Program windows. Program windows (application windows). Mouse Actions

The basis of working in Windows is working with windows. Any icon can be expanded into a window by double-clicking.

Window is a rectangular area of \u200b\u200bthe screen in which certain information is displayed: the contents of disks, programs, user-created documents, Windows requests and messages. Windows can open (expand), close, collapse, move, arrange, resize ... An open window can take up the whole screen or part of it.

Close a window - means to completely remove it from the screen. Closing the program window means removing the program from the RAM.

Minimized windows displayed as buttons in the taskbar. The program, the window of which is minimized, remains in RAM and you can resume work with it at any time. To reopen the minimized window, click on the button in the Taskbar.

Window elements

Despite the variety of windows used in Windows, windows are managed according to uniform rules. Almost all windows (except for some query windows) contain required elements for managing windows. In fig. 6 shows the elements of the My Computer window.

Figure: 6. Window of the My Computer folder

In the work area folder windows displays icons for objects contained in the folder. The content of the program window depends on the purpose of the program. Document windows can be placed in application windows in the work area.

All other window elements - stripes, lines, buttons - are controls.

Title bar

The window title is always displayed in the middle of the title bar, and ( system menu button or pictogram), and on the right - control buttons. These window elements can be activated with a mouse click, i.e. you need to point to the button and click the left mouse button.

System icon is a smaller window icon. One click on this button brings up the system menu, and double click closes the window.

Control buttons include:

Menu bar

The menu bar is located below the window's title bar. Menu items contain commands to manipulate content work area ... Dialog and document windows do not contain menu bars.

Toolbar

Below the menu bar there may be a Toolbar or a pictographic menu - a set of buttons designed to execute various commands for managing the contents of the window (Fig. 7). Toolbar buttons duplicate the main menu commands, but their use increases the speed and efficiency of work, because to execute a command, just click on the button, which is much faster than finding the desired command in the menu. The toolbar contains command buttons for performing the most common operations, but unlike the menu bar, it is limited in the number of commands. When you point the mouse, the button is highlighted (highlighted). If this does not happen, then the button is currently unavailable.

An image on each button in toolbars gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe button's function and helps you remember them quickly. A hint about any tool in the panel can be obtained by pointing the mouse to the button. After a short time, a pop-up hint about the purpose of the button will appear.

Figure: 7. Toolbar

Address bar

The address bar contains the path to the current folder, which is convenient for orientation in the file structure. The address bar allows you to quickly jump to other sections of the file structure using the drop-down button - (on the right side of the line).

List of typical tasks

Each Windows folder offers easy access to the most common file and folder management tasks. If you open any folder on your computer, on the left side of the folder window, next to its contents, a list of tasks will appear, providing access to the most common tasks for managing files and folders using hyperlinks.

You can select a file or folder and then select a task and different sections.

1. In chapter Tasks for files and folders commands for working with files and folders are displayed, allowing you to rename, copy, move, or delete that file or folder. The command set in this section depends on the choice of the object. You can also email the file or publish it on the Internet.
2. Section Other placescontains links (addresses) for quick transition to other folders and drives.
3. Section In detail contains information about the current or selected object.
   In Windows XP, there are several folders, which, in addition to the basic file and folder management tasks available in each folder, contain links to specific tasks.
4. Folder My drawings contains section Tasks for imagesfor links to tasks to help you manage your image files.
5. Folder My music contains section Tasks for music links to play and search music.
6. Folder My computer and other system folders contain a section System taskswhich is contextual. By using the links to tasks in this folder, you can view information about your computer, change system settings in Control Panel, and perform other system management procedures.
7. Folder Basket contains section Tasks for the Cart, with which you can clear its contents and restore deleted files and folders to their original location.

Window border

The thickened border is designed to resize the window using the mouse. The window border is visible if the window is not widened to full screen.

Scroll bars

Status bar

The status drain displays additional information about the contents of the window (for example, the number of objects in the folder, their total volume, etc.) is indicated. The status bar information is dynamic, showing information about the items selected in the folder

Windows window types

Windows supports 4 types of windows.

