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To get started using File Manager, you need to learn a few basic skills: Selecting -- Many commands operate on the "selected" file or directory. Dragging and Dropping -- If you use a mouse, the easiest way to
perform many operations is to manipulate the icons with the mouse. Using Popup Menus -- Each icon displayed by File Manager has its own popup menu, including objects on the Desktop. Each popup menu provides shortcuts to many common operations.
To select a single file or directory | |
Mouse. Keyboard. Use the Tab and direction keys to move the highlight to the object you want to select. Press Enter or Spacebar.
When you select an object, its name is highlighted. Many commands in File Manager's menus apply to the selected object. In particular, the Actions menu always contains the actions that can be performed on the selected file or directory. If no icons are selected, the entire Actions menu (and some commands in other menus) is inactive. To select multiple objects, hold down Ctrl while selecting. To deselect an object, select another one or click an empty area within the File Manager window. To select multiple files and directories | |
Mouse.
Drag a box around the objects you want to select. (Press mouse button 1in a blank area of the view, drag to draw a box, then release to select the icons included in the box.) Or, click to select the first object, then Ctrl+click to select additional objects.
Keyboard.
Select the first object. For each additional object you want to select, move the highlight to its icon, then press Ctrl+Enter.
When multiple icons are selected, dragging any one of the selected icons drags the whole group. Also, when multiple icons are selected, the Actions menu and some commands in other menus are inactive. Reasons for Selecting Multiple Objects.
Deleting several files at once.
Moving a group of files to a new directory.
Putting several objects on the Desktop.
To rename a file or directory | |
Mouse.
Select the object's name, type the new name, then press Enter.
Keyboard or Mouse.
Choose Rename from the File menu, type the new name, then press Enter.
To cancel a rename operation, press Esc. To get help on a file or directory | |
Mouse.
Select the object, then press F1. Or, choose On Item from the Help menu, then click the object's icon.
Keyboard.
Move the keyboard highlight to the object's icon, then press F1.
The description displayed when you ask for help on an icon describes the filetype associated with the file or directory. The description is specified in the filetype definition. See Also.
To open a file or directory | |
Double-click the object's icon.
Or, select the object's icon, then choose a command from the Actions menu that opens the file or directory. (The Actions menu contains different commands depending on the filetype of the selected object.) Or, choose a command from the object's popup menu.
Double-clicking an icon executes the object's default action, which is always the first command in the Actions menu. For most data files, the default action opens the file by starting the appropriate application and loading the file. Directories have actions defined to open them (either in place, using the current File Manager window, or in a new window). To drop a file or directory | |
Point to the object's icon. Press and hold mouse button 2, known as the "drag" button. (On a two-button mouse, press both buttons simultaneously.) Drag the icon to the location where you want to drop it, then release the mouse button.
So, the motion for dropping an object is press ... drag ... release. To cancel a drag in progress, press Esc before releasing the mouse button. If more than one icon is selected, you drag the entire group by dragging any of the selected icons. | | | |  | NOTE: You cannot drag and drop an object without a mouse or other pointing device. | | | | |
What Dropping a File Means.
If you drop an object into an open File Manager window or into a directory icon, the file is moved to that directory. If you drop an object onto the workspace backdrop, it's placed on the Desktop in the current workspace. (Actually, a Desktop object is really just a reference to the real object, which remains in the File Manager view, unchanged.) If you drop a file on the Printer control in the Front Panel (or one of the printers in the Printers subpanel), the file is printed. If you drop a file on the Personal Toolbox control in the Front Panel, the object is copied into your Personal Toolbox. If you drop a file on the Trash control in the Front Panel, the object is moved into the Trash Can. If you drop a file on an action icon, the action is invoked with the file as a parameter.
If you attempt to drop the icon in a location that does not support dropped objects, the icon snaps back to its original location in File Manager or on the Desktop. To display a popup menu | |
Mouse.
Point to the icon whose popup menu you want to display.
Press mouse button 3 -- the "popup" button. (On a two-button mouse, press the right mouse button.) To choose a command from the menu, drag to the command, then release. Or, click the command.
Keyboard.
Using the Tab and direction keys, move the highlight to the icon whose menu you want to display.
Press F4.
To choose a command from the menu, use the direction keys to highlight the command, then press Enter.
To cancel the menu without choosing a command, press Esc.
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