If your monitor is too small for viewing this document in its entirety, repeatedly execute the command System.Grow in the menu bar until the window is grown to an adequate size. Closing the window by executing System.Close will cause the covered windows to reappear.
You may print this document by executing the command Write.Print PostScript MacOberon.Starter.Text . This will open a viewer containing a PostScript representation of your document. You can save the PostScript program to a file by executing the command Ed.StoreTEXT appearing in the header of its window, and subsequently download it to any compatible printer using the the Laser Writer Font Utility supplied with Apple's System 7.
Getting Started with MacOberon - Command Quick Reference
Basic Commands
Point = ML = Mouse Button
Set the Caret by pointing to the desired character position with the mouse and pressing the Point button.
Execute = MM = Control Key
Execute a command M.P by pointing to its name with the mouse and clicking the Execute button.
Select = MR = Option Key
Select any contiguous stretch of text by moving the mouse from the first character to the last character of the desired selection while holding down the Select button (this is called "dragging" the mouse).
Cancel
Cancel a mouse command that is just being initiated by pressing all three mouse buttons simultaneously.
Mark = Enter key on keypad
Set the Star Marker by moving the mouse to the desired location and pressing the Mark key.
Neutralize = ESC key
Remove all marks and selections on the screen by pressing the Neutralize key.
Scrolling (in scrolling zone to the left of the text)
Forward = ML = Mouse Button
The line to which the mouse points will be moved to the top of the viewer.
Absolute = MM = Control Key
Scroll to a part of the document that corresponds to the relative position of the mouse in the scroll bar.
Top = MR = Option Key
Scroll to the top of the document.
Viewer Layout
Moving = ML = Mouse Button
Extend or reduce a viewer by clicking the Point button in its title bar and dragging it to a new location.
Repositioning = ML'MM = Mouse Button with Control Key interclick
Move a viewer to any new location by interclicking the Execute button during the Move operation.
Advanced Commands
Select and Copy to Caret = MR'MM = Interclick Execute Button during Selection
The selected text is copied to the Caret position.
Set Caret and Copy from Selection = ML'MM = Interclick Execute Button during Caret Positioning with Point Button
The most recent selection is copied to the new Caret position.
Select and Delete = MR'ML = Interclick Point Button during Selection
The selected text is deleted.
Copy Format at Caret to Selection = ML'MR = Interclick Selection Button during Caret Positioning with Point Button
The formatting at the Caret position is applied to the selection.
Select to Beginning of Line = MR, MR
Click twice at the last character of the desired text selection.
You may keep dragging from the second click in order to select multiple lines.
Unload Module prior to Command Execution = MM'ML = Interclick Point Button during Execute
The command's module will be re-loaded from disk before the command is executed.
Parameter Conventions
Many commands operate on texts. Examples of such commands are Edit.Open and Compiler.Compile. By convention, these commands accept several different methods of parameter specification, the most common of which is simply a list of file names terminated by a tilde "~" character. Alternatively, an arrow "^" as a parameter indicates that the file name should be taken from the most recent selection and an asterisk "*" tells the command that the contents of the marked viewer (the viewer containing the Star Marker) should be processed.
Editing
Edit.Open <filename>
Open a new viewer and display the contents of a file. If the file does not exist, an empty viewer will be opened. You may also use the enhanced editor Ed (Ed.Open <filename>) or the document editor Write for editing texts (Write.Open <filename>).
Edit.Store
When activated from a menu, stores the contents of the viewer under the filename listed in the menu.
A file may be saved under a different name simply by editing the menu and executing Edit.Store.
Edit.Locate
Locate the position of an error in a source text. Mark the viewer displaying the source, then select the error message in the Log Viewer, then execute Edit.Locate. The source viewer will scroll to the location of the error and the Caret will be placed just behind it.
When using the Write document editor, use the command Write.Locate instead. Write also offers Error Elements that automatically appear in the source program, displaying error messages in place.
Write.Open Elem.Guide.Text for details.
Making a Large Selection that will not Fit into a Single Viewer
Use System.Copy to open an adjacent second viewer. Then select the beginning of the text in the upper viewer and its end in the lower viewer separately.
Interrupting a Command
The user may terminate a running command by simultaneously pressing the keys labelled Command, Shift and "." (Period). If you cannot find a "command" key on your keyboard, search for an "open apple" or a "clover" symbol; this is the same key that you use for executing menu equivalents. When a command is terminated in this manner, a trap viewer opens, displaying the contents of the stack. The contents of global variables are not lost and the user may resume his work normally.
Special Keys
The Macintosh has a different keyboard than other machines on which Oberon is used, and a one_button mouse. However, Oberon expects a three_button mouse and some commands require the use of keys that are not present on the Macintosh, so that it was necessary remap mouse buttons and special keys onto different keys on the Macintosh keyboard. The documentation, however, will refer to mouse buttons and keys by their original names, so please keep in mind the following substitutions:
Name Mentioned in Documentation What to press on the Macintosh
Middle Mouse Button (MM) Control
Right Mouse Button (MR) Option
SETUP Enter (on keypad)
Linefeed Num Lock (on keypad)
BREAK Page Down (extended keyboard)
Shift-BREAK Page Up (extended keyboard)
Delete Delete left
Backspace Delete right (extended keyboard)
No Scroll Home (extended keyboard)
Shift-No Scroll End (extended keyboard)
If you use MacOberon a lot, you might want to get a three_button mouse, of which there are now several models available for the Macintosh. Just configure it so that the left button generates a mouse click, the middle button emulates the "control" key on the keyboard and the right button the "option" button, and you will have a true Oberon mouse.
File: MacOberon.Starter.Text / Michael Franz, 7.2.92