1. Windows of drives and folders

These windows display the contents of drives and folders. Any Windows folder can be opened in your window. The folder windows allow you to view the entire file structure of the drives. The name of the folder is indicated in the title bar, below are the menus, toolbar.

2. Program windows (application windows)

These are windows in which Windows programs loaded into RAM (and possibly DOS programs) are running. In the title bar - the name of the program, below - the menu bar, the toolbar (there may be more than one), the ruler. Document windows are opened inside these windows.

3. Document windows (secondary windows)

These are windows that display documents created in Windows programs (if the application allows you to work with several documents at the same time). Information from each window can be saved in a separate file. Secondary windows are always located only within their program window, do not have a menu bar, and can only be opened in their application window.

4. Query windows (dialog)

Query windows appear while working with the operating system and applications, positioned on top of all other windows on the screen. They contain a request for any information from the user or confirmation of his actions. Query windows cannot be resized, minimized or maximized, and can only be closed. Such windows are closed automatically after responding to a request, or forcibly - by clicking on the closing button. To respond to a request, dialog boxes have various fields and buttons.

The dialog box can be modal or non-modal.

A modal window blocks the application. The user must complete all operations with this window and close it to return to the application window (folder, document). There are three types of modal windows:

A modeless window does not stop the application. The user can click the mouse without closing the windows, go to the application (document) window, work with it, and then return to the dialog window by clicking (these windows include the "Assistant" command window, help windows).

Typically, a dialog box consists of a title bar and dialog box elements.

Dialog Box Elements

Depending on the functions of the window, the set of these tools varies in a wide range. Most dialog tools lend themselves to strict classification, and work with them is almost the same in all Windows applications. Typical tools included in the dialog box are:

• command buttons;
• checkboxes (radio buttons);
• radio buttons (selection fields);
• text fields (input fields);
• lists;
• sliding control buttons;
• demo windows (Sample field);
• tabs;
• background text.

The main types of elements:

	- button to close the window with saving all changed parameters;
	- button to close the window without saving the changed parameters;
	- button to save all changed parameters without closing the window;
	- button to close the window when the changed parameters have already been saved;
	- input field - an area bounded by a rectangular frame into which the user can enter text from the keyboard; to enter data in a field, you must first click in it with the mouse;
	- counter - a field with two buttons on the right; you can click in it with the mouse and type the values \u200b\u200bof the parameter on the keyboard or click on the buttons: to increase the parameter - arrow up, to decrease - arrow down;
	- the list field contains a list of objects available for selection; if the contents of the list do not fit into the visible part, then scroll bars appear for viewing long lists; to select an object, click on it with the mouse;
	- the field of the drop-down list in the visible part has only the value of the current parameter; to open possible values, click on the "down arrow" button;
	- switches - circles with or without a black dot, designed to select one of the mutually exclusive modes;
	- checkbox - a square field of the indicator with a tick mark inside or without it, is used to enable / disable a mode (its name is written next to it), which can be in an enabled or disabled state;
	- the button of context help, to call the context help, click it, and then the unknown element;
	- sliding control button (slider) is used to increase / decrease the numerical value of the field by moving the slider;
	- tabs - located under the title bar of the page window, uniting similar groups of requests for setting the parameters of a command. The active tab is brought to the front, filling the entire window. To change a tab, just click on its name. You can use the keyboard to switch: forward - Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + Page Up, backward - Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + Page Down;
	- the Sample field is used to preview the object, displaying the changes made to the parameters.

Window management

A window can exist in three states:

• fullscreen - the window is maximized to full screen;
• normal - the window takes up part of the screen;
• rolled up - the window is "minimized" to the button (reduced to the size of the pictogram).

Window control includes actions:

1. resize the window, maximize the window to full screen;
2. move the window across the screen;
3. minimize the window, restore the previous window size;
4. arrange windows on the screen;
5. close a window;
6. switch between windows.

Window control methods are to use window control buttons; window system menu (activity of each command depends on the current state of the window); dragging various window elements with the mouse; using the keyboard.

