You interact with mwm with a pointing device, usually a mouse, or by pressing various combinations of keys on the keyboard, or both. The Motif Window Manager (mwm) uses an object-action model of interaction. You select a window, menu, icon, or other graphic object and indicate an action for that object.
A graphic image on the display, called a pointer, tracks the movement of the mouse on your desk. When X starts up, the pointer has an shape. (This shape is the default; the pointer shape can be customized.) When you move the mouse, the image of the pointer may change. The pointer shape is meant to provide a visual cue as to the activity that is being performed. For example, inside a terminal window or text editor, the pointer may look like an I-beam (see Figure 2-1).
Figure 3. Pointer Shapes Provide Visual Cues to Activity.
View figure. |
You can perform the following actions with a mouse:
(See the Preface for a description of the conventions used in this guide when referring to mouse buttons.)
You can perform many window management functions without using a mouse. Often, window management functions from the keyboard require using modifier keys. When you press these keys, they modify the action normally associated with other keys. Because Motif runs on many different kinds of terminals and workstations, the names of the keys vary from one system to the another. (See the Preface for the model keyboard conventions used in this guide.)
All mwm keyboard actions conform to the behavior specified in the Motif Style Guide. For example, pressing Shift Escape pops up the window menu for the active window. You browse through the menu items using the arrow keys. Pressing Return selects a menu item. Pressing Cancel cancels the current window management operation.