The MIDAS Graphical User Interface (GUI)

MIDAS has a Motif compliant Graphical User Interface. This means that there are differences particularly in the use of the mouse buttons from the Sun Solaris OpenWindows system which you may be familiar with. However if you normally use the Sun Solaris CDE window system; any implementation of CDE or MicroSoft Windows then you will find few if any differences.

Using the Mouse

The left mouse button (button 1) is called the SELECT button. Click (i.e., press and release) with SELECT to activate control panel command buttons; to open pull-down menus; to tick and untick checkboxes; to make choices among options and to tag displayed histograms. This is the most frequently use mouse button. If we say, for example, click on the --- menu item we will mean click with the SELECT button.

The middle mouse button (button 2) is called the ADJUST button. This is not in general used by MIDAS applications. A notable exception is the histogram viewer window where it has special uses. Since not all workstations will have a 3 button mouse (or a mouse in which all 3 buttons are available to applications) then alternatives to the use of button 2 are provided. See information specific to the application for details.

The right mouse button (button 3) is called the MENU button. Click with MENU to activate the default action associated with a menu button.

Using the keyboard

When using the keyboard to enter information into graphical windows (entry widgets) it is no longer normally essential that you press the return key when finished (but it has to be highly recommended). Since you select the entry window to type into using the mouse then the software will check when the mouse leaves the window and if it finds that the contents of the entry window have been altered it acts as if the return key had just been pressed. Since it is obviously necessary to move the mouse out of the entry window to select a button (for example) this action is in most cases adequate and removes the need for you to press the return key.

Special Actions or Bindings using the keyboard

There are a number of general bindings or short cuts, which are common to all MIDAS windows.

The F1 and Shift+F1 keys are used to provide Online Help relevant to the widget and window currently pointed to by the mouse. Alt+F1 updates loaded help information from disc (a development tool).

The Shift+F2 key causes display of the source of MIDAS script files relevant to the window. (This is mainly a development tool)

The Shift+F3 key causes a report to be displayed which shows the Tk path name of the window currently pointed to by the mouse and the name of the MIDAS widget of which it is a part. The current Tk configuration of the window is also reported. This is mainly a diagnostic tool but is very useful information when reporting faults.

Control+F5; Alt+F5; Control+F6; Alt+F6 move the window pointed to by the mouse to the 4 corners of the screen. This is of use in those cases where for some reason a MIDAS window is too big to be fully displayed on the screen.

Control+Delete or Alt+Delete (or all 3!) will cause the software task associated with the window pointed to by the mouse to be deleted. The task can then be restarted as you would when first starting in a new session. The source of the task is reloaded (this is an easy way of loading software corrections into a running session without terminating the whole session). If you suspect that you are having problems caused by a software fault this permits quick restart of the task.

Control+P will print the contents of text and list windows to the current printer. This prints the textual contents of the window and so in some cases may not give the same result as a hardcopy of the window. All text in the window is printed not just the visible portion of scrolled windows.

Control+S will save the contents of text and list windows to file. All text in the window is saved not just the visible portion of scrolled windows.

Shift+Control+P will make a hardcopy of the contents of the window currently pointed to by the mouse to the current printer. This makes a graphical copy of the window contents rather than a textual copy.

Shift+Control+S will make a hardcopy of the contents of the window currently pointed to by the mouse to file. This is exactly equivalent to using Shift+Control+P when the current printer is FILE. This makes a graphical copy of the window contents rather than a textual copy.

Note - All functions based on the current mouse position currently only work correctly for those windows which are not defined as "deaf" or "inactive". That is windows which do have active bindings to the mouse.

 Graphical elements (widgets)

There are two types of graphical buttons. Simple buttons which are directed associated with an action and Menu buttons which are associated with a list of actions (a menu).

Simple Buttons

Click using SELECT on a simple button will cause the action associated with the button to be taken.

Menu Buttons

Pressing SELECT will cause the menu to be displayed. Move while holding down the mouse button the mouse pointer to the menu item you wish and then release the mouse. The action associated with the menu item will then be taken.

MENU gives the default action (first in the menu list) when pressed over a menu button.

Sliders

Analogue quantities such as thresholds or timers are usually controlled with a slider. To set a slider drag the slider cursor with the SELECT button. The numerical value of the slider will follow the cursor, but nothing will change in the electronics until you release the mouse button. You can step the value of the slider up or down by clicking with SELECT in the slider trough either side of the slider cursor. The value of the step is normally determined by the range of the slider and the hardware to which it is associated. Alternatively, you can set the slider by clicking with SELECT on the slider's numeric value and typing in a number. Use the DELETE key to erase the existing digits.

numbers

Discrete integer parameters are controlled with numeric text fields. They usually come with up-down buttons attached. Click with SELECT on the upward-pointing arrowhead to increase the value by one and on the downward-pointing one to decrement it. Alternatively, click on the number and type in the new value as for sliders.

check-boxes

Electronic control bits that can be either on or off are usually represented by check-boxes. A small tick mark in the box means on or enabled, and its absence means off or disabled. Other uses of check-boxes are indicated by a label to the left of the check-box. In this case the small tick mark in the box means that the statement in the label is true, and its absence means that the statement is false. Click with SELECT to toggle the state of the check-box.

choices

Parameters that can take one of a small set of discrete values are controlled with choice widgets or choice-stack widgets. Choice widgets show all the possible alternatives in a row or column with the selected one(s) highlighted. To change from selected to not selected, and vice versa click with SELECT. Choice-stacks are have pop-up menus attached which list the alternatives. The currently selected alternative is shown against the widget's label. To make a selection, pop up the menu by pressing the MENU mouse button and drag it down to your chosen entry.

text fields

Parameters such as filenames are entered in text widgets. To change a parameter, click with SELECT on the text field and type in the new filename, or whatever. Use the Delete key to erase characters, and the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard to move within the text.

scrolling lists

Lists of spectrum names or filenames within a directory are displayed in scrolling-lists with attached scroll-bars. You can move around within the list by dragging the middle portion of the scroll-bar's elevator with the SELECT mouse button. Alternatively, clicking with SELECT on the elevator's up and down arrows moves the list by one entry each way. Names can be selected for subsequent operations by clicking with SELECT. Selected names are shown highlighted. Click again to deselect a list entry.

 

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