Resizing the window

Clicking on the maximize button will expand the window to full screen.

To restore the previous window size, you need to click on the restore size button.

Comment ... To expand the window to full screen (or restore its size), you can double-click on the window title or select the appropriate command ( Expand / Restore) in the system menu.

To resize the window, you need to point the mouse exactly to the window border or to any of its corners. When the mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow -, press the left mouse button and drag the border, increasing or decreasing the window. Then release the mouse button.

Comment... If the mouse pointer does not turn into a double-headed arrow at the border of the window, then the window cannot be resized. As a rule, they cannot resize the query window.

Moving windows

To move a window to another location on the screen, point to the window title with the mouse and, by pressing the left mouse button, drag the window to a new location. In short, the window can be dragged with the mouse by "grasping" its title. This operation allows you to arrange windows on the screen in a convenient way.

Comment... To move a window, you can select the Move command in the window's system menu, use the arrow keys to move the window to the desired location and press the key.

Minimize the window

To minimize the window, you need to click on the minimize button.

You can also issue the command Collapse in one of the following ways:

• from the context menu of the window button in the Taskbar;
• from the system menu.
  Comment... To minimize the window, you can double-click the window button in the Taskbar.
  Can be folded all open windows immediately. To do this, you need to click the corresponding button in the panel Quick start in the Taskbar or select the required command in the context menu of the Taskbar.
  Comment... You can also minimize all windows using the keyboard:
  Windows + M (Shift + Windows + M - Expand);
  Windows + D.

Arranging windows

To arrange open windows on the screen, select one of the commands from the context menu of the Taskbar:

• Cascading windows - windows of the same size, stacked, offset so that all titles are visible;
• Windows from top to bottom and Windows from left to right - windows of the same size, divide the screen into equal parts without overlapping each other;
• Minimize all windows (Show Desktop) - to free the Desktop from windows;
• Undo the last (executed) command.
  Comment... Simultaneous execution of the order, minimize and close commands for several windows is possible. To do this, you need to click the buttons of the required windows in the Taskbar while holding down the key Ctrl and call their context menu.

Closing the window

To close the window, you need to click on the close button. This is the easiest and fastest way to close any window. However, there are several other ways to close windows:

• keyboard shortcut Alt + F4;
• double click on the system menu button;
• team selection Close in the system menu;
• team selection Close (Exit) in a group File main window menu;
• team selection Close in the context menu of the window button in the taskbar;
• click on the button Remove taskin the window Task Manager when the name of the window to be closed is highlighted.
  You can close several windows at once using the command Close groupin the context menu of the window group button. If the required window group is absent, then you can pre-select it by clicking on the buttons in the Taskbar with the pressed key Ctrl.
  Comment... Closing the program window is equivalent to completion programs. Closing the program window means removing the program from the RAM.

Switch between windows

Since Windows is a multitasking system, you can open several windows in it at once, switching from one window to another if necessary. Among all open windows, one is active Is the window you are currently working with, and the rest are inactive or passive .

Active window signs:

1. The active window title is brighter than other window titles.
2. The active window button in the Taskbar appears to be pressed, while the buttons of other windows appear to be depressed.
3. The active window is positioned on top of other windows.
4. For the operating system, all open windows are considered tasks, regardless of whether an application window or a folder is open. Switching to another task means making the corresponding window active.

Ways to switch between windows:

• click on the window button in the Taskbar;
• click on any visible area of \u200b\u200ban inactive window;
• use the Alt + Tab key combination - press the Alt key and, without releasing it, press the Tab key. A panel with icons of all open windows will appear. When the desired icon is highlighted, release both keys.
• Alt + Esc - switches between non-minimized windows.

Calculation of plastic windows is a program, as the name suggests, designed to carry out various calculations of plastic window structures. A company account is created in it, on behalf of which all calculations will be carried out (if necessary, there may be several companies), as well as a customer base with whom further work will be carried out. "Calculation of plastic windows" is able to form orders for the installation of windows from the selected materials, window types and specified sizes. The price can be formed on the basis of data on the price of materials, profitability ratio, installation cost and interest on the loan.

