GEOWORKS JARGON #1: WINDOW WORDS

This area is an online dictionary for those terms you see bantered around all the time but are too shy to ask about :). Please keep checking in here.. it will keep growoing and changing. If there's a term you'd like defined, please just ask on the message board or via email (GWRepRobyn). If you have a definition you'd like to add, just send it to me and I'll give you credit for it. There definitions appear in a logical (I hope) rather than alphabetical order.

WINDOW: A rectangular area on your screen in which you can view an application or document. It may take up a part of the screen or even the whole screen. The difference between a window and a screen is that a window can be moved and resized while a screen can't. 

ACTIVE WINDOW: The one window that will respond to keystrokes. You can tell which window is active by looking at the menu bar.. it will be highlighted. Also, the active window is always the one on top or in the foreground. To make another window active, just click on any part of it.

MAXIMIZE: Make a window as large as it can possibly be.. often it will take up the whole screen.

MINIMIZE: Make a window as small as it can possibly be.. often it will be just an icon.

ICON: A small picture that represents an object, concept, or message. In Ensemble, Icons may represent files, directories, or applications. By clicking on  the picture (pressing mouse button) you can select, open or run the application or file it represents.

ICONIFY: Minimize a window so that it becomes an icon.

ANATOMY OF A WINDOW:
1. Text area: area within the window itself

2. Border: area around the outside of the window where your mouse changes from a pointer to an arrow. If you place your mouse right at the border so it's an arrow then press the left mouse button and hold while dragging, you'll resize the window.

3. Menu Bar: The horizontal bar at the top of your window that displays the name of the window. The menu bar of your active window will be highlighted (black). If you move your mouse pointer to the menu bar, it will change to four arrows pointing in all directions. If you click and drag your mouse, you will move your window without changing it's size.

4. Scroll bar: If the there's too much text to fit all in one window, you will see either a vertical or horizontal scroll bar. Clicking on one of the arrows at the top/bottom <or sides> will cause the text in your window to shift one line or column. Clicking above/below <or to the side of> the scroll bar, will cause your text to shift one screen width.

5. Control panel: The options you get when you mouse click the square in the upper left corner of your window. This control panel will let your maximize, minimize, move, resize, or close your window. Note: not all options will always be available.

6. Control Buttons: Some windows have control buttons. These are the two small squares in the upper righthand corner of the window. The small dot will make your window an icon <minimize>, the larger square will maximize or make it full screen. 