Table Of Content

RISC OS 5 User Guide Copyright © 1996 Acorn Computers Limited. All rights reserved. Updates and changes copyright © 2018 RISC OS Open Ltd. All rights reserved. Issues 1 and 2 published by RISC OS Open Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder and the publisher, application for which shall be made to the publisher. The product described in this manual is not intended for use as a critical component in life support devices or any system in which failure could be expected to result in personal injury. The product described in this manual is subject to continuous development and improvement. All information of a technical nature and particulars of the product and its use (including the information and particulars in this manual) are given by the publisher in good faith. However, the publisher cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any information or particulars in this manual. If you have any comments on this manual, please complete the form at the back of the manual and send it to the address given there. All trademarks are acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners. Published by RISC OS Open Ltd. Issue 1, April 2018 (updates by RISC OS Open Ltd). Issue 2, October 2020 (updates by RISC OS Open Ltd). ii Contents Introduction xvii About this Guide xvii The RISC OS operating system xviii Conventions used in this manual xviii Important tips xix Getting help xxi Additional documentation xxii Part 1 – Beginner’s concepts 1 Chapter 1: The RISC OS desktop 3 What is the RISC OS desktop? 3 Windows 4 Icons 4 Menus 6 The pointer 6 Chapter 2: Using the mouse 7 What is a mouse? 7 Holding the mouse 7 The mouse buttons 8 Basic mouse techniques 8 Clicking 9 Double-clicking 9 Dragging 10 Chapter 3: Using the keyboard 11 A quick tour of the keyboard 11 When to use the keyboard 12 The computer control keys 12 Moving around a document 13 Typing special characters 14 iii Contents Chapter 4: Windows 15 Features of windows 15 Practising manipulating windows 17 Changing a window’s size 17 Moving a window 17 Toggling window size 18 Bringing windows to the front 18 Closing windows 19 Scrolling 19 Practising scrolling 21 Scrolling step by step 22 Moving through a file 22 Chapter 5: Menus and dialogue boxes 23 Menu basics 23 Displaying a menu 23 Choosing from a menu 24 Keeping a menu on the screen 24 Choosing from a submenu 25 Choosing menu options – conventions in this Guide 26 What is a dialogue box? 26 Chapter 6: Using applications 29 What are applications? 29 Starting an application 29 Using applications 30 Using more than one application window 31 Quitting applications 31 The Boot application 32 iv Contents Chapter 7: Files and directories 33 What are files and directories? 33 Opening directory displays 33 Double-clicking on an application 34 Building a file structure 34 Creating a new directory 35 Saving a file 35 Loading a file 37 Copying a file to another directory 37 Moving a file 38 Deleting files and directories 38 Pinboard 39 Chapter 8: Switching off the computer 41 Normal shut down procedure 41 Part 2 – Managing the desktop 43 Chapter 9: The desktop 45 Manipulating windows 45 Directory displays 47 The Filer 52 Advanced Filer operations 55 Desktop colours and resolution 62 The pinboard 67 Chapter 10: Managing the desktop 73 Introducing the Task Manager 73 Controlling tasks and memory 74 Launching Configure 79 Saving a Desktop settings file 80 Shutting the computer down 80 v Contents Chapter 11: Changing the computer’s configuration 81 Introduction 81 Changing configuration settings with Configure 84 Merging updates using Configure 84 Boot setup plug-in 85 Discs setup plug-in 87 Filer setup plug-in 89 Fonts setup plug-in 91 Help setup plug-in 93 Keyboard setup plug-in 94 Lock setup plug-in 95 Mouse setup plug-in 98 Pinboard setup plug-in 100 Screen setup plug-in 101 Sound setup plug-in 103 System setup plug-in 105 Theme setup plug-in 105 Time and date setup plug-in 107 Windows setup plug-in 109 Chapter 12: The Boot application 111 Introduction 111 Getting out of a mess 111 Inside the Boot application 