From the order, you can generate and print a quotation for a customer together with an automatically generated contract. Other features include the creation of technological maps, maintaining a report on the consumption of materials for a selected period, and tracking the status of payment for orders and archiving old records. In fact, the program "Calculation of plastic windows" is an interface for managing the database, the engine is the Firebird DBMS, which must be installed on the computer before starting work.

Key features and functions

• the ability to draw up orders for plastic windows and print contracts with customers;
• calculation and selection of plastic windows based on data on sizes and materials;
• tracking material consumption;
• generation of reports for specified periods;
• tracking payment of orders.

And the buildings have many distinct areas and directions. In this area, the design of window structures plays an important role. For efficient and easy control of them, a program for calculating windows is used. It performs a whole series of important functions, and, first of all, it allows you to save a huge amount of time spent on simple operations of the same type.

Such programs for calculating metal-plastic and wooden windows are especially important at the stage of their production, they are designed in such a way as to help the manufacturer as much as possible to reduce the time and simplify the work in general.

Basically, all programs of this type perform the same functions. On the client's side, this is the ability to visually design windows and calculate their cost, on the client's side - analysis of the necessary materials, calculation of work stages, financial accounting and documentation. Among the variety of software in this area, there are five most popular:

These are not all programs of this type that exist today. Many of them are created on the same basis and differ little from each other.

WH-Windows program

There is a very convenient and simple program that allows you to design windows, taking into account the size and material used to make frames. The developers provide for the presence of step-by-step instructions, which are attached to this program, allowing you to master the principle of work in a short time. In addition to windows, this program also allows you to design doorways. Moreover, the developers have incorporated the function of designing structures of various shapes.

Window project in WH window program

The main aspects of the WH window program

The program has a function that allows you to simulate the shape of future glass units. It also allows you to correctly take into account the profiles and combine the existing window models in the database, produced by a large number of manufacturers of similar products in the construction market. Using the functions included in the program, it is possible, taking into account the profile of the window block, to calculate its cost, taking into account the cost of the materials used for the construction of the box.

Also, this program allows you to combine the information available from the manufacturer in the accompanying documents. You can draw up price lists and reports on the work done to provide them to the customer.

Operating system (OS)Is a set of programs that provide a user interface, information input and output, working with files, executing application programs, connecting a computer to a network and coordinating the operation of hardware. There are other operating systems besides Windows. The most famous alternatives are Linux and MacOS (installed on Apple computers). However, according to statistics, no more than 4% of users in the world work with each of them, so today Microsoft with its Windows is actually a monopoly on the operating system market.

Program

ProgramIs a sequence of machine instructions (a set of instructions that the processor understands) designed to perform a specific task. As a rule, the program is designed in the form of one or more executable files, which, after installing the application on the computer, are written to the hard drive. The collection of programs is called software (software).

All existing software can be divided into system and application software. System softwareresponsible for controlling the operation of all computer components and their interaction with each other. Application softwarefocused on solving specific user tasks. Its work, in turn, is controlled by the system software. The operating system belongs to the class of system software; among the applied programs one can distinguish applications for working with text documents, carrying out calculations, graphic packages (image processing tools), multimedia programs, etc.

To launch an application, the user accesses an executable file, as a result of which the application is loaded into RAM. The operating system is loaded into memory automatically when the computer is turned on and ensures the correct functioning of both the computer itself and the application programs.

User interface

User interfaceIs a set of tools and rules for the exchange of information between a user and a computer. The interface defines how the information is displayed and what the technology for inputting data from the user is.

MS-DOS, Microsoft's pre-Windows operating system, used a text-based interface. The user could only communicate with the machine by entering various commands from the keyboard. The result of executing these commands and system messages were also displayed as text. Thus, while working in MS-DOS, only scrolling lines of text could be seen on a black screen (Fig. A.1). Along with single-tasking (executing only one program at a time) and the inability to work with graphics, the main disadvantage of MS-DOS was the need to learn the syntax of all commands and the rules for entering them, which undoubtedly made it difficult for beginners.

