Every Motif application contains a MainWindow, which organizes the contents of the application. Generally, you access primary functionality of an application through components in the MainWindow. The components included in a MainWindow will vary from application to application. The MainWindow in a typical application may contain a MenuBar, ScrollBars, and areas for entering commands and viewing messages, as well as the components that are specific to the application.
The MenuBar is a horizontal bar located just under the window's title bar. The MenuBar organizes the most common features in an application. The area below the MenuBar contains the components for the primary functionality of the application. For example, in a spreadsheet program, the spreadsheet grid would be displayed in this area. In an electronic mail application, this area would contain components for reading and sending mail messages. Vertical and horizontal ScrollBars allow you to view data that requires more space than is available in the MainWindow at any one time. Applications that use a command-line interface in addition to a graphical interface provide a command area for entering commands. The command area normally runs from border to border across the bottom of the MainWindow. An application may also include a region for displaying short messages.
Figure 3-1 shows the basic components of a MainWindow for Motif applications. Most applications will have additional components in their MainWindows.
Figure 9. The Basic MainWindow for Motif Applications.
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