="64.33*"/>
<thead>
<row rowsep="1"><entry valign="top"><para>Default Shortcut Keys</para></entry>
<entry valign="top"><para>Function</para></entry></row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><keycap>Print Screen</keycap></para></entry>
<entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>Takes a screenshot of the entire screen, and
displays the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog. Use the <guilabel>Screenshot
</guilabel> dialog to save the screenshot.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Print
Screen</keycap></keycombo></para></entry><entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>Takes a screenshot
of the window that has focus, and displays the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel>
dialog. Use the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog to save the screenshot.
</para></entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
<para>You can use the <application>Keyboard Shortcuts</application> preference
tool to modify the default shortcut keys.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use a command</para>
<para>You can use the <command>gnome-panel-screenshot</command> command to
take a screenshot. The <command>gnome-panel-screenshot</command> command takes
a screenshot of the entire screen, and displays the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel>
dialog. Use the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog to save the screenshot.
</para>
<para>You can also use options on the <command>gnome-panel-screenshot</command>
command as follows: </para>
<informaltable frame="topbot">
<tgroup cols="2" colsep="0" rowsep="0">

<colspec colname="COLSPEC0" colwidth="35.67*"/><colspec colname="COLSPEC1"
colwidth="64.33*"/>
<thead>
<row rowsep="1"><entry valign="top"><para>Option</para></entry><entry valign="top"><para>
Function</para></entry></row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><command>--window</command></para></entry>
<entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>Takes a screenshot of the window that has
focus, and displays the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog. Use the <guilabel>
Screenshot</guilabel> dialog to save the screenshot.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><command>--delay=<replaceable>seconds
</replaceable></command></para></entry><entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>Takes
a screenshot after the specified number of seconds, and displays the <guilabel>
Screenshot</guilabel> dialog. Use the <guilabel>Screenshot</guilabel> dialog
to save the screenshot.</para></entry></row>
<row><entry colname="COLSPEC0"><para><command>--help</command></para></entry>
<entry colname="COLSPEC1"><para>Displays the options for the command.</para></entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="goseditmainmenu-7">
<title>GNOME Menu</title>
<indexterm><primary>menus</primary><secondary>GNOME Menu</secondary><see>
GNOME Menu</see></indexterm><indexterm><primary>GNOME Menu</primary><secondary>
introduction</secondary></indexterm>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
  <imageobject>
    <imagedata fileref="figures/open_main_menu.png" format="PNG"/>
  </imageobject>
  <textobject>
	<phrase>Shows open GNOME Menu. Menu items: Programs, Favorites, Applets, Run, Panel, Lock Screen, Log Out.
</phrase>
  </textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>You can access almost all of the standard applications, commands, and
configuration options on your desktop from the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>. 
</para>
<para>The <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> provides the following top-level menus
and special menu items: </para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guimenu>Applications</guimenu>: Contains all applications
and preference tools. This menu also includes the file manager and the help
browser.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guimenu>Actions</guimenu>: Contains desktop commands the <guimenuitem>
Lock Display</guimenuitem> and <guimenuitem>Log Out</guimenuitem> menu items.
The items in the <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> menu are at the top level of the <guimenu>
GNOME Menu</guimenu>. </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>You can add <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> buttons to your panels. By
default, the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> is represented on panels by a stylized
footprint icon, as follows:</para>
<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
  <imageobject>
    <imagedata fileref="figures/footprint_icon.png" format="PNG"/>
  </imageobject>
  <textobject>
	<phrase>Shows GNOME Menu icon.</phrase>
  </textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<sect2 id="goseditmainmenu-15">
<title>To Open the GNOME Menu</title>
<indexterm><primary>GNOME Menu</primary><secondary>opening</secondary></indexterm>
<para>You can open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> in the following ways: 
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>From a panel with a <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu></para>
<para>Click on the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>. </para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use shortcut keys</para>
<para>You can use shortcut keys to open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>.
When you use shortcut keys to open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>, the <guimenu>
GNOME Menu</guimenu> appears at the mouse pointer. </para>
<para>The default shortcut keys to open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>
are <keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>F1</keycap></keycombo>. To change the shortcut keys
that open the <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>
Applications</guimenu><guisubmenu>Desktop Preferences</guisubmenu>
<guimenuitem>Keyboard Shortcuts</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="goseditmainmenu-29">
<title>To Add a GNOME Menu to a Panel</title>
<indexterm><primary>GNOME Menu</primary><secondary>adding to panel</secondary>
</indexterm><para>You can add as many <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> buttons
as you want to your panels. To add a <guimenu>GNOME Menu</guimenu> to a panel,
right-click on any vacant space on the panel. Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>
Add to Panel</guimenu><guimenuitem>GNOME Menu</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>