Figure: A.1. MS-DOS text interface

MS-DOS with its text-based interface was replaced by Windows - an operating system with a graphical user interface (GUI - from the English. Graphical User Interface). The difference between the graphical interface and the textual one is that all objects and means of data exchange between the user and the computer are presented in the form of graphical components of the screen: icons, windows, menus, buttons, lists. From now on, the user does not need to know what command to enter, for example, to open a particular folder - just hover the mouse over its icon and double-click. Navigation between graphic objects in the Windows environment can be carried out using the keyboard, but today this is no longer relevant, since it is much more convenient to use a mouse.

Mouse Actions

In the text of the book, when describing various actions, you will repeatedly come across instructions "click the mouse ...", "double-click ...", "click on ...", "click ...", "drag the object". Let's take a quick look at how these operations are performed. To click on the specified object, you need to move the mouse pointer over it and briefly press the left or right mouse button (depending on which click is required from you). Double-clicking means a quick double-click of the left mouse button after hovering over an object. In the recommendations "click on ..." and "click ..." we mean left-clicking. To drag an object, place the pointer over it, click the mouse button (the object will be selected) and, while keeping it pressed, "move" the object to another position by moving the mouse.

File

FileIs a logically separate, named collection of data (text, graphic, audio, video data) that can be stored on various storage media (hard disk, CD, "flash drive", floppy disk) and is considered during storage and processing as a whole. To make it clearer, consider the following analogy. Every book on a shelf, a photo in an album, a movie on a DVD or a song on a CD, we perceive as something whole, indivisible. The computer does the same. If the text (image, movie, song, etc.) is stored on a computer, then the machine perceives it as a single whole - a file, and works with it as something indivisible (opens the content completely, transfers it when the user requests it from one place in the other, just like a person, opening a book for reading, does not tear out several sheets of it and transfers it entirely from the shelf to the table, without tearing it apart).

File system

File systemAre the rules governing how data storage on disks will be organized. Since data is stored as files, the file system determines its format — the maximum possible size, name length, and other characteristics. The FAT32 file system allows a maximum file length of 127 characters, NTFS (more advanced than FAT32) - 254 characters.

Device icons

IconIs a small graphic element that indicates an application, document, directory, device, or some other object. Any icon has a signature, which is the name of the represented object. Windows icons are used to designate a wide variety of objects: devices, files, folders, shortcuts.

In the Windows environment, your computer's hard drive, devices designed to work with removable media (disk drive, optical drive), as well as external storage media (for example, a flash drive or digital camera), when they are connected to the computer, is assigned a name consisting of a capital Latin letter and colon, plus an icon. To open the window shown in Fig. 2, and familiarize yourself with the device icons, click the Start button and select Computer.

Figure: A.2. Device icons

By default, the operating system names the hard disk C: (also referred to as Local Disk). If your computer's hard drive is divided into several partitions, then in the window you just opened you will see as many Local Disk icons as there are partitions on the hard drive. Each section is named in alphabetical order, starting with the letter C :.

The floppy drive is always named A: (and also Disk 3.5). In fact, this name is assigned to the floppy disk.

The optical drive receives the letter that follows the letter that represents the hard drive (or its last partition). So, if the hard drive is not partitioned, the optical drive (like the CD) will be named D :, if the hard drive has two partitions - C: and D:, then the optical drive will be named E :. External storage media connected to the computer (flash drives, digital cameras) are recognized by the system as removable disks and are named by the following letters in alphabetical order after the one in the name of the CD-ROM drive.

All storage media - hard disk, CD, "flash drives", floppy disks are usually called a common word disks... To see the contents of the disc, you need to double-click on its icon.

File icons

Any file in Windows is also represented by an icon and has a unique identifier consisting of the file name and extension, which can be seen in the icon signature when the display of extensions is enabled (Fig. A.3). Read about how to enable the display of extensions in Ch. 3.

