1    Introducing the Common Desktop Environment

The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) provides an easy method of interacting with the operating system. It is a jointly developed graphical user interface based on industry standards, which include the X Consortium's X Window System and the Open Software Foundation's Motif user interface. By using the CDE interface, you can use the mouse or keyboard to navigate and interact with applications.

CDE presents a visual desktop that you can customize. From the desktop, it is easy to access and manage applications. The desktop itself offers a Front Panel, a graphical display at the bottom of the screen area that provides access to applications, printers, and frequently used objects including online help. It also offers you the option of working in different workspaces. A workspace is the screen itself, which includes the Front Panel. By using a control on the Front Panel, you can switch between different workspaces.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the following:

• Logging in and accessing applications

• Managing the desktop and applications

• Locating other sources of information, including the document set, online help, and reference pages

1.1    Logging In and Accessing Applications

The login screen, displayed by the Login Manager, provides you access to the desktop. Not only can you enter your login name and password, it also provides an Options menu where you can select the type of session you want to begin, and the language to use in your session.

You have the option of starting one of the following sessions:

• A Regular Desktop Session starts the CDE Session Manager after the Login Manager has verified your login and password. This is the default desktop. Upon exiting a session, the Session Manager remembers the state of your last session and restores it when you log in next.

• A Failsafe Session starts a single terminal window and the Window Manager. This is useful when you need access to a single terminal window if there are problems impeding a successful login to a session.

• A Command-Line Session suspends the desktop and provides a way for you to work in the base operating system environment without windows. Because the Login Manager is not active and the X server is not running, a login screen is not displayed.

This section contains the following information:

• Front Panel

• Workspaces

The default language is set by your system administrator; however, you can also access other languages that are installed on your system. Choosing a language from the Options menu sets the environment variable LANG for the duration of your session. The default language is restored when you end your session. See Chapter 9 for information on using internationalization features.

1.1.1    Front Panel

The CDE Front Panel is located at the bottom of the desktop. It provides controls (represented by icons) that start applications, and subpanels that you can use in your daily work. The Front Panel also provides a workspace switch, which you can use to move between different work areas. Chapter 3 describes the default applications available from the Front Panel and discusses how to use subpanels and workspaces.

Figure 3-1 shows the default CDE Front Panel.

Figure 1-1:  CDE Front Panel

You can customize the Front Panel by adding and removing controls from the Front Panel and subpanels, adding and removing workspaces, and renaming workspaces. If you are familiar with using desktops, you can also create a Front Panel customized configuration file. See the Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide for details on customizing the Front Panel. For information on creating configuration files, see the Common Desktop Environment: Advanced User's and System Administrator's Guide.

1.1.2    Workspaces

A workspace is the screen display area. Using CDE, you can move between different workspaces by using the workspace switch, which is numbered one through four on the Front Panel. By switching from one workspace to the next, you can set up multiple work areas. For example, one workspace can be used for managing mail, another for project management, and so on. The Front Panel is available in each workspace.

By default, there are four workspaces, but you can add, delete, or rename workspaces. See Chapter 3 for more information.

1.2    Managing the Desktop and Applications

The desktop has a File Manager, Application Manager and Style Manager. Each of these provides you with a specific control in the desktop environment. The following list introduces these controls:

• File Manager

  The File Manager provides a view of desktop objects, which includes files, directories, and applications. All objects are represented by an icon. Using the drag and drop features of the File Manager, you can easily manipulate files and directories, and interact with other applications.

• Application Manager

  The Application Manager is a special directory (folder) where you can launch applications and other tools that are available on your system. Most of the available applications are built into the desktop or installed automatically, but you also can customize the Application Manager by adding other applications.

• Style Manager

  You can use the Style Manager to customize the appearance of your desktop. Using the Style Manager, you can control the workspace colors and palettes, fonts, backdrop patterns, keyboard click and character repeat, mouse button settings, audio, screen blank and screen lock, window focus, icon placement, and how your session begins and ends.

See Chapter 4 for additional information on managing these applications and tools. See Chapter 5 for information about using desktop and system management applications.

1.3    Obtaining More Information

The documentation is available on line and in hardcopy. You can also obtain information about CDE from online help volumes and reference pages.

• Section 1.3.1 describes the documentation.

• Section 1.3.2 explains how to use the Netscape Navigator application to view the documentation set on line.

• Section 1.3.3 explains how to use CDE online help.

• Section 1.3.4 describes how to view reference pages with the Man Page Viewer or the man command.

1.3.1    Books, Manuals or Guides

The documentation has three audiences: general user, programmer, and ToolTalk programmer. The CDE documentation is provided on line only and not available in hardcopy.

Table 1-1 lists the documents that are intended for the general user.

Table 1-1:  User Documentation

Table 1-2 lists the documents that are aimed primarily at programmers.

Table 1-2:  Programmer's Documentation

Table 1-3 lists the documents that are intended for ToolTalk programmers.

Table 1-3:  ToolTalk Documentation

1.3.2    Viewing Online Documentation with Netscape Navigator

The online documentation set is available in both Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Portable Document Format (PDF) versions.

• You can use the Netscape Navigator application to view HTML or PDF versions of the documentation. This version of the operating system is shipped with Netscape Communicator 4.5, which includes Netscape Navigator. See the Installation Guide for details.

