General Features of the ACEDB Interface
This help page provides basic information for how to use the general
features of ACEDB: quitting the program, getting online help,
printing, using the mouse, keyboard shortcuts, and so on. Help is also
available for:
Using ACEDB
- Quit: To exit the program choose Quit from the
menu in the main window.
- General info: The software version and data
release numbers are available using Status
in the pop-up menu of the ACEDB Main Window.
- Mouse: The left button is used to pick windows or
objects. Usually, picking once changes the color of the target,
picking a second time initiates an action. The middle button is used
in some graphic windows to recenter (single click) or to zoom and
recenter (by dragging in horizontal and vertical directions). On the
NeXT, press both buttons to emulate the middle button. The right
button is used to access menus.
- Menus: Under X windows (Openwin) you get the menu
for any ACEDB window by pressing the right mouse button when the
cursor is in the window. Almost always the first three items will be
Quit (which closes the window), Help (which brings up
context-sensitive help), and Print (which prints the contents of the
window). Under SunView you must press the right mouse button when the
cursor is in the title bar of the window.
- Help: The F1 or F10 or Help key invokes the online, context-sensitive help related to the
window to which the mouse points or some selected item within it.
Some of these keys may not work on some machines or under some window
managers, but one should! There is also a help entry in most menus.
- Printing: The F2 or F9 key creates a post-script
file in the subdirectory PS of $ACEDB. It will then try to print it
using "lpr". If the environment variable ACEDB_LPR is set (e.g.
setenv ACEDB_LPR "lpr -Pmyprinter"), then that print command is used
instead. Setting it to an empty string will prevent automatic
printing. There is also a print option in most menus.
- Text entry boxes: Many ACEDB tools contain yellow
and green rectangular micro text editors. Only one of them is active
(yellow) at a time in a given window. To activate one, pick it with
the left mouse button. This will position the cursor. Text entry boxes
recognize these commands: Return key, Insert key (a toggle), Delete
and BackSpace keys, Home and End key, the left and right arrows. In
addtion a set of control keys allow movement (^f: forward, ^b:
backward, ^a: to beginning, ^e: to end of line), deletion (^d: a char,
^w: a word, ^k: to end of line, ^u: whole line) and TAB which attempts
to autocomplete an object or class name.
- Color, Gray, Black and White screens: In
principle, under X11, acedb will autodetect the type of screen you are
using. In case of problem, you can try to setenv one of ACEDB_MONO,
ACEDB_GREY, ACEDB_GRAY, ACEDB_COLOR, ACEDB_COLOUR.
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last edited: July 1994