Figure: A.3. Examples of file icons

The file name is separated from the extension by a period and is located to the left (for example, in the entry Word.docx document, the file name is Word document). It can consist of Russian and Latin letters, numbers and punctuation marks, except for the characters "\\", "/", ":", "*", "?", "" ","<», «>"," | ". The length of the file name depends on the file system you chose when installing Windows.

File extension- these are three or more characters to the right of the dot (in our example, docx) and indicate the file type.

From the user's point of view, it is convenient to distinguish two types of files that you have to work with.

Program files.Of all the variety of files responsible for the operation of the application, the user deals with executable files. For almost any program, this file has an EXE extension (it is often called an EXE file). Launching such a file launches the application. In fig. A.3 the last icon is an example of an EXE file. Usually, each developer creates his own unique logo icon for the executable file. Double-clicking on the EXE file icon will launch the application.

Documents.These are files that contain the information the user needs: text, tables, graphics, music, video. Most of these files are created in the environment of a particular program. Windows, taking into account the extension of the files, associates them with this or that application. After double-clicking on the document icon, the program in which the file was created is first launched, and only then the file itself is opened. Some files can be opened using a particular program, despite the fact that they were not created by the user in any application (for example, photos transferred from a camera to a computer, films). Files created in a particular program, or simply associated with a particular application, have the same icon set by the program. So, all documents created in the text editor Word will have the icon shown fifth in Fig. A.3. All web pages saved from the Internet as web archives will have the same icon as the first one in Fig. A.3.

Working on a computer, you will eventually remember which icons are of a particular type, and by their appearance you will be able to quickly navigate what the file contains - text, image, video or music. Likewise, you will very quickly learn to identify the contents of a file by its extension. The following are the extensions you will encounter most often:

EXE - programs;

DOC, TXT - text documents;

XLS - Excel spreadsheet files;

HTM, HTML - web pages;

AVI, MPEG, MPG - video recordings;

MP3, WAV, WMA - sound files;

JPG, BMP, GIF - images;

RAR, ZIP - archives.

Folder icons

Since disks usually contain a huge number of files, they need to be organized to avoid confusion and time-consuming searches for the desired file. For this they serve folders(just like in life, it is customary to put documents of the same subject in one folder).

Since folders are necessary for grouping files, they are also stored on disks and are marked with special icons. The very data area of \u200b\u200bthe disk, in which files and folders are located, is usually called root folder.

Folder icons vary depending on the types of files stored inside and the presence of subfolders. Personal folders of the user have special green icons (Fig. A.4).

Figure: A.4. Examples of icons for regular folders and personal folders of a user

Each folder has its own name, which is set according to the same rules as the file name. Each folder can contain not only files, but also other folders, which, in turn, can also contain folders. This structure was named folder tree... Folders are sometimes referred to as directories or directories.

Label icons

If you work with documents that are in one of the “hidden” folders, then to open the files, you have to navigate a long chain of folders each time, and this is time consuming and rather inconvenient. For quick access to the necessary objects, the user can create a shortcut and place it on the Desktop.

LabelIs a small file that records the path to a file, folder, network connection, or device. By double-clicking on the shortcut, you will run the file, or take some other action depending on which object the shortcut refers to. The shortcut icon has the same appearance as the icon of the object associated with it, the only difference is a small arrow in the lower left corner of the icon, which allows you to distinguish the object from the shortcut (Fig. A.5).

Figure: A.5. Shortcut to folder, word document, network connection, hard drive and EXE file

The tag serves as a protective barrier for the object, since if the tag is accidentally removed, the object itself remains in its original place.

Clipboard

Clipboard- This is a special area of \u200b\u200bthe computer's RAM, which stores data designed to move or copy both between windows of different applications, and in the same window.

In any program, when the Cut command is executed, the object is removed from the current position and placed on the clipboard. The Copy command places a copy of the selected object on the clipboard. Using the Paste command, you can paste an object on the clipboard into another window or to another position in the same window.

Window

Any action on the computer (working with the program, setting up the system, connecting to the Network) the user performs in a window. WindowIs a limited rectangular space on the screen that displays the content of an object requested by the user.

