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Solaris Transition Guide

Chapter 14 Solaris Common Desktop Environment

The Solaris Common Desktop Environment (CDE), compatible among various workstation manufacturers, provides users with a desktop graphical interface on a Sun(TM) Workstation(TM) running Solaris 7 software or compatible version. This window environment helps you organize and manage your work. The desktop provides windows, workspaces, controls, menus, and a Front Panel. When you login to your windows environment the first time, you have a choice of using either OpenWindows or Solaris CDE as your default desktop.

What Is the Solaris Common Desktop Environment?

In March of 1993, Sun, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Novell announced an agreement to develop a graphical user interface that would bring a consistent look and feel to major UNIX system-based workstations and desktop computers. From the start, the CDE development effort was guided by one goal: to make UNIX easier to use for end users and application developers.

The result of this joint development effort is the Common Desktop Environment. CDE is one of two desktops packaged with the Solaris 7 environment (the other is the OpenWindows desktop). Over time, CDE will emerge as the standard desktop for Sun, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell and many others in the UNIX workstation market. With the release of Solaris 7, Sun has enhanced CDE with many new desktop features not included in the previous versions of CDE. Some of these new features are described later in this chapter.

Solaris CDE includes a desktop server, a Session Manager, a Window Manager (based on Hewlett-Packard's Visual User Environment), and numerous desktop utilities.

To learn how to use Solaris CDE, see Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Developers, End Users, and CDE

Because CDE provides a consistent computing environment across major UNIX platforms, end users can easily move between different machines. CDE also aids application development by supplying a single, standard set of programming interfaces for any conforming Sun, HP, IBM, and Novell platform. A single API enables developers to create applications that are consistent in appearance and behavior across CDE-compliant systems.

The CDE development environment is based on the X11R5 server and produces applications with a look and feel based on the Open Software Foundation's Motif 1.2 specification.

Overview of the Desktop

Some of the features of the Solaris CDE desktop include:

Front Panel

The Front Panel is a special window at the bottom of the display. It provides controls, indicators, and subpanels you use in your everyday work. The Front Panel also provides the workspace switch for selecting a workspace.

Many controls in the Front Panel, such as the File Manager control, start applications when you click them. Some controls, like the Printer control, are also drop zones. You can drag a file icon from File Manager and drop it on the Printer control to be printed.

Arrow buttons over Front Panel controls identify subpanels--click an arrow button to open a subpanel.

Figure 14-1 Front Panel Controls

Graphic

In the previous illustration of the Front Panel, the arrow button above the Mail icon has been clicked, displaying the Mailer subpanel. Clicking the Clock Icon starts your default Web browser.

Style Manager

Graphic

Click this icon:

To use Style Manager to easily customize many elements of the desktop including:

File Manager

Graphic

Click the File Manager icon:

To display the files, folders, and applications on your system as icons.

Moving From the OpenWindows Environment to CDE

With the Solaris 7 software you can choose to log in to either the OpenWindows desktop or the CDE desktop from your login screen. For more information on logging in, refer to the Login Manager help volume or Chapter 2, "Starting a Desktop Session," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Desktop Services

Some of the desktop services you are used to using in the OpenWindows environment are located in different places in Solaris CDE. Table 14-1 highlights some of the differences.

Table 14-1 Location of Desktop Services

Desktop Service 

OpenWindows 

CDE 

Logout 

Workspace menu 

Front Panel 

LockScreen 

Utilities menu 

Front Panel 

Customize Workspace 

Workspace menu 

Style Manager 

Save Workspace 

Utilities menu 

Style Manager 

Refresh 

Utilities menu 

Front Panel 

Properties 

Workspace menu 

Style Manager 

Help 

Workspace menu 

Front Panel, Application Manager, Workspace menu 

Using Windows, Menus, Buttons, and the Mouse in CDE

Windows, menus, buttons and the mouse are used in Solaris CDE slightly differently than in the OpenWindows environment. For complete information on using window, menus, buttons and the mouse, refer to Chapter 1, "Basic Skills," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Accessing the Workspace Applications Menu

In the OpenWindows environment, the main way to start an application was through the Workspace menu. A Workspace menu still exists in Solaris CDE; however, the main access point for workspace functionality is the Front Panel.

The applications available through the Workspace menu include the items on the Front Panel and also a subset of the applications available to you within Application Manager. Refer to Chapter 6, "Running Applications from the Desktop," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide for complete information on Application Manager.

Style Manager and Customizing the Workspace

The items available through Style Manager are: Color, Font, Backdrop, Keyboard, Mouse, Audio, Screen, Window, and Startup. This replaces the Workspace Properties window in the OpenWindows environment. For complete information on Style Manager, refer to Chapter 7, "Customizing the Desktop Environment," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Running OpenWindows Applications in CDE

A folder in CDE Application Manager, titled OpenWindows, contains your OpenWindow applications.

If you ran OpenWindows applications from the command line, you can run them the same way from the terminal emulator (Terminal application) in Solaris CDE. Refer to Chapter 6, "Running Applications from the Desktop," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide for complete information on Application Manager.

Application Settings and Properties

In the OpenWindows environment, application-wide settings are set via the Properties dialog box, accessed from the Edit menu. In CDE, application-wide settings are set via the Options areas. Options choices are generally located under the application's File menu or the separate menu item, Options.

In CDE, Properties (if they exist in an application) are found under the application's Edit menu and are used to set characteristics of an object, such as its date or name, or display identifying characteristics of an object, such as typefaces. In CDE, format settings are usually found under the Format menu and enable margin and paragraph alignment to be set for a single paragraph, file, or message.

CDE Global options are like the properties you set from the Workspace menu in the OpenWindows environment. You now set these properties from the CDE Style Manager application. See Chapter 7, "Customizing the Desktop Environment," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Changing Keyboard Defaults

If you did not change your keyboard defaults in the OpenWindows environment they should stay the same within CDE. If you want to change your defaults, use the Style Manager Keyboard dialog box. See Chapter 7, "Customizing the Desktop Environment," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide. If you need to make changes to your UNIX keyboard bindings, refer to Chapter 10, "Using Text Editor," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.

Changing Mouse Defaults

If you did not change your mouse defaults in the OpenWindows environment they should stay the same within CDE. If you want to change your defaults, use the Style Manager Mouse dialog box. Some of the names have been changed for the functions: You still have double-click, acceleration, and threshold. Mouse button order in CDE is called "handedness. See Chapter 1, "Basic Skills," in Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide.