 | Getting Started |
| Getting Started |
This chapter describes the Amiga Workbench, an icon-based environment that allows you to give instructions by manipulating graphic symbols with a mouse rather than by typing in commands at a keyboard. Included in this chapter are descriptions of the following:
Workbench Screen
Please note this is a modified version of a 640x400 WB croped to save download time.
The Workbench screen, is the primary visual component of your system. Icons and other windows appear on it. The Workbench screen is identified by the Amiga Workbench title bar located along the top border of the display. The Workbench screen's title bar also displays the number of bytes of graphics (Chip) memory and. other (Fast) memory eurrently available when any window, except a Shell window is selected.
The Amiga provides Preferences editors that allow you to customize the Workbench screen. You can define an extra-large virtual Workbench screen that is larger than the viewable area with more space for windows.
Workbench Window
When you boot your Amiga, the Workbench window fills the Workbench screen. This window contains icons for any floppy disks inserted into floppy drives, the Ram Disk, and any other icons determined by your system's configuration. Although the Workbench window appears and functions like an application window, it is an essential part of the Workbench screen.
Workbench Menus
The Workbench has the following four menus:
Workbench Menu
The Workbench menu contains general Workbench options and options for windows opened on the Workbench screen. You can, for example, use the Workbench menu to update the screen display or see which version of the system software is in use. On the Workbench menu you can select the following options:
Backdrop L-AmigaB
The Backdrop menu item creates more room on the Workbench screen for displaying windows and icons. Backdrop switches between a normal window for your Workbench and a special borderless window that is always behind other windows opened on the Workbench.
Choosing Backdrop removes the Workbench window borders so that the disk icons appear to be on the Workbench screen without being enclosed in a window. To return to the normal Workbench window, choose Backdrop again. Backdrop is reset to off if you power off or reboot your computer. To save your Backdrop selection choose the Snapshot item in the Windows menu while the Workbench window is selected.
Execute Command L-Amiga E
Note This menu item is provided for users familiar with AmigaDOS.
The Execute Command executes (starts) an AmigaDOS command without opening a Shell window.
Enter the command and all of its arguments in the requester. A Workbench Output Window is automatically opened when a command results in output and it remains there until you select its close gadget. The current directory for an Execute Command operation is RAM:.
Redraw All
Redraw All redraws all open Workbench windows on the Workbench screen and can be used in the event of a disturbance to the Workbench. If Redraw All does not restore the windows to their proper appearance, reboot the computer.
Update All
Update All reopens each open Workbench window, updating its appearance to show its current state.
- Note If you have several windows open and have been using the Shell or an application to change to the contents of a disk, the changes may not be reflected in its windows until you close the windows and reopen them or choose Update All.
Last Message Last Message retrieves the last information or error message that appeared on the title bar.
About
 | About opens a requester showing the internal version number of the Workbench and Kickstart software, as well as copyright information. Select the OK gadget to close the requester. |
Quit L Amiga +Q
Quit closes all Workbench operations, making additional RAM available if needed. The Workbench does not close if there are any programs running, including programs that do not open a window and programs that are in your WBStartup drawer. The only windows that can remain open while using Quit are the disk, drawer, and Shell windows. Once you OK the Quit requester, a Shell window is your only link to the Amiga. You can use the Shell icon in the System drawer to open a Shell window before quitting the Workbench.
Return to the Workbench by typing LOADWB (load Workbench) at the Shell prompt and pressing Return. If there is no Shell window open, you must reboot to return to the Workbench. The close gadget on the Workbench window is the same as choosing Quit.
Window Menu
The Window menu is only available when a Workbench window is selected. The Window menu allows you to create new drawers, select the contents of the window, rearrange the contents, change how the contents are displayed, and close the window.
The available window options are:
New Drawer
To create a new drawer:
- Select the window in which you want to create the drawer.
- Choose New Drawer from the Window menu. The drawer is created and named "Unnamedl".
- A Rename requester prompts you to change the name of the drawer.
