The computer and its interface (1) |
What is a computer? [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] A computer is a machine which can very quickly
execute a series of instructions that somebody gave it. It does
not think by itself. It is limited to apply reasoning that a
person (the programmer) thought and developed for it. A computer program, also called a software, is
a series of instructions and reasoning prepared to provide a
service in a specific field. Pizzicato is a software enabling you
to compose, to play musical scores and to provide you with a
whole series of services related to music. To be used, a software must be introduced into
the computer. By starting the software, its instructions take
control of the computer. The user can then direct the software
and work with it to obtain results from it in the related field. Unlike a computer, a software is not a physical
thing or an object. It is a series of reasoning, methods and
directives which will control the computer. It is information.
When you buy a software, it is provided to you on one or more
diskettes or CDs which are used as a support. The data on the
disks constitute the instructions of the software. The software
installation procedure simply consists in copying these data into
the computer so that the computer can use them. The hard disk of a computer is a permanent data
medium, i.e. when you switch off the computer, information
written on the hard disk is preserved. It is on the hard disk
that the software is copied during the installation, so that it
is once and for all in the computer. The capacity of a hard disk
is indicated in Mega Bytes (MB) or Giga Bytes (GB). 1 MB
corresponds to one million text characters, which is equivalent
to more than 200 pages of text with 60 lines of 80 characters on
each page . 1 GB equals 1000 MB. The smallest hard disks
currently make tens of GB and go up to several hundreds of GB. 1
TB (Tera byte) corresponds to 1000 GB. The random access memory of the computer is a
data medium used during the execution of a program. A program
needs a certain amount of random access memory to work correctly.
This memory is called "RAM" ("Random Access
Memory", which means that data can be reached at any time or
place in the memory, randomly). The RAM of a computer is measured
in MB. Its usual size goes from 1 GB to many GB. The random
access memory is the working memory of the computer. When you
switch off the computer, its content is lost. By creating a
document of word processing, it is created in RAM. Before
switching off the computer, the document must be written on the
hard disk so that it is not lost. It happens this way for most
software programs like word processing, drawing programs, etc. Communicating with a computer [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] You need a way to give your instructions to
the computer. Similarly, when the program wants to tell you
something or to show you the result of its actions, you must
be able to perceive it. The keyboard and the mouse let you control the
computer. Thanks to these two elements you will direct the
computer actions. The screen helps your computer
to show you the results of your work. It is used together
with the mouse and the keyboard to allow a fast and effective
communication between the user and the software. The software
will also use the printer to give you the
results on paper. In Pizzicato, the computer can also control
musical external instruments enabling you to hear the sound
of your work. The elements helping you to communicate
with the computer are called the user
interface.
The screen and windows [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The screen of the computer is a working area. It is like a
desk on which you can place documents that you can modify and
classify. As the screen is used to visualize your work, it is structured
in distinct graphical elements that one can manipulate. Only a
small number of these elements constitute the essence of the
communication between the computer and the user. We thus propose
you to study these elements in this lesson and the following. From one computer to another and one program to another, the
graphical aspect of these elements will vary. The design, the
color, the thickness of lines, the styles of characters
personalize programs and computers. The screen of the computer comprises rectangular graphical
areas which are called windows. You can compare them with paper
sheets that you place on a desk. Here are the various parts under
Windows and Mac respectively (Please note that the graphic aspect
may vary from one version to another of Mac or Windows, but the
main principles stay the same): On Mac OS X, the three boxes (close, reduce and zoom) are in
the upper left corner of the window. The other elements are very
similar. What you see here constitutes one window. It is a graphical
unit of which you can change the size and position. Each program
creates its own window at startup. Often, with the launching of a
program, the size of the created window occupies the full screen.
