This chapter includes these sections:
The Toolchest menu in the upper left corner of your screen contains an Icon Catalog that holds collections of utilities, tools, and applications. The system utilities are located on the Desktop Tools page of the Icon Catalog.
To get to these utilities:
Pull down the Find menu, which is located on the Toolchest menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
Select Desktop Tools.
You can also open the utilities using an IRIX command in a shell. See “Starting Up Utilities From a Shell”.
Many utility windows can be resized to your preference. To resize a utility window after it is placed:
Position your cursor anywhere on the very edge of the window. You know your cursor is positioned correctly for resizing the window if the cursor becomes an arrow with a bar at its point.
Press and hold down the left mouse button.
With your cursor, push or pull the border until you reach the desired window size.
Release the mouse button. The window is now the new size. You can resize it again at any time.
Some utilities can be sized only if you select Size from the standard window menu. See “Working With Borderless Windows” for simple instructions on bringing up the window menu.
You may start up any of the utilities by typing the appropriate IRIX command in a shell window. The IRIX command is provided in this chapter for each of the utilities.
For example, to start up Desk Clock from a shell, type clock and then press Enter.
Some of the utilities are displayed on the screen with no border; some have a border but no window menu button. To display a window menu for these items:
Position the cursor over the utility window.
Hold down the Alt key.
Press the right mouse button.
A window menu appears. You may choose Quit, Move, or any other listed command. This procedure works for any window, whether or not it has a border.
A few of your desktop utilities require you to control the input focus of the cursor. Input focus allows only one window at a time to recognize mouse movement and typing. This allows the utility to apply itself to items on the screen that are outside of the utility window. See “Magnifying a Section of Your Screen” for an example of working with input focus.
This guide notes whether or not a utility requires input focus, and includes input focus procedures in the utility instructions.
The input focus can be controlled in two different ways. First, position the cursor over the utility window that you are using, then do one of the following:
Press and hold the middle mouse button.
Press and hold any key on the keyboard. It is best to use a non-printing key such as Shift so you do not inadvertently start typing into another window.
Using the left mouse button, you can select text in a shell window three different ways:
While holding down the mouse button, drag the cursor over the text to select it.
Double-click to select an individual word.
Triple-click to select a single line of text.
Selected text appears highlighted and is automatically copied to a memory buffer. It can be pasted into another shell or back into the same shell using the middle mouse button. This is a handy way to repeat a command in a shell without retyping it, or to do simple editing for electronic mail.
To paste text from one shell into another:
Select the text you want to paste.
Position the cursor over the shell that you are pasting into.
Click the middle mouse button.
The text appears after any text that is already in the shell.
Every shell window contains a pop-up menu. You may use the menu to position and size the window as well as change its display font. To view the pop-up menu, position the cursor over the shell window and press the right mouse button. The menu appears as illustrated in Figure 12-1.
The pop-up menu commands are outlined below:
| Pop | Brings the window to the top, over any other windows that obscure it | |
| Send | Pastes the selected text (same as clicking the middle mouse button) | |
| Size | Provides several options to modify the dimensions of the window | |
| Font... | Lets you change the display font for the shell window | |
| Clone | Creates a duplicate of the window in one of several optional sizes |
Using most of the pop-up menu commands is very straightforward; however the Font... command requires additional instructions.
Choosing Font... from the shell window pop-up menu displays the dialog box illustrated in Figure 12-2.
The dialog box shows all the available fonts, along with the font styles and sizes. If you want the dialog box to show only the proportional width fonts or to show the size in points, click on the appropriate check box. The check boxes toggle on and off as you click them.
To change the display font for your shell window:
Select a font from the Family list.
The Family list contains some of the font families loaded into the system. Only the names available for the selected font will be visible in the darker print.
Select a font style from the Style list box.
The Style list shows, in darker print, the available styles for the selected font.
Select a font size from the Size list box.
The Size list shows only the available sizes for the selected font and style.
When you have selected a font, style, and size, the name of the font bearing all three properties is automatically written into the Font Name text field. If you wish, you may enter this font name manually. See the section, “Using the Font Names Utility to Select a Font for a Shell Window ”, to find out how you can choose from a much wider selection of fonts.
Click Apply to apply the new font to the shell window, or Accept to apply the new font and dismiss the dialog box. Press cancel to cancel your selection and close the dialog box.