- Delete the existing name using the DEL key, enter a new name, and press Return or select OK. Selecting Cancel leaves the default name on the new drawer.
Open Parent
A window's parent is the window that contains its icon. With the exception of the Workbench window, every Workbench disk window has a parent window. Open Parent opens the selected window's parent or brings it to the front of the display if it is already open.
Close L-Amiga+K
Close closes and removes the selected window from the screen. Mouse shortcut: For many windows, you can select the close gadget in the upper left corner of the window.
Update
Update redraws the selected window, including any changes made to the contents through the Shell or the Execute Command menu item. Such changes are not reflected until the window is updated or reopened.
Select Contents
Select Contents selects all of the icons in the current window.
Clean Up
Clean Up automatically arranges all the icons in the selected window so that they do not overlap. This arrangement is not saved until you use the Snapshot menu item described below.
Snapshot
Snapshot saves the arrangement and position of icons in a window. It is commonly used following Clean Up. Snapshot has a submenu containing two items: Window and All.
Snapshot Window saves the position and size of the selected window , as well as the Show and View By settings described below. However, it does not save the position of the icons in the window. Snapshot All saves the position and other settings of all the icons in the selected window, as well as the position and size of the window.
Show
Show controls the types of icons that are displayed on a window. Show has two submenu items: Only Icons and All Files. Show Only Icons is the default Show mode, displaying only those files and drawers that have icons (.info files). Show All Files provides a pseudo-icon for each file or drawer in the selected window that does not have a real icon. Pseudo-icons can be treated like any other icon, including manipulating them with the menu items in the Icon menu.
You may have to scroll in the window to see the new pseudo-icons.
View By
View By changes how the information in the window is displayed.
View By has four submenu items:
- Icons
- Name
- Date
- Size.
View By Icons is the window's default mode. Choosing View By Name, View By Date, or View By Size displays a window's contents in text form, including the size of the file, its attributes (whether it can be read, deleted, executed, or written to), and its timestamp. File and drawer names can be selected, opened, dragged, and manipulated just like icons.
View By Name sorts the file list in alphabetical order. View By Date sorts the list in chronological order, with the most recently created file listed first.
View By Size sorts the list by size, listing the smallest file first.
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Icons Menu
Icons Menu The Icons menu allows you to work with the icons on the screen. An icon must be selected before the menu options become available.
Open L-Amiga+ O
Opening an icon makes a program or window available. When you open a disk or drawer icon, a window displays the icons contained on that disk or in that drawer. When an individual project or tool is opened, the corresponding program starts.
Open an icon by selecting it and choosing Open. Mouse Shortcut: Point to the icon and double-click the selection button.
Copy L-Amiga+ C
Copy allows you to duplicate disks, drawers, programs, or files within a window. To copy material to another window, Drag-copying is the easiest method of copying a disk on a two-floppy system.
Use Copy for making backup copies of your disks.
To copy a drawer, project, or icon:
To copy a disk on a single-floppy disk drive system:
Rename L-Amiga+R
Rename changes the name of an icon. It is used to remove the copy of prefix from something you copied, as well as for changing the names of drawers, disks, and files.
To rename an icon:
Information L-Amiga+I
Information displays status information about the selected icon's file. Certain data can also be modified in the Information window.
Although the contents of the window varies with the icon, the following information is always displayed:
For a drawer, trashcan, project, or tool, the following attributes can be set or cleared by clicking on the attribute's check box:
Script -
If set, the file is a script (a text file of AmigaDOS commands) and can be run without using the EXECUTE command.
Archived - This attribute is set by backup programs to indicate that a file or directory has been archived (backed up).
It is cleared whenever the file is saved. Readable If set, information in the file can be read. If this attribute is clear, a tool will
not run and a project cannot be loaded by its Default Tool.
Writable - If set, information can be written into the file.
Unless Writable is set, you cannot make changes to the file.
Executable - If set, the file is a tool that can be run from Workbench or the Shell.
If this attribute is clear, the tool cannot be run from the Shell. Deletable If set, the drawer, project, or tool can be erased from
the disk. If clear, the object is protected from deletion.
