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Using the Mouse

The Amiga comes equipped with a mouse, illustrated in Figure 2-2, used to communicate with the system through the pointer. The mouse pointer is positioned by moving the mouse. Manipulating the mouse so that the pointer is located over various objects and pictures on the screen and pressing the mouse buttons tells the Amiga what to do.

Figure 2-2.

Amiga Mouse

Holding 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. In this position, the left mouse button is the selection button and the right mouse button is the menu button.

Mouse Operations

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.

Using the Selection Button

The left mouse button is the selection button, used for selecting items on the monitor display for processing. This button is also used to move, or drag, items on the screen. For information about these operations, see Chapter 3.

Using the 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 contain the headings of each menu available for a selected window, program, or icon. Menus contain lists of options for the operations that you can do with the selected item.

Using Menus

Menu bars appear across the top of the screen, containing any menu headings available.

Hold down the menu button to display the menu bar as illustrated in Figure 2-3. Hol down the menu button while pointing to the different menu headings to show the available items listed beneath each. To choose a particular item, move the pointer down and release the menu button when the pointer touches it.

Figure 2-3.

Sample Menu Bar and Menu

Some menu items have submenus, which are additional related options that appear to the right of the menu item when it is selected. The symbol » after the item name indicates a submenu. If a menu has submenus, select one of the submenu options. Choosing a main menu item without choosing one of its submenus has no effect. In addition to the » symbol, other symbols may appear on the menu:

To execute several menu options at once, hold down the menu button and, using the selection button, click on the menu options of your choice.

The menu button can also be used to cancel operations being performed by the selection button, such as drag selection.

Ghosted Menu Items

If a menu item is not available for a particular operation, it is ghosted or displayed less distinctly than the others, as illustrated in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4.

Ghosted versus Available Menu Items

Canceling 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:

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 to the right of some options. Holding down the right Amiga key and simultaneously pressing the letter displayed attains the same results as activating that menu option. Using the keyboard shortcuts instead of the menus speeds your work. For a full description of key functions, see the hardware manual for your Amiga model.

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