Note: See the Personal System Administration Guid for more information on shells and commands.
Clocks are available on the Desktop Tools page. All of the IRIX clocks display the standard system time. If the clocks do not display the correct time, use the IRIX date command to reset the system time. See the Personal System Administration Guid .
To bring up the Desk Clock utility, open the Find menu, select Desktop Tools, and double-click the clock icon.
The Desk Clock utility is illustrated in Figure 12-3.
To start up Desk Clock from a shell window, type clock and then press Enter.
Desk Clock has an alarm that you can set to go off at any designated time. To set the alarm:
Position the cursor over Desk Clock and press the right mouse button.
A pop-up menu appears as illustrated in Figure 12-4.
Choose alarm from the pop-up menu.
A red hand appears on the face of Desk Clock.
Position the cursor over the red clock hand, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the red hand to the desired alarm time.
The exact time the red hand points to is indicated at the bottom of Desk Clock. Keep in mind that the Desk Clock alarm cannot distinguish between a.m. and p.m.
The pop-up menu also has a calendar command. Choosing calendar brings up the Calendar utility (See “Calendar Utility” in this chapter).
Desk Clock appears on the screen as a borderless window. To display a window menu, position the cursor over Desk Clock, hold down the Alt key, and press the right mouse button. This lets you size, move, or quit Desk Clock, or use any other feature of the window menu.
To start the Analog Clock utility, open the Find menu, select Desktop Tools, and double-click the xclock icon.
The Analog Clock, shown in Figure 12-5, simply displays the time and has no additional features.
To start up Analog Clock from a shell window, type xclock and then press Enter.
To start the Calendar utility, open the Find menu, choose the Desktop Tools page, and double-click the ical icon. The calendar is shown in Figure 12-6.
To start up Calendar from a shell window, type ical and then press Enter.
Calendar appears with the current month displayed and the current day indicated in red. Clicking on the calendar with the middle mouse button advances the calendar by one month with each click. Clicking on the calendar with the left mouse button makes the calendar go back one month with each click.
To start the Calculator utility, open the Find menu, choose the Desktop Tools page, and double-click the xcalc icon.
To start up Calculator from a shell window, type xcalc and then press Enter.
The Calculator utility, shown in Figure 12-7, is a feature-laden, scientific calculator. It can be operated by clicking the appropriate calculator button with the left mouse button or by using the numeric keypad on the keyboard.
If you use the numeric keypad, press Enter when you want to execute the operation you have entered. For example, after entering 2 + 2, press Enter to complete the equation.
The calculator uses algebraic notation (not Reverse Polish Notation) and follows the rules of algebraic precedence. In other words, entering 2 + 2 x 3 Enter gives you 2 + (2 x 3), or 8.
To start the Magnifier utility, open the Find menu, select the Desktop Tools page, and double-click the mag icon.
To start up Magnifier from a shell window, type mag and then press Enter.
The Magnifier utility provides a magnified view of selected portions of your computer screen. The Magnifier window shows you a static image; it changes only when you click to select a new area for magnification.
The Magnifier window can magnify any area of the screen you click on. This requires that you control the cursor's input focus so the IRIX software understands that you are still working with Magnifier when you move the cursor out of its window. For more information on input focus options, see “Input Focus” under the “Opening a Utility” section.
To use Magnifier:
Position the cursor over the Magnifier window. A special cursor appears in the shape of a magnifying glass. Hold down the Shift key or the middle mouse button. This holds the input focus on Magnifier.
Still holding down the Shift key or the middle mouse button, move the cursor over the area on your screen that you want to magnify and click the left mouse button.
A magnified picture of the section you selected appears in the Magnifier window. You can sweep out this small window, so that you can see more of the section you magnified. For instructions on resizing windows, see “Resizing Utility Windows” under the section “Opening a Utility.”
To start the Snapshot utility, open the Find menu, choose Desktop Tools, and double-click on the snapshot icon.
To start up Snapshot from a shell window, type snapshot and then press Enter.
Snapshot lets you take a “snapshot” of either the entire screen or selected areas of the screen and then save the snapshot as an RGB image. The small window appears as a borderless rectangle with the label “snapshot,” as shown in Figure 12-8.
Position your cursor over the Snapshot window. The pointer cursor changes to a camera cursor when you do this. Press down the right mouse button. This displays the pop-up menu shown in Figure 12-9.
