About window managers

Some window managers require you to place and size windows manually, so the terminal window may not appear immediately. Usually such window managers show an outline of the window in place of the mouse pointer; typically, you click the left mouse button after dragging the window outline to the desired location on your screen in order to make the window appear.

Before going any further, find out how to move windows on your screen if you don't already know how to do so. (You will need to do this occasionally while using WAVE , since its windows may sometimes overlap.) Different window managers have different methods for moving windows; a method that usually works is to press either the left or the center mouse button while pointing to the center section of the window's title bar (at the top edge of the window), and then to move the pointer (which may have been replaced by the window outline) to the desired location before releasing the mouse button. (This common action is called dragging, as in the expression `drag the window using the left button'.) Try moving the terminal window now.

For this exercise, all commands should be typed into the same terminal window. Once again, however, differences in window managers may affect how you do this. Some window managers use a focus-follows-mouse policy: you can type into a window whenever the mouse pointer is in the window. Others use a click-to-type policy: you must click the left mouse button within a window before you can type into it, but the mouse pointer need not remain in the window while you type (this policy will be familiar to Macintosh and Microsoft Windows users). If you use olwm or olvwm as your window manager, as recommended, you may choose the policy you prefer using the Properties menu (click right on the background or root window, and select Properties from the pop-up menu that appears).

If you have previous experience with X Window System and Open Look user interface applications, much of what you see will be familiar. This exercise does not assume that you have any such experience, but you may find it helpful to read through an introductory book on the Open Look user interface such as the OpenLook User's Guide, available freely from (http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/openlook/). Please note that, although WAVE uses many Open Look controls, it is not fully Open Look compliant; in particular, actions within its signal window (see chapter 2) do not comply with Open Look style guidelines.