Motif User's Guide Migration Version

Motif 2.1 User's Guide

Entering and Editing Text

Many applications include areas for entering and editing text. The Text entry area may be a single line for entering the answer to a question in a DialogBox. However, the Text area can be any length, depending on the needs of the application.

Note:

This guide assumes that you are using applications in an English locale, where text is entered horizontally and wraps from one line to the next. In a locale such as Japanese, text is entered vertically and is wrapped from one column to the next. For information on using applications based on other locales, refer to Chapter 4.

Text components use an insertion cursor to indicate where the information that you are typing will be inserted. When a Text component has the input focus, the insertion cursor is indicated by a blinking I-beam cursor (see Figure 3-16).

Figure 24. A Text Component.

View figure.

To move the Text insertion cursor:

Move the pointer to the position where you want to begin typing.

Click Button 1. The I-beam insertion cursor will move to that location to let you know that you can begin typing.

If a Text component has the input focus, you can navigate through the text using the keyboard. The left and right arrows keys move the insertion cursor by a character. The up and down arrow keys move the insertion cursor by a line. Pressing Ctrl and using the left and right arrows navigates by words. Pressing Ctrl and using the up and down arrows navigates by paragraphs. PageUp, PageDown, PageLeft or Ctrl PageUp, and PageRight or Ctrl PageDown move the insertion cursor by pages.

You can use any of the following methods to select Text:

Press Button 1 and drag over the region that you want to select.

Click Button 1 twice in a word to select that word.

Click Button 1 multiple times to select larger areas, as determined by the application.

To deselect a region with the mouse, move the pointer anywhere outside of the selected region and click Button 1. If you want to move the insertion cursor without changing the selection, move the pointer to the location where you want to begin typing, hold down Ctrl, and click Button 1.

Text components provide four ways to copy or move text within the same component or from one component to another: clipboard transfer, drag transfer, primary transfer, and quick transfer.

To use clipboard transfer:

Select the text that you want to copy or move.

Type Ctrl Insert to copy the text to the clipboard or Shift Delete to cut it to the clipboard.

Move the insertion cursor to the location where you want to insert the text.

Type Shift Insert to paste the text to the new location.

To move or copy text using drag transfer:

Select the text that you want to copy or move.

Move the pointer over the selected text and press Button 2.

Drag the pointer to the location where you want to insert the text.

Release Button 2. Typically, the text will be moved to the new location. Hold down Shift while releasing Button 2 to ensure a move operation. Hold down Ctrl while releasing Button 2 to ensure a copy operation. (See Section 3.9 for more detailed information about drag transfer.)

To use primary transfer:

Select the text that you want to copy or move.

Move the pointer to the location where you want to insert the selected text.

To copy the text, click Button 2. To move the text, hold down Shift and click Button 2.

To move or copy text using quick transfer:

Move the pointer to the location where you want the text to be inserted.

Click Button 1.

Move the pointer to the location of the text that you want to move or copy.

Hold down Alt and press and hold down Button 2 as you drag the pointer over the text that you want to transfer. The text in the region you select will be underlined.

Release Button 2 to copy the text. To move the text, press and hold down Alt and Shift as you make your selection and release Button 2.

You can cancel an in-progress quick transfer operation by pressing Cancel before releasing Button 2 or by releasing Button 2 outside of the Text component.

Note that which mouse buttons are to be used for text transfer depends on how these buttons have been defined for your mouse. In some cases, Button 1 is used to both select and transfer the text and Button 2 is used to adjust or extend the selection and for primary transfer, and in other cases, Button 1 is used to select the text, and Button 2 is used to transfer it.

You can also select, copy, and move text using the keyboard instead of the mouse. To make a selection, press and hold down Shift and use the various Text navigation keys to highlight the text that you want to select. Release Shift to complete the selection.

Once the selection has been made, any further use of the navigational keys will deselect the region. You can either use the mouse as previously described to copy or move the selection or press Shift F8 to enter add mode. When you are in add mode, you can move the insertion cursor without causing the selection to be deselected. After moving the insertion cursor, press Alt Ctrl Insert to copy the selection. Press Alt Shift Delete to move the selection.

To delete text within a Text component, use BackSpace and Delete. If text is selected, either key will delete the selection. If there is no selected text, BackSpace deletes the character preceeding the cursor and Delete deletes the character following the cursor.