112 PreDesktop boot 114 Desktop boot 115 Desktop settings file 116 Other names for the Boot application 118 Chapter 13: Using discs 121 Fixed and removable discs 121 Mounting and dismounting discs 121 Naming discs 122 Formatting discs 123 Backing up discs 128 Checking for disc defects (verifying) 131 Checking the amount of free space on a disc 132 Using several removable discs at once 133 What to do if something goes wrong 134 vi Contents Chapter 14: Other storage devices and filing systems 137 Types of filing systems 137 Using DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs 138 Using DOS and Windows discs 140 Using spare RAM as a disc 143 Using read-only resources 144 Using USB connected drives and SCSI discs 145 Using removable memory cards 146 Part 3 – Networking 147 Chapter 15: Local networks 149 Types of network 149 Configuring networking 150 Disc sharing on an Access network 151 Printing over an Access network 157 File sharing on an Econet network 159 Printing over an Econet network 166 File sharing using other protocols 166 Chapter 16: Setting up networking 167 Introduction 167 Configuring connection to an Econet network 168 Configuring connection to an Access network 169 Configuring connection to the Internet 169 Saving your Network Configuration 175 Chapter 17: OmniClient 177 Selecting OmniClient’s protocols 177 Starting OmniClient 177 Using OmniClient 178 Icon bar menu 181 Printing through an OmniClient protocol 182 Quitting OmniClient 183 Advanced OmniClient configuration 184 vii Contents Part 4 – Printing 187 Chapter 18: Setting up printers 189 Setting up the printer 189 Loading the Printer Manager 191 Configuring the printer 193 Configuring the printer connection 200 Activating the printer 203 Editing paper sizes 204 Saving your choices 206 Creating your own Printer definition file 206 Chapter 19: Printing your files 207 Starting Printer Manager 207 Printing a file 207 Things you can’t print 209 Using more than one printer 209 Print queue control 210 Text printing and graphics printing 211 Using PostScript printers 213 Hints and tips 214 Chapter 20: PrintEdit 215 Starting PrintEdit 216 The PrintEdit window 216 Graphics mode 218 Text modes 222 Saving and quitting 225 Chapter 21: FontPrint 227 Starting FontPrint 227 Mapping 228 Downloading 229 Advanced information 231 viii Contents Part 5 – RISC OS applications 233 Chapter 22: RISC OS applications 235 Where to look for applications 235 Starting applications 237 Loading any file into Edit 237 Transferring data between applications 238 Setting application options in Boot files 238 Adding more applications to a hard disc 238 Chapter 23: Using colour in applications 239 Colour models 239 Using colour in Draw 240 Colour and the desktop 244 Chapter 24: Using fonts in applications 245 RISC OS fonts 245 Choosing and using fonts in applications 247 How the Font Manager works 248 Matching font performance to your needs 250 Printing with fonts 251 Changing the desktop font 251 Troubleshooting 252 Chapter 25: Edit 253 Starting Edit 253 Typing in text 254 Editing text 255 Formatting text 265 Changing the display font 268 Saving text files 269 Printing text files 269 Other features of Edit 270 Writing and editing BASIC programs 271 Quitting Edit 272 Saving Edit application preferences 272 Keystroke equivalents 273 ix Contents Chapter 26: Draw 277 Starting Draw 277 Basic ideas 278 Draw tutorial 281 Draw reference section 309 Undoing and redoing operations 309 Using the Grid to place objects accurately 310 Zooming in and out of your drawing 312 Displaying two views of the same file 313 Creating objects (Enter mode) 313 Manipulating objects (Select mode) 316 Creating special effects in Draw (interpolation and grading) 320 Defining a path object’s style 325 Defining text style 329 Editing Draw objects (Path edit mode) 330 Importing (loading) files into Draw 336 Exporting (saving) files from Draw 337 Printing Draw files 338 Text areas 340 DXF files 346 JPEGs (photo-quality images) 347 Working with multiple Draw files 348 Saving Draw application preferences 348 Keyboard shortcuts 350 x