You can display the pop-up menu anywhere on the screen by pressing the right mouse button when the input focus is on Snapshot (as indicated by the camera cursor).
The menu provides a variety of options:
| Save scrn as snap.rgb | Saves the full screen snapshot in the current directory as an RGB image, with the filename snap.rgb. | |
| New file name | Allows you to save the image with a new filename or pathname. When you choose this option, a box appears. Type in the filename or pathname and press Enter. | |
| Ipaste snap.rgb | Pastes the saved image on the screen. | |
| Redraw Rubberband | Allows you to alter the snapshot area that you selected. (See “Taking a Snapshot of a Selected Area ”.) | |
| Save and exit | Saves the snapshot with the default filename snap.rgb, or the new filename you entered, and exits the Snapshot utility. | |
| Exit | Immediately exits Snapshot. |
To take a snapshot of a selected area of your screen, you must control the input focus by holding down the Shift key. For more information on input focus, see “Input Focus” in the “Opening a Utility” section.
To take a snapshot of a selected area:
Position your cursor over the Snapshot window and hold down the Shift key.
The cursor takes on the shape of a camera when you use Snapshot.
Still holding down the Shift key, move the camera cursor over to the area you want a snapshot of and use the left mouse button to drag a box around the area. This is the area that Snapshot will capture.
Release the Shift key and the mouse button.
Position the cursor over the Snapshot window and press the right mouse button to display the pop-up menu.
If you are happy with the box area you created, proceed to Step 6. If you would like to alter the box, select Redraw Rubberband from the pop-up menu.
Hold down the Shift key and move the cursor to one of the edges of the snapshot box you created. The cursor changes shape depending on where you place it in the box. For example, if you place the cursor on one of the edges, it becomes a bar with a dotted line outline.
Still holding down the Shift key, push or pull at the box outline until you are satisfied with your snapshot area.
Release the Shift key. Choose Save as snap.rgb from the Snapshot menu to save the snapshot as an RGB image.
You can also choose New file name to rename the image file; then select Save as filename, where filename is the name you entered into the New file name dialog box.
You can now either paste the image on the screen by typing ipaste <filename>, or open the saved image later in an image processing program.
| Note: When you use ipaste to paste a snapshot image on your screen, the image has a borderless window. You must to use the Alt key and the right mouse button to display a window menu. See “Working With Borderless Windows” for detailed instructions. |
Position the cursor over the Snapshot window and press the right mouse button.
The Snapshot pop-up menu appears.
Choose Save scrn as snap.rgb from the menu.
Note: This menu option does not exist if you have already selected a portion of your screen to snap. If this is the case, exit and restart Snapshot.
The Save scrn as snap.rgb selection saves a snapshot of your entire screen in your current directory as the RGB file named snap.rgb. You can now paste it on screen, or open it later in an image processing program. Pasting it on screen takes a few moments, and because of the way the pasted image is drawn on screen, you should wait until the process is completed before moving the cursor.
You may also choose New file name to rename the image file; then choose Save scrn as filename (where filename is the name you choose) or Save and exit.
The Show Color Map utility shows you the current color map of your system. The color map represents the colors that are currently being used by the system for screen display. The number of colors your system can display depends on its configuration. Not all colors are used under normal circumstances. Show Color Map lets you alter the colors used by the system for specific purposes, such as altering the color of your desktop Calendar (ical).
Each of the colors in the color map is displayed along the bottom of the Show Color Map window, usually below an area of black. If you are running an application that has introduced colors into the system that are not normally part of the color map, these new colors are represented by the black portion of the window.
Clicking on the window toggles it between two grid sizes, one twice as large as the other.
| Note: The subject of color maps can become very technical, and a full treatment of the subject lies beyond the scope of this guide. See the showmap and cedit man pages for additional information. |
To start the Showmap utility, open the Find menu, select Desktop Tools, and double-click the showmap icon.
To start up Show Color Map from a shell window, type showmap and then press Enter.
To alter colors on your screen:
Place the cursor over the showmap window and press the right mouse button, which displays a pop-up menu.
Choose cedit from the pop-up menu.
The cedit window appears on the screen. It contains a sample color box on the right and three slide bars to adjust the primary colors.
Place the cursor over the cedit window and hold down the Shift key to lock the input focus.