When you use the program, it will create other windows according
to what is needed. For example, if you open several documents in
the same program, the following setup shows the two windows
(representing the two documents), respectively on Windows and
Mac: On Windows, the two internal windows are called "child
windows". They are always inside the main window (parent
window). On Mac, each window appears independently. Note that the
second window is located above the other. It is hiding a part of
it. The analogy with paper sheets on a desk is still valid. When
you place a paper on another paper, it is entirely visible and
hiding part of the other. When clicking in a window which is below another, you can
bring it to the front, like this (respectively on Windows and
Mac): Now let us examine the elements present in a window. Borders of the window They delimit the area of the window compared to the
remainder of the screen. When you launch Pizzicato, the main
window occupies the full screen and the borders are not
visible. When clicking in the restore box, the window will have the aspect as above. On
Windows, when placing the mouse on the borders, the cursor
takes one of the following aspects: While clicking and dragging on a border, you
can increase or reduce the size of a window. The border
follows the movements of the mouse until you release the
mouse. When you execute this operation close to a corner, the
corner moves while following the movements of the mouse and
by moving with him the two borders. If you click in the
middle of a border, halfway between two corners, only the
border will move. On Mac, the right bottom corner can be used
in the same way to adjust the size of the window. Some
windows can be moved by clicking and dragging the border. Zoom boxes To change the size of a window, you can also use the zoom
boxes. There are three types of zoom boxes on PC (on Mac, two
are represented by the same drawing). Resize the window from its maximum size to its normal size
or from its minimal size to its normal size. Resize the window to its minimal size. Only a part of the
title bar stays visible. On Mac OS X, the window disappear in
the Dock (area below the screen). Resize the window to its maximum size. If it is the main
window of the program, it occupies the full screen. If it is
a child window (on Windows only), it occupies the totality of
the main parent window content. The The title bar is an area located just below the top
border. You will find the title of the window in it. It often
indicates the name of the document or the role of the window.
When clicking and dragging the title bar, you move the window
on the screen, without modifying its size. On Windows, when
double-clicking the title bar, you resize the window from the
maximum size to the normal size and vice versa. On Windows, when a child window has its maximum size, its
title bar combines with the title bar of the main window of
the program. The title of the child window is then added
between square brackets[ ] next to the title of the main
window. The zoom and close boxes appear right below the boxes
of the main window. System menu It is a menu set up and maintained by Windows and which
makes it possible to execute the operations of moving,
zooming and closing via menus instead of using the
corresponding boxes. Menu bar Just below the title bar you will find the menu bar. It
lets you execute actions related to the content of the
window. We will see this below. On Mac, the menu bar is
located in the higher part of the screen. Tool bar It is a graphic area giving quick access to current
actions or options. The content vary from one program to
another. A window may also exist without a tool bar. Status bar It is a graphic area with practical data, like the current
page number, the cursor graphic position, help
information,
Contents of the window Your document is displayed here (musical score, text of a
letter, drawing, table
). It is the interaction area
between the user and the contents of the document. The
contents of a window vary from one program to another and
Pizzicato has many different windows. We will have the
occasion to explain them and to use them throughout this
manual. For the moment, let us simply remember that a window
visualizes an aspect of a document. Scroll bars As explained above, you can easily change the size of the
window. What about its contents? The purpose of a window is
to present the contents of a document to the user in a visual
way. If the document is an enormous musical score, it will be
impossible to see the full score inside the window. Thus we
need a way to determine which part of the document will be
visible on the screen. This role is given to the horizontal and vertical scroll
bars. We will see how to use them in the remainder of this
manual. By handling them, you will be able to decide which
part of your document will be the visible in the window. It
is like looking at a remote landscape with binoculars. It is
impossible for you to see all the landscape all at once. By
moving your binoculars, you can see to the right, left, top
or bottom. At any moment, you only see one part of the
landscape. So we reviewed the various elements making up a window. All
the elements are not necessarily present in each window. Windows
