Prism 6.0 User's Guide

Executing Commands Within Prism

Within Prism, you can perform most actions in one of three ways:

By using a mouse; see " Using the Mouse"
By using keyboard alternatives to the mouse; see " Using Keyboard Alternatives to the Mouse"
By issuing commands from the keyboard; see " Issuing Commands"

Using the Mouse

You can point and click with a mouse in Prism to choose menu items and to perform actions within windows and dialog boxes. Prism assumes that you have a standard three-button mouse.

In any window where you see this mouse icon:

you can left-click on the icon to obtain information about using the mouse in the window.

Using Keyboard Alternatives to the Mouse

You can use the keyboard to perform many of the same functions you can perform with a mouse. This section lists these keyboard alternatives.

In general, to use a keyboard alternative, the focus must be in the screen region where you want the action to take place. The focus is generally indicated by the location cursor, which is a heavy line around the region.

General keyboard alternatives to mouse control are listed below.

Table 2-1 General Keyboard Alternatives to Mouse Control


Key Name	Description
`Tab`	Use the `Tab` key to move the location cursor from field to field within a window or dialog box. The buttons in a window or box constitute one field. The location cursor highlights one of the buttons when you tab to this field.
`Shift-Tab`	Use the Shift-Tab key to perform the same function as `Tab`, but move through the fields in the opposite direction.
`Return`	Use the `Return` key to choose a highlighted choice in a menu, or to perform the action associated with a highlighted button in a window or dialog box.
`Arrow keys`	Use the up, down, left, and right arrow keys to move within a field. For example, when the location cursor highlights a list, you can use the up and down arrow keys to move through the choices in the list. In some windows that contain text, pressing the `Control` key along with an up or down arrow key scrolls the text one-half page.
`F1`	Use the `F1` key instead of the `Help` button to obtain help about a window or dialog box.
`F10`	Use the `F10` key to move the location cursor to the menu bar.
`Meta`	Use the `Meta` key along with the underlined character in the desired menu item to display a menu or dialog box (equivalent to clicking on the item with the mouse). The `Meta` key has different names on different keyboards; on some it is the `Left` or `Right` key.
Control-c	Use the `Control-c` key combination to interrupt command execution.
Esc	Use the Esc key instead of the Close or Cancel button to close the window or dialog box in which the mouse pointer is currently located.

The keys and key combinations described in Table 2-2 work on the command line and in text-entry boxes--that is, fields in a dialog box or window where you can enter or edit text.

Table 2-2 Text-entry Keyboard Alternatives


Key Name	Description
Back Space	Deletes the character to the left of the I-beam cursor.
Delete	Same as Back Space.
Control-a	Moves to the beginning of the line.
Control-b	Moves back one character.
Control-d	Deletes the character to the right of the I-beam cursor.
Control-e	Moves to the end of the line.
Control-f	Moves forward one character.
Control-k	Deletes to the end of the line.
Control-u	Deletes to the beginning of the line.

In addition, you can use keyboard accelerators to perform actions from the menu bar; see " Keyboard Accelerators".

Issuing Commands

You can issue commands in Prism from the command line in the command window. Most commands duplicate functions you can perform from the menu bar; it's up to you whether you use the command or the corresponding menu selection. Some functions are only available via commands. See the Prism 6.0 Reference Manual for complete information about Prism commands. " Using the Command Window" describes how to use the command window.

Many commands have the same syntax and perform the same action in both Prism and the Solaris debugger dbx. There are differences, however; you should check the reference description of a command before using it.