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There are two devices that enable you to put information into the D2D graphical interface to invoke a desired action: a mouse (also referred to as a pointing device) and a keyboard.

Mouse (Pointing Device)

Mouse Buttons (sometimes referred to in this manual as just Buttons) are designated by number, as shown in Exhibit 2.1.1-1.

Most mouse actions are invoked with mouse button 1. For a right-handed mouse (default), button 1 is on the left. The handed-ness of the mouse is changed with the KDE Control Center, accessible from the red hat button at the bottom of the panel. Select Peripherals ->Mouse to change it. All subsequent references in this manual to the use of a mouse Button (e.g., "click on the selector...") refer to mouse Button 1 unless otherwise noted.

The three-button mouse is D2D's primary input device. Each button performs a number of different actions depending on where on the D2D display the mouse pointer is located. Thus, understanding mouse operations may be the most challenging aspect to learning the system. The mouse pointer is the graphical arrow that appears on the display and indicates the current position of the mouse. Hereafter in this manual, it is referred to simply as the "pointer."

Button 1 is the primary activator button (the left button on a right-handed mouse). This is the button you use to open and close menus and to make most menu selections. Table 2.1.1-1 summarizes the functions and user interface locations of each mouse button action.

Most of the mouse actions described in Table 2.1.1-1 are related to features that are covered in detail in upcoming chapters.

Keyboard

Exhibit 2.1.1-2 shows the AWIPS workstation keyboard.

Accelerator Keys

Instead of using the mouse pointer for every workstation display manipulation, some functions can be activated by pressing a combination of keyboard keys, called Accelerator Keys. The keys required to activate the menu option are displayed to the right of the option within the menu. (Most menu tags include upper-case letters, but there is no need to use the shift key–as shown in the table, lower-case letters work fine.) The keyboard actions for menu functions are listed in Table 2.1.1-2.

For Large Display functions, the Accelerator Keys are located in the right-hand section of the keyboard (also called the Numeric Keypad). Refer to Exhibit 2.1.1-3 for an illustration.

Exhibit 2.1.1-3. The Numeric Keypad.

Table 2.1.1-3 gives the Accelerator Keys for Large Display functions. You should become familiar with using these keys, because they provide convenient shortcuts to perform routine display manipulations.

Table 2.1.1-4 compares the loop and step key press functions between OB6 and OB7.

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