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2.2. Point-and-Click Operations
Windows XP offers several settings that
affect the way the interface responds to mouse clicks. The default
setting (the way it works when you first install Windows XP) will
also be familiar to most users, as it is fairly consistent with the
way most operating systems work.Depending on your current settings, however, Windows may respond to
mouse clicks differently. See the "Alternate
Behavior" section that follows for differences.
Later on, you'll see how to choose between the
classic behavior and the alternate behavior.If you are one of the few computer users who haven't
used a graphical user interface before, here are some things you need
to know:
- PCs usually come with a two- or three-button mouse (unlike the
one-button mouse used with the Macintosh), although there are a
variety of alternatives, such as touchpads (common on laptops),
trackballs, and styluses. - To
click
an object means to move the pointer to the desired screen object and
press and release the left mouse button. - Double-click means to click twice in rapid
succession with the button on the left. (Clicking twice
doesn't accomplish the same thing.) - Right-click means to click with the button on
the right. - If your mouse has three or more buttons, you should just use the
primary buttons on the left and the right, and read the documentation
that comes with your pointing device to find out what you can do with
the others. (You can often configure the middle button to take over
functions like double-clicking, cut and paste, inserting inflammatory
language into emails, and so on.)
2.2.1. Default Behavior
The default setting is consistent with
most operating systems, including previous versions of Windows. You
can tell if you have the default style if the captions under the
icons on your Desktop are not underlined. The
alternate behavior (sometimes called the Web View) is discussed in
the subsequent section. Here is how Windows XP responds to mouse
clicks by default:
- Double-click on any
icon
on the Desktop to open it. If the icon represents a program, the
program is launched (i.e., opened). If the icon represents a
datafile, the file is opened by the associated program. (The
associations between files and programs, called File Types in
Windows, are discussed later in this chapter and in Chapter 8.) If the icon represents a folder (such as
My Documents ), a folder window appears, the
contents of which are shown as icons within the window - Single-click on an icon to select
(highlight) it. A selected icon appears darkened and its caption text
is highlighted. - Single-click an icon, and then click again (but not so quickly as to
suggest a double-click) on the icon's caption to
rename
it. Type a new caption, and then press the Enter key or simply click
elsewhere to confirm the new name. You can also rename by clicking
and pressing F2, or by right-clicking and selecting Rename. - Right-click (click the right mouse button) on any icon to pop up
a menu of other actions that can be performed on the object. The
contents of this menu vary depending on which object you click, so it
is commonly called the context menu. The
context menu for your garden-variety file includes actions such as
Open, Print, Delete, Rename, and Create Shortcut. The context menu
for the Desktop itself includes actions such as
Refresh and New (to create new empty
files or folders). Nearly
all objects have a Properties entry, which can be especially useful.
See Chapter 4 for additional details. - Click and hold down the left mouse button over an icon while moving
the mouse to drag the object. Drag a file icon onto a
folder icon or into an open folder window to move the file into the
folder. Drag a file icon onto a program icon or an open application
window (usually) to open the file in that program. Drag an object
into your
Recycle
Bin to dispose of the object. Dragging can also be used to rearrange
the icons on your Desktop. More drag-drop tips are discussed later in
this chapter. - By dragging a file with the
right mouse button instead of the left, you can choose what happens
when the file is dropped. With the release of the button, a small
menu will pop up providing you with a set
of options (Move Here, Copy Here, Create Shortcut(s) Here) to choose
from. Although it is less convenient than left-dragging, it does give
you more control. - Click an icon to select it, and then hold down the
Ctrl key while clicking on additional
objectsthis instructs Windows to remember all your selections
so that you can have multiple objects selected simultaneously. This
way, for example, you can select a group of files to delete and then
drag them all to the Recycle Bin at once. - Click an item and then hold down Shift while clicking a second item to
select both items and all objects that appear between them. What ends
up getting selected depends on the arrangement of items to be
selected, so this method is more suitable for folder windows that
have their contents arranged in a list format. You can use this
method in conjunction with the Ctrl method (above) to accomplish
elaborate selections. - You can also select a group of
icons without using the
keyboard, as shown in Figure 2-2. Draw an imaginary
rubber band around the objects you wish to select by clicking and
holding on a blank area of the Desktop or folder window and dragging
it to an opposite corner. Play around with this feature to see how
Windows decides which items are included and which are ignored.
Figure 2-2. Select multiple files by dragging a "rubber band"
- Whether you have one icon or many icons selected simultaneously, a
single click on another
icon
or a blank area of the Desktop abandons your selection. - If you select multiple items simultaneously, they will all behave
like a single unit when dragged. For example, if you
select 10 file icons, you can drag them all by just grabbing any one
of them. - Press Ctrl-A to select everything in the folder
(or on the Desktop, if that's where the focus is).
This corresponds to Edit
Select All. (See "Windows and
Menus" later in this chapter if you
don't know what we mean by the term
focus.) See Appendix C
for more keyboard shortcuts.
2.2.2. Alternate Behavior
In
addition to the default style discussed in
the previous section, Windows also provides a setting that makes the
interface look and feel somewhat like a
web page. Select Folder Options from
Windows Explorer's
Tools menu; if the "Single-click to open an
item" option is selected (see Figure 2-3), you're using the settings
described here. If you have this setting enabled on your system,
clicking and double-clicking will work differently than described
above, although dragging and right-clicking (as described in the
previous section) will remain the same.
Figure 2-3. Folder options specify whether to use "web view"
- The whole concept of double-clicking is abolished. Although
double-clicking helps prevent icons from being accidentally opened
when you're manipulating them, double-clicking can
be confusing or awkward for some new users. - To select an item, simply move the mouse over it.
- To activate (open) an item, click once on it.
- To
rename an item, carefully float the
mouse pointer over an icon and press F2, or right-click an icon and
select Rename. - You can still select
multiple items using the Shift and Ctrl keys. However, instead of
using Shift-click or Ctrl-click, hold the Shift or Ctrl keys down
while moving the pointer over the desired items and
don't click at all.
Since the default view is, by far, the setting used most frequently,
most of the instruction in this book will assume
you're using that setting. For example, if you see
"Double-click the My Computer
icon," and you're using the
"Single-click to open" setting,
remember that you'll simply be single-clicking the
item.
