Chapter 7: continued

Navigating in and Using Frontier's Windows

As we have seen, Frontier includes several different types of windows. In this section, we will talk about how to navigate in and use each of these window types. We begin with table windows. Then we discuss word processing windows. Next, we describe the use of the three types of outline-based windows: outline windows, menubar editors, and script-editing windows. Finally, we discuss the Quick Script window and the script-execution/debugging window.

In general, these windows are like other Macintosh windows with which you are undoubtedly familiar. You can scroll them, zoom them, close them, resize them, and so forth.

Table Windows

The Object Database is a collection of hierarchical table structures, viewed in table windows. Each table can contain any type of Frontier object, in any combination, including other tables.

To select an object in a table window, click on its item marker.

To navigate to a specific item, you can type the first letter of its and Frontier will take you to at least the vicinity of the object you seek. You can type more than one letter and Frontier looks for an object beginning with all of the characters you type.

To delete an object in a table window, select it and then use an appropriate Edit menu command or keyboard equivalent to remove it.

To add an object to a table window, you can either use the Table menu option for the type of data you wish to add or you can follow this process:

1. Select any item in the table, press Command-Return.
2. Type the name of the new object.
3. Press on the "Kind" popup menu in the lower left corner of the window and select the type of data you wish to add to the table.
4. If the object is a scalar and you wish to do so, use the Tab key to get to the Value column and type a value for the object. For datatypes that have their own editing window, click the Zoom button or double-click the item marker to open its window.

If you enter a new item into a table, you can select a non-scalar type for it without having to use the "Kind" popup. Just double-click on its item marker. A dialog box (see Figure 7-40) will appear. You can pick any of the available non-scalar datatypes from this dialog (using the mouse or Command-key shortcuts) and Frontier will open an appropriate editing window. You can also name the object as part of this process.

Figure 7-40. Dialog for Selecting Kind of Data for New Table Entry

WP Windows

Frontier's word processing text windows work very much like most word processors and text editors you might have worked with on the Macintosh. They have a ruler you can hide and show with Command-R or with the appropriate menu item on the WP menu. You select text by double-clicking on a word or triple-clicking to select a paragraph. You can extend a selection by positioning the cursor where you want the selection to end and holding down the Shift key while you click the mouse button.

Styling and formatting of text are handled through the ruler line and through the last five options on the Frontier Edit menu.

To navigate in a word processing window, you can use the arrow keys to move up and down a line at a time or right and left a character at a time. Table 41 summarizes how the Command and option keys modify cursor movement.

Table 41. Cursor Movement Modifier Keys in Word Processing Windows

Modifier Key  Left Arrow     Right Arrow     Up Arrow       Down Arrow
------------  -------------  --------------  -------------  --------------
Command Key   top of doc     bottom of doc   top of doc     bottom of doc
Option Key    left one word  right one word  left one word  right one word

Inserting new text into a word processing text document is a simple matter of positioning the cursor where you wish the new text to appear and typing the new text. Of course you can use all of the Macintosh's standard Cut/Copy/Paste operations as well.