Windows windows can be roughly divided into two types: programmatic and dialog. Program windowopens when the application starts and contains the necessary tools to perform various actions. Documents created or viewed in this application open in the program window.

Dialog windowappears when calling most application tools, as well as when accessing Windows settings. It contains controls, by applying which the user can tell the system what action and with what parameters should be performed.

By the way, the very name of the operating system - Windows- translated from English as window, which directly indicates the way the user communicates with the computer through windows.

Program windows

The structure of program windows is the same for most applications, therefore, having studied one example, you can easily navigate in the window of any program.

Let's consider the components of program windows using the example of a standard Windows application - the text editor WordPad (Fig. A.6). To open it, select Start\u003e All Programs\u003e Accessories\u003e WordPad.

Figure: A.6. Program window components

Window title- the upper area of \u200b\u200bthe window, which contains the name of the program and its icon. If you open a document in the window of this program, then the name of the open file will be displayed in the header separated by a hyphen to the right of the application name. Using the title, you can move the window around the screen: move the mouse pointer over any part of the title, click and hold down the mouse button, move the mouse in the required direction. The window will move after it. This operation is possible only when the program window is not maximized to full screen.

Window control buttons- are located on the right side of the window title and are used to change the window state.

- Minimize

- allows you to minimize the program window to a button on the Taskbar. To return a window to its original state, you need to click its button on the Taskbar.

- Expand

- is responsible for the full-screen display mode of the window. If the application window takes up part of the screen, you can expand it to full screen by clicking this button. You can switch to the full-screen view by double-clicking on the title of the program window.

- Minimize to window

- appears in place of the Maximize button when switching to full-screen window display mode. With its help, you can return to the previous state when the window takes up part of the screen. This mode is also called multi-window mode, because when you open several applications at the same time, you can see their windows overlapping on the screen. In multi-window mode, to switch to a window of another application, just click on any visible part of it. In this case, the window will become active - it will move to the front, the application tools will be available.

- Close

- serves to close the application window. Accordingly, when you press it, the program terminates.

Menu bar- contains menu items, which contain commands responsible for performing various operations with the contents of the window. The menus of different programs differ from each other, however, some menu sections are the same for most applications (File, Edit, View, Help) and contain standard commands. To use a menu command, you need to move the mouse pointer over the name of the menu, click on it with the mouse button, in the list of commands that opens, move to the desired one and also click on it with the mouse button.

Toolbar- usually it contains buttons and drop-down lists for accessing the most frequently used menu commands. If a button or list does not have an inscription clearly indicating its function, you can hover over the element with the mouse pointer: if the pointer pauses slightly, a tooltip will appear, in which you can read what the button or list is responsible for. Some applications have multiple toolbars.

Workspace- serves to display the contents of the window. When working with documents in various programs, the workspace displays the contents of the file (in our case, the typed text).

Scroll barsand located on them scroll buttons- appear when the size of the window is smaller than the content displayed in it. With their help, you can move around the working area of \u200b\u200bthe window to the desired object. To move vertically, move the mouse pointer over the scroll button of the vertical bar, click on it and, while holding down the mouse button, move the mouse in the desired direction (up or down), and the contents of the window will follow it. Similarly, you can move left / right using the horizontal scroll button.

The functions of the vertical scroll bar are completely performed by the mouse wheel: by scrolling it, you can move up / down the document.

Status bar- located at the bottom of the window and is intended to display various kinds of service information, the content of which depends on the application in which the user is working.

Window borders- narrow lines indicating the area of \u200b\u200bthe window on the screen. By dragging the borders of the window, you can resize it in any way. To drag the border in the desired direction, move the mouse pointer to it, and it will change to

(depending on whether the border is horizontal or vertical). Then click and hold down and drag the border to a new position. You can drag any of the sides of the rectangle - the window.

Window resizing corner- by dragging this corner, you can resize the window simultaneously horizontally and vertically.

Dialog boxes

The structure of dialog boxes is somewhat different from the structure of software windows. They lack the menu bar, toolbar, status bar; of the window control buttons in the title, there is only the Close button. The dialog box name most often corresponds to the command with which it was called.