Still holding down the Shift key (but without pressing a mouse button), move the cursor over to the screen color you want to alter and click the left mouse button to select it.
The selected color appears in the cedit window sample color box. The slide bars representing the primary colors automatically adjust to the selected color.
Drag the cedit slide bars up and down to adjust the color to your preference.
The selected color visibly changes on the screen as you adjust the slide bars.
After altering the color map, you can easily reset it to its original values by clicking on the Reset Color Map utility, as described in the next section. Or, you can reset the color map to the original values by choosing makemap from the showmap window pop-up menu.
cedit works well on tools such as ical, but there are some items it usually cannot affect. These include:
“Dithered” colors (such as the background color in the desktop window). Dithered areas are areas where two colors are used in alternating pixels to give the appearance of a single color.
Applications with their own colormap. cedit can edit only the colors currently installed in the hardware color map.
The Reset Color Map utility simply resets the altered color map to its original values. You would use this after using the Show Color Map utility.
To activate the Reset Color Map utility, open the Find menu, select the Desktop Tools page, and double-click the makemap icon.
To invoke the Reset Color Map command from a shell window, type makemap and then press Enter.
The colors that were altered with showmap return to their original state after the Reset Color Map utility is used.
The System Usage utility displays a graphic representation of the CPU activity of your system.
To start the System Usage utility, open the Find menu, select the Desktop Tools page, and double-click the gr_osview icon.
To start up System Usage from a shell window, type gr_osview and then press Enter.
The graphic representation is dynamic; it changes as the CPU activity changes. The System Usage window presents a color bar with six types of CPU activity represented:
| user | Your direct use of the CPU. | |
| sys | The activity of the operating system. | |
| intr | The “interrupt overhead” of the CPU. | |
| gfxf | Use of the CPU to display graphics (graphics input). | |
| gfxc | Use of the CPU to display graphics (graphics context switching). | |
| idle | Idle time, no CPU activity. |
Each type is assigned a color, and as that type of activity occurs, the representational color takes over a greater proportion of the color bar.
The Font Names utility provides the full name of a font, as well as a sample of it, based on requested attributes, such as font size, weight, and other properties. IRIX distinguishes fonts by giving them a fourteen-part name. The Font Names utility can provide all fourteen parts and store the name in a memory buffer, enabling you to paste your custom font name into another application.
To start the Font Names utility, open the Find menu, select Desktop Tools, and double-click on the xfontsel icon.
To start up Font Names from a shell window, type xfontsel and then press Enter.
To see samples of different fonts:
Click on fmly (meaning font family) with your left mouse button, and choose a font from the pop-up menu.
As you change font properties, such as “fmly,” the alphanumeric sample in the last section of the xfontsel window changes to the match the properties you have selected. In addition, the middle section of the xfontsel window displays the full font name. See Figure 12-10.
If you wish, continue to change the font by selecting different options from any of the pop-up menus.
Most end users find the wght (meaning weight), slant (meaning font slant), and pxlsz (meaning font size) properties to be the most useful options.
(optional) You can now click on the select button to save the complete font name in a memory buffer. Use the middle mouse button to paste the font name somewhere else.
For an example of this, see “Using the Font Names Utility to Select a Font for a Shell Window ”.
Click on the quit button when you are ready to exit the xfontsel utility.
To use the Font Names utility to apply a new font to a shell window, perform the following:
Click on fmly (meaning font family) with the left mouse button, and choose a font from the pop-up menu.
If you wish, continue to change the font by selecting different options from any of the pop-up menus.
When you find the font you want, click the select button. This saves the font name in a memory buffer.
Open a shell window and hold down the right mouse button to bring up the shell pop-up menu.
Still holding down the right mouse button, move the cursor to the Font... menu choice and release. A new window appears.
There is a Font Name box in which you can insert a specific font name. If there is any writing in this box, use the back space key to delete it.
Press the middle mouse button. This should paste the exact font name you selected into the Font Name box.
Click the Apply button to simply apply the font to the shell window.
Or, click Accept to apply the font and exit this font window at the same time.
Your shell window should now display the font of your choice.
| Note: This font change only applies to your current shell window, not to other shell windows during your current or future login sessions. |
For more information about using fonts, see the xfontsel man page and “Working with Fonts” in Topics in IRIX Programming.