can exist with only a border and contents. Menus [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The purpose of a menu is to let the user ask the program the execution of
a task or an action. The higher part of the screen comprises
a grayed bar with a series of written words on it. It is the
main menu bar. In Pizzicato, it contains the following words: The words which are in the menu bar are the
titles of the menus. By clicking on a word, a list appears: This list shows all the actions that you
can execute. Usually, a menu gathers a series of actions from
the same category. Here, they are actions relating to the
windows. Each line of this list is called an menu item. By clicking on one of the items displayed, the
menu disappears and the associated action is executed. This is the way to select a menu item. It
is not necessary to release the mouse button between the two
actions. You can click on the title of the menu and drag
downwards to select the item. At this time release the button
and the action is executed. It is an application of the
click/drag operation of the mouse. Train yourself with some
items of the Tools menu. Each time, a small window appears to
display symbols. Close it by clicking on its close box. It happens that some menu items are not
always available, because some operations cannot be executed
in all cases. Imagine that a menu item lets you close a
window. If no window is present on the screen, it is not
possible to close a window. The corresponding menu item is
then disabled. In this case, it is either absent or drawn in
gray. When you drag the cursor on a disabled item, it does
not get contrasted and it is impossible to select it. To separate menu items into subcategories,
a line is often used. It happens that a menu item contains
several possible choices. In such a case, a small black arrow
indicates on the right that it is a multiple choice item. By
clicking this item, a secondary list appears that contains
other items you can select. This makes it possible to build
menus in tree structure, A last important point is the shortcut. By observing the above examples, you could notice
that some items have the "Ctrl+" text on
their right, followed by a letter or a symbol of the keyboard
(on Mac, symbol of the "Apple" key). This
is a keyboard shortcut that lets you activate a menu item
without using the mouse. Once you know the program and its
shortcuts, it is faster than using the mouse. To use a
shortcut, hold down the Ctrl key of the keyboard
("Apple" key on Mac), and press the
shortcut letter or symbol on the keyboard.
Dialog boxes [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] Dialog
boxes are special windows. A dialog
box lets the user define or select various options that influence the computer work. In a general way,
it is an area of exclusive communication
between the software and the user, hence its name, a dialog
box. It is an area of communication because it
contains various elements which make it possible for the user
to indicate his choice to the computer. In the other
direction, the software can display useful information to the
user through these elements. We will study these various
elements of communication in the following lessons. Most Pizzicato dialog boxes are exclusive,
which means that when a dialog box is displayed on the
screen, the user can do nothing else but using this dialog
box. If other windows are located behind it, they are
temporarily inaccessible, just as the menus are. To be able
to use the remainder of the software again, the user must
terminate this communication by closing the dialog box. Most dialog boxes comprise 2 rectangular
areas containing the words OK and Cancel.
By clicking the OK area, the user can
close the dialog box, validating the modifications and
selected options. By clicking the Cancel area, the dialog box will also be closed, but the
modifications made by the user in this dialog box will be
cancelled, i.e. forgotten by the software. Most dialog boxes can be moved like a
window but their size cannot be modified. By clicking and
dragging the title bar, you can move the dialog box. When a
dialog box is displayed, if you try to click outside it, the
computer will refuse your action because it is an exclusive
dialog box and you do not have other choices than to
terminate this dialog box before making something else. In the Options menu, select the
Transcription
item. The following dialog box
appears (Windows & Mac): You can move it. Now try to click on
another menu or on the window which is behind it. It does not
work. The dialog box contains various elements that we will
further discuss in details. In the bottom right corner of
this dialog, you can notice the Cancel and OK
areas. Click in Cancel and the dialog box
disappears. Most dialog boxes appear following a menu
item selection or an action executed in the contents of a
window. Most of the time, dialog boxes help you consult or
supplement information that will influence the work of the
software.
or on Mac
(or a
"+" sign on Mac OS X)
or on Mac
(or a
"+" sign on Mac OS X)
or on Mac
(or a
"+" sign on Mac OS X)
or on Mac
box or
on Mac (a
"x" sign on Mac OS X) makes it possible to close
the window. On Windows, if it is the main window (in the
first example, it is the higher box), the program quits. If
it is an internal window, only this window is closed.