The working area of \u200b\u200ba dialog box usually contains one or more standard Windows controls that allow you to set the necessary parameters to perform a particular action. Let's take a look at all the controls that you come across while working in Windows.

Button- the most important control element present in all dialog boxes (Fig. A.7). The label on the button indicates what action will be taken when it is pressed. In different dialog boxes, the purpose of the buttons is always narrowly specific, however, almost all windows have three standard buttons:

Figure: A.7. Dialog box buttons

- OK - closes the dialog box with saving all changed parameters;

- Cancel — responsible for closed windows without saving changes (similar to the Close button);

- Apply - is responsible for the entry of the changed parameters into force, but the window remains open.

Pay attention to fig. A.7 the OK button is highlighted. This means that it is active and you can use the Enter key to press it. In any dialog, one button is always active. If any button is grayed out, like the Apply button in Fig. A.7.

Tab- in dialog boxes containing a large number of settings, controls are grouped into tabs. If the window with tabs is considered as a brochure with several pages, then the tab is a page of such a brochure that has a label with the title (Fig. A.8).

Figure: A.8. Folder Properties Window Tabs

To switch from one tab to another, you need to click on its name at the top of the dialog box.

List- contains a list of possible parameters of any setting, from which the user can select the desired one. The list can be ordinary (Fig. A.9, left) and drop-down (Fig. P.9, on right). To see all the items in the drop-down list, you need to click on it with the mouse button. For the changes selected in the list to take effect, you must click the Apply or OK button.

Figure: A.9. An example of regular (left) and drop-down (right) lists

Text field- names, addresses and other characteristics are entered into it from the keyboard, which will later be used by the custom object (Fig. A.10). To type the required text in the field, move the mouse pointer over it and click the mouse button. In this case, the cursor will start blinking in the field, indicating that you can start entering.

Figure: A.10. Text field

Numeric field- serves to change the numerical value of any parameter. To the right of the number field there are two small arrow buttons, by pressing which you can decrease or increase the value (Fig. A.11). The desired number can also be entered from the keyboard.

Figure: A.11. Numeric field

Checkbox- a small window with a name indicating what action will be performed when the checkbox is checked. Dialog boxes contain both single checkboxes and entire groups (Fig. A.12). To check the box, you need to click on the small window or the name next to it. A check mark will appear in the window, and the action described in the check box name will be performed. To cancel the action, uncheck the box by clicking on it again.

Figure: A.12. Checkbox group

Switch- is a group consisting of the name of a parameter or object and several options for its functions. Each option has a small round window and a name that clearly describes the action to be performed when this function is selected (Fig. A.13). To set the parameter value, click on the round window or on the name located to the right of it. A dot will appear in the window.

Figure: A.13. Switch

Regulator- allows you to change the value of the parameter in the specified range of values. The regulator has a name, a scale for changing the parameter value and a slider (Fig. A.14). To set the desired value of the parameter, click and hold the slider and move it to a different mark.

Figure: A.14. Regulator

Context menu

Context menuIs the menu that appears when you right-click on any of the Windows objects. From the name of the menu itself, it follows that its content depends on which object was clicked on.

The context menu contains commands that are responsible for performing those actions that can be applied to this object. So, if you right-click on the file icon, then in the context menu you will see the commands responsible for opening (Open), moving (Cut, Copy, Paste), renaming (Rename), deleting a file (Delete), viewing its properties ( Properties), sending a file by e-mail or to removable media (Fig. A.15). In addition, for some programs (antiviruses, archivers, instant messaging programs over the Internet) installed on a computer, the most important commands (scanning for viruses, archiving a file, sending it to the interlocutor via an Internet pager) are placed in the file context menu. To select the required command, just move the pointer to it and click the mouse button. By right-clicking on the Desktop, you will see a different set of commands responsible for the view, sorting icons on the Desktop, pasting objects from the clipboard, creating a folder, file and shortcut, as well as the Personalization command, which opens the window for configuring Desktop settings.

Figure: A.15. File context menu

To hide the context menu, simply click anywhere outside of the context menu.