As we showed earlier, the Xterm command line offers a method for manipulating
files and directories within your account. The CDE graphical environment
also provides a way to manage your file system using a graphical tool known
as the File Manager. The CDE File Manager provides the user with a more
intuitive method for managing files and contributes heavily to the overall
"friendliness" of the windowed environment.
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
Identify the various areas within the file manager.
Change Directories
View a File
Print a File
Copy a File
Delete a File
The actions demonstrated in this section in no way constitute everything
that can be done with the File Manager, only the basics are covered here.
Consult the File Manager's Help menu for more detailed information.
7.1 Pretty Pictures
The File Manager window has many of the characteristics of the other windows
described earlier. The File Manager approaches file management using the
file folder analogy. The terms "folder" and "directory"
in this context, functionally mean the same. The File Manager window is
divided into the following sections:
The Menu bar and Menus Contain the commands available to you in the File Manager
The Current Folder Path Represented both graphically and textually.
Object View Area Shows the objects (files and folders) in the current working folder.
Object icons Icons represent the files and folder in the current folder.
The path that is represented at the top of the File Manager, depicts your
location based on the file system as a whole. It is what is known as the
absolute path. You may notice that like the pwd
command described earlier, the absolute path begins with a series
of directories which are not familiar to you. Those directories can be
safely ignored for the moment. The important information about the path
begins with the last icon, which should be labeled with your user name.
This is your home directory.
The files and folders (directories) in your home directory are represented
as graphical icons. The manilla folder icon is used to represent directories
and sub-directories. A variety of icons are used to represent files depending
on the file type. For example, ASCII text files are represented with an
icon that looks like a sheet of paper. Files that are set as executable
files (files that can be run as programs) are represented as icons that
look like lighting bolts. Note, not all files that are marked as executable
are files that can be run.
7.2 Changing Directories
Within the File Manger, changing directories (folders) is performed by
double-clicking on the icon representing the folder you wish to change
to. For example, to move into the Mail folder, (to make the Mail folder
our Present Working Directory) you would simply move the mouse pointer
over the folder icon labeled "Mail", and double-click.
Immediately, the File Manager will update it's screen to show you the appropriate
information. The current folder path will change to reflect your new position
in the file system and the object viewing area will display the current
contents of the Mail folder. Using this same procedure, you can move into
the nsmail directory (where the Netscape Mailer stores your mail)
just as easy.
To move back to your home directory, simply move the mouse pointer over
your home folder (labeled with your user name) in the current folder path,
and double-click the icon. If you have done this correctly you should see
your home directory listed once again.
7.3 Viewing Files
Viewing a file using the File Manager is easy. To view a file you open
it. You open files in the File Manger just like you open folders; simply
double-click on the icon that represents the file. There are several different
types of files and opening them can activate different tasks. For example,
opening an ASCII text file causes the File Manager to run the Text Edit
application, automatically loading the ASCII text file, opening a Postscript
file causes it to be viewed using the Ghostscript application. Here are
some examples of the different file types and the programs that execute
when opened:
ASCII Text
Postscript
HTML files
GIF files
JPG files
Executable
Mail files
Compressed files
Text Edit
Ghostview
Netscape Navigator
Image Viewer
Image Viewer
Attempts to run the program
dtMailtool
Uncompresses the file
To see how it works, make sure you're
in your home directory. In your home directory, you should see an icon
labeled hello. Move your mouse over the icon and double-click. You
should see another window pop up called the Text Editor. Using the Text
Editor, you can view the file or modify and write the changes back to disk.
Closing the Text Edit window, closes the file.
7.4 Copying and Moving a File
It is also possible to copy and move a file using the File Manager.
Let's say we want to move the hello file to the bin folder.
To do that, move your mouse pointer over the icon that represents the hello
file and click it (once) to make it active. Now click and hold the icon
with the mouse. While holding the mouse button down, drag the hello
icon over the bin folder and release the mouse button. The hello
icon should disappear in the bin folder.
To verify that the file has been moved, double-click on the bin
folder to make it your current directory. You should see the hello
file there.
Now let's say we want to copy (not move) the hello file back to
our home directory. To do that, move your mouse pointer over the file and
click it (once) to make it active. Press and hold the <Control>
key as you click and hold the icon with the mouse. Now drag the hello
icon over the folder that's labeled
..(go up) and release both the mouse button and then the <Control>
key.
To verify the copy, double-click on the ..(go up) folder to go back to
your home directory. You should again see a copy of the hello file
there.
7.5 Printing a File
There are a few ways to print a file using the File Manager.
The first thing to do is to make the file you want to print the active
file. Using the hello file again in our home directory, click on
the file once to be sure its active. One way to print is to select Print
from the Selected menu. Another way to print is to click on the
file you want to print using the right mouse button. That will display
a pop up menu from which you can choose Print.
In either case, once you have chosen to print a file, a Print dialog
box will appear giving you some print options. From the Print dialog
box you can specify where you want to print and the number of copies you
wish printed. When you are ready, press the Print button.
7.6 Deleting a File
Deleting a file is pretty easy using the File Manger. To demonstrate it,
lets delete that hello file we left back in the bin folder.
First you need to open the bin folder so you can see what's in it.
You'll remember that you do that by double-clicking the folder icon that
represents the bin directory. Now single-click the hello
icon to make it active. To delete the file simply press the <Delete>
key on the keyboard. You should see the icon disappear from the window.
You should move back to your home directory by simply moving the mouse
pointer over your home folder (labeled with your user name) in the current
folder path, and double-click the icon.