If the icon represents a project, there is a Default Tool gadget. This specifies the path to the tool that created the project. When the project icon is opened, the default tool is also opened to work on the project.
If there is a Comments box, you can add a note of up to 79 characters by selecting the text gadget next to Comments, entering the text, and pressing Return.
The Tool Types box specifies different startup options for some programs or files. To save any changes made to the Information window, select the Save gadget in the lower left corner.
Snapshot
Snapshot saves the positions of all the currently selected icons. The next time you open the window, the icons that you
selected appear in their saved positions. You can save the positions of several icons at one time by using drag selection or
extended selection.
To save the position of an icon:
UnSnapshot
UnSnapshot cancels the snapshot position of an icon. The next time you open the window, the icons are rearranged.
To release the snapshot position of an icon:
Leave Out
Leave Out moves an often-used icon out of its original window and into the Workbench window for faster access. The file
represented by the icon remains in its original drawer on the disk; only the icon is moved. The icon remains in the Workbench
window, even if the machine is rebooted. This menu item cannot be used with disks or the Trashcan.
To use Leave Out:
Put Away
Put Away returns an icon that was left out to its original drawer.
To use Put Away:
Delete
Delete erases files and their icons from your disks.
To delete a file or drawer:
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Format Disk
 | Formatting a disk prepares it for storing information. Format disks that are new and unformatted, disks that develop errors, or disks on which you wish to use different file system options. |
Select the icon of the disk to be formatted and choose Format Disk from the Icons menu. The Format window, displays the current information about the disk. If the disk is already formatted, its volume name and the percentage of the disk currently in use are displayed. A text gadget allows you to enter a new Volume name for the disk.
Four items can be selected (checked) in the Format window:
Quick Format is for reformatting a disk that was previously formatted. You cannot format a new blank disk with Quick Format. Choosing the Quick Format option is faster than formatting the entire disk; however, it does not detect any read/write errors on the disk that could be eliminated by a full format.
When the disk is formatted, if you did not change the name in the Format window, it is labelled Empty. This name can be changed using the Rename item in the Icons menu.
Formatting Hard Disks You must format your hard disk under the following conditions if:
The Ram Disk cannot be formatted. If you accidentally select the Ram Disk for formatting, a requester reports that there is a format failure and requires you to select Cancel.
If you have more than one disk icon selected, more than one Format window opens when the Format Disk item is selected from the Icons menu. The Format windows open one on top of another so that only one Format window is initially visible. Drag the windows until all are visible. Be sure to check the Current Information field in the Format window for the intended Device and Volume names before allowing the format to continue.
Formatting Floppy Disks
The Amiga does not recognize floppy disks that are not formatted; therefore, blank disks must be formatted before anything
can be written on them. Disks can be formatted at any time, including while running one or more applications. Disks usually
have to be formatted only once.
To determine if a floppy disk is formatted, insert it into a floppy drive and check the disk icon on the Workbench screen. If the Amiga cannot recognize the disk, four question marks (????) follow the drive designation in the icon s label.
To format a blank disk:
To format a disk as an MS-DOS disk through CrossDOS, you must have a CrossDOS DOSdriver activated. If the PCO DOSdriver is active, select the disk icon labelled PCO:???? for formatting.
Empty Trash
Empty Trash deletes the contents of the Trashcan. To use the Trashcan, drag an icon over the Trashcan icon and release the
selection button. The icon is then stored in the Trashcan drawer until you decide to permanently throw it away with Empty
Trash. To delete an icon with Empty Trash:
An icon can be retrieved from the Trashcan as long as Empty Trash is not chosen. Retrieve an icon by opening the Trashcan window and dragging the icon into any window. You may wish to open the Trashcan window in Show All Files mode and verify its contents before choosing Empty Trash.
The following rules apply to the Trashcan:
Tools Menu
The Tools Menu initially contains only ResetWB for resetting the Workbench. Other Amiga applications and utilities can add items to the Tools menu. Consult the documentation that came with your application software for information on adding items to the Tools menu.
