Using the Mouse:
The Amiga comes equipped with a mouse, used to communicate with the system through the pointer. The pointer is an image of an arrow on your screen that is manipulated by moving the mouse.
Positioning the mouse so that the pointer is located on an icon, window, menu, or screen and pressing the mouse buttons tells the Amiga what to do.
Moving the Mouse:
Hold the mouse on a flat surface with the cable extending away from you so that the mouse box rests under the palm of your hand with the buttons under your fingertips.
The button on the left is the selection button and the button on the right is the menu button.
When using the mouse:
- Pointing:
means moving the mouse so that the tip of the pointer is positioned over an object on the screen. The pointer moves in the same direction you move the mouse. The mouse can be lifted and repositioned at any time. Lifting the mouse does not move the pointer.
- Clicking:
means pressing and releasing the selection button.
- Double-Clicking:
means clicking the selection button twice in rapid succession. Double-clicking on an icon causes a window to appear or a program to start.
- Holding Down:
means pressing the mouse button until your action is completed.
- Dragging:
means moving screens, windows, and icons by holding down the selection button and moving the mouse.
Selection Button:
The left mouse button is the selection button, used for selecting screens, windows, and icons for processing.
This button is also used to move, or drag, items on the screen.
Each of these mouse techniques is described in the following sections.
- Selecting an Icon or Window:
Windows are rectangular areas on the screen that can accept or display information. Icons are images in windows that represent disks, drawers, projects, or tools.
To work with an icon or window you must first select it. Once an icon is selected, you can make a copy of it, change its name, or delete it.
All icons are surrounded by a box. When an icon is not selected, the box appears raised above the screen or window surface. When you select an icon, the box appears to sink into the screen or window surface. Icons also change colour or shape when selected. For example, drawer icons change from a closed drawer to an open drawer when selected.
To select an icon:
- Point to the icon, making sure the pointer tip is within the icon's box.
- Click the selection button. The icon changes to show that it is selected.
If you click the selection button while the pointer is elsewhere on the screen or window, the icon is deselected and returns to its original appearance.
Select a window by clicking the selection button while the pointer is inside the window, but not over an icon.
When a window is selected, the frame surrounding the window changes colour. Only one window can be selected at a time. The selected window is the one that accepts your mouse and keyboard input.
- Selecting Multiple Icons:
You can select several icons at one time. When multiple icons are selected, you can treat them as a single entity, deleting, moving, or copying the entire group in one operation.
The two methods for selecting multiple icons using the mouse are drag selection and extended selection.
Drag selection uses the mouse to draw a box around all of the icons that you wish to select, as follows:
- Move the pointer just outside of the outermost icon to be included in the box. That point is one corner of the box. Make sure it is not on an icon or gadget.
- Hold down the selection button and move the mouse to draw a dotted box as it moves.
- When the box encloses all the icons to be selected, release the mouse button. All of these icons are now selected.
The extended selection method is for selecting icons that are not in a group that can be enclosed in a box, as follows:
- Select the first icon.
- Hold down Shift.
- While holding down Shift, select each of the other icons.
- Release Shift. All of the chosen icons remain selected until you select a different icon or click within a Workbench window while not holding down Shift.
- Opening a Window:
Double-clicking on an icon opens a window or starts a program. Adjust the time allotted for a double-click with the Input Preferences editor.
- Dragging an Icon:
To drag an icon:
- Point to the icon.
- Hold down the selection button and move the mouse. An image of the selected icon moves with the pointer.
- Release the selection button when the icon is in position.
If you selected several icons, you can drag all of them at once. Hold down Shift, point to one of the icons, hold down the selection button, and move the mouse. All the selected icons move as you move the mouse.
- Dragging a Window:
When several windows are open on the Workbench screen, they may overlap each other. Rearrange the windows on the screen by dragging them, to show the information presented in all the windows.
To drag a window:
- Point to the title bar, but make sure the pointer is not over any of the gadgets at either end.
- Hold down the selection button and move the mouse. An outline of the window appears and moves across the screen.
- Drag the outline into position and then release the selection button. The window appears in the new location.
- Dragging a Screen
Screens are areas of the display on which windows are opened. It is possible to have more than one screen open at a time. If your Workbench screen, a terminal program screen, and a text editor screen are open all at the same time, you can see parts of each screen by dragging them into view.
To drag a screen:
- Point to the screen's title bar.
- Hold down the selection button.
- Move the mouse down.
To expose a screen, you can drag any screens that are in front of it down. If a screen is larger than a monitor's display area, you can drag it up or down or side to side so that you can see all areas of the screen.
To drag a screen when its title bar is covered by windows or not on the visible part of the display, hold down the left Amiga key and then the selection button. This lets you "grab" the screen and drag it, regardless of the mouse pointer position.
- Copy by Dragging
Copy a drawer, project, or tool to another disk by dragging the icon over the other disk's icon or into the other disk's window. The original icon stays on the original disk and a copy is created in the destination disk's window.
You cannot make a copy of an icon on the same disk with this method. To copy something onto the same disk, select its icon, and then use the Copy menu item.
You can copy several icons at once using drag selection or extended selection. When the icons to be copied are selected:
- Hold down Shift.
- Point to one of the selected icons and then drag it over the other disk's icon or into the other disk's window. As you drag one icon, the rest follow.
- Release the selection button to copy the icons.
Note: When drag-copying several icons, be sure the tip of the pointer is over the icon or window to which you are copying when you release the selection button.
Menu Button:
The right mouse button is the menu button, which is used to display the menu bar and menus and to choose items from them. Menu bars appear across the top of the screen, containing any menu headings available. The menu button can also be used to cancel operations being performed by the selection button, such as drag selection.
Cancelling an Operation:
Cancel the operation being performed with the selection button by clicking the menu button while still holding down the selection button. The following operations can be cancelled: selecting, dragging, drag selection, and changing the size of a window.
Cancel selection of button-type gadgets by moving the pointer off the gadget button before releasing the selection button.
Using the Amiga Without a Mouse:
All mouse actions can also be done using the keyboard. Certain key combinations allow use of the keyboard to move the pointer, select icons, and choose menu items.
Keyboard shortcuts appear in the menu boxes for some options.
For a full description of these key functions, see the hardware manual for your Amiga model.
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