• You can use the Adobe Acrobat Reader application to view PDF versions of the documentation. See the Adobe Acrobat Reader Online Guide for information about setting up Netscape Navigator to view PDF files. You can access this document from the Acrobat Reader Help menu.

To view the online documentation, follow these steps to use Netscape Navigator:

1. Log in as root or use the su command to gain root privileges.

2. Insert the CD-ROM in your system's CD-ROM drive.

3. Use the following command to mount the CD-ROM on /usr/share/doclib/online if you have only one CD-ROM attached to your system,

   # mount -r -t cdfs -o rrip /dev/disk/cdrom0c /usr/share/doclib/online
   

   If you have more than one CD-ROM device, enter a command similar to the following to determine the CD-ROM devices connected to your system. Then, decide which CD-ROM device you want to use.

   #ls /dev/disk/cdrom*c
   

   
/dev/disk/cdrom0c
   

   
/dev/disk/cdrom1c
   

4. Start the Netscape Navigator from the CDE desktop by using one of the following methods:

   1. Click on the arrow above the Text Editor icon on the CDE Front Panel to display the Personal Applications subpanel.

   2. Click on the Netscape icon.

   3. From a terminal emulator window, enter the following command to run Netscape Navigator in the background:

      $/usr/bin/X11/netscape &
      

      Refer to the netscape(1) reference page for information about options.

5. Load the home page from the Navigator window by opening the file /usr/doc/netscape/TRU64_UNIX.html.

6. Select the Documentation bookshelf from the list of options.

7. Click on the Bookmarks menu, then click on the Add Bookmark option to save this bookshelf for future use.

1.3.3    Online Help

Online help provides detailed information on the CDE interface and applications.

• From the Front Panel, click on the Help Manager to access a collection of help volumes.

• To access the help volume from within an application, click on the Help menu.

1.3.3.1    Using the Help Manager

The Help Manager is a special help volume available from the Front Panel that lists all the online help registered on your system. To browse through registered online help, click on the Help Manager icon. To navigate within the Help Manager online help volume, click on any underlined topic and use the help menus and buttons.

The Help Manager icon has an arrow above it, indicating that a subpanel is available. To view specific help topics about the desktop and Front Panel, click on the arrow. The subpanel also includes On Item help for the Front Panel. On Item help is interactive. Clicking on this option turns the pointer into a question mark ( ? ). Position the pointer over an item in the Front Panel or a subpanel and then click to view help on that item.

1.3.3.2    Using an Application's Help Menu

To access help from within a help volume, click on the Help menu. An online help volume is divided into several sections. Table 1-4 describes the contents of an online help volume.

Table 1-4:  Contents of an Online Help Volume

1.3.4    Reference Pages

Reference pages, often referred to as manpages, provide a synopsis and description of each command or application on the system. If the reference page subset is installed on your system, you can use one of the following tools to access reference pages:

• Section 1.3.4.1 explains how to use keywords to find reference pages for a command or application.

• Section 1.3.4.2 tells you how to use the man command to view a reference page from within a terminal emulator window.

• Section 1.3.4.3 describes the Man Page Viewer, a graphical user interface (GUI) that lets you view or print a reference page.

1.3.4.1    Finding Reference Pages for Commands and Applications

If you do not know which reference page applies to a command or application, you can use keywords to help identify the appropriate reference page with either the man command with the -k flag or the apropos command.

For example, if you wanted to find reference pages related to the GIF graphics format, you could enter the following:


$ man -k gif 
gif2tiff (1) - create a .SM TIFF file from a GIF87 format image file
giftoppm (1) - convert a GIF file into a portable pixmap
ppmtogif (1) - convert a portable pixmap into a GIF file
$ 

The output shows any reference page with the string gif or GIF in either the title or the one-line description on the name line. The search is not case sensitive. The apropos command works the same as man -k, and the output is identical.

If you want to find the reference page for the command line that invokes the CDE Session Manager, you could enter the following:


$ apropos session

When you look at the output, you find the following line included:


dtsession (1)- the CDE Session Manager

You can then access the reference page for dtsession(1).

1.3.4.2    Using the man Command

To view a reference page in a terminal emulator window, enter the man command followed by the name of the command or application you want to view. For example, to view the reference page for the CDE Session Manager, enter the following:


$ man dtsession

Refer to the man(1) reference page for more information. See Section 1.3.4.1 for information on finding command and application names by using keywords.

1.3.4.3    Using the Man Page Viewer

The Man Page Viewer provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to view or print a reference page.

To use the Man Page Viewer to view reference pages:

1. Click on the Application Manager.

2. Double click on Desktop_Apps.

3. View a reference page using one of the following methods:

   • Double click on the Man Page Viewer icon and enter the name of the reference page you want to view. If the reference page name resides in more than one section (such as the make(1) and make(1p) reference pages), you can use the format command.section. In the latter example, you would enter make.1p.

   • Drag and drop a reference page icon from the File Manager onto the Man Page Viewer. For example, if you are viewing the /usr/man/man1 directory with the File Manager, you can click on the icon for the file man.1.gz, drag it onto the Man Page Viewer icon, and release to view the man(1) reference page.

See Section 1.3.4.1 for information on finding command and application names by using keywords.