### Hints and Shortcuts

# Great Shortcuts

Discover hidden shortcuts.

Click image links for full view. | ### ### Use "Select and Paste" to Create Text Files, Folder Icons, FTP Site Directories, or Web Jumpers To create a text file, select text in an application window, then click the middle mouse button over the desktop background or in an Icon View window. A file is created containing the selected text. To create a folder icon of a directory, select the pathname of the directory, such as `/usr/tmp`, then click the middle mouse button over the desktop background or an Icon View window. A folder icon containing that directory appears. To create a folder icon of an FTP site, drag to select an FTP address, such as `ftp://ftp.sgi.com`, then click the middle mouse button over the desktop background or an Icon View window. A folder icon appears. Double-click the folder to open an Icon View of the contents of the FTP site. To create a WebJumper, select a Web page (http) address, then click the middle mouse button on the desktop background to create a WebJumper icon for that Web page. (WebJumpers are icons that, when double-clicked, open a pre-specified Web page.)
| ### ### Use the Middle Mouse Button to Copy and Paste Between Applications You can copy and paste by selecting text in one window, placing the cursor in another window, and pressing the middle mouse button, For example, you can select text in a Web page window, then use the middle mouse button to paste it into an e-mail message.
| ### ### Press Ctrl and Drag to Copy Files Select a file icon, and while holding down the the Ctrl key, drag the icon to another location. A copy of the file appears.
| ### ### Use Alt Key Shortcuts To View a Preceding Directory When you are viewing a directory in Icon View, you can view the preceding ("parent") directory by holding down the Alt key while double-clicking the left mouse button in the Icon View background. To Open a Directory in an Already Opened Icon View Instead of opening another Icon View, hold down the Alt key and double-click a directory icon within a currently opened Icon View. The directory contents appear, replacing the previous content display. To Access a Command Line Option Dialog In some applications, you can launch a command-line option dialog when you press Alt while double-clicking the application icon.
| ### ### Use Right Mouse Button Menus To reveal a menu containing commands for performing actions on selected icons, press the right mouse button. For example, you can select the CDROM icon on the desktop and use the right-mouse-button menu to select the Eject command. There are also commands such as Log Out that you can access by holding down the right mouse button while the cursor is over the desktop background.
| ### ### Use Icon View to Access Files and Directories on Other Systems To access directories on other systems on your network, type in an Icon View pathname field: `/hosts/hostname/directoryname``,`where hostname is the name of the other system, and directoryname is the name of the directory you would like to see. You can drag icons from the Icon View window to your desktop to access the contents. To make a copy, hold down the Ctrl key and drag any of the files to a new location on your desktop. Note: In order for "/hosts" to work, either AutoFS or Automount should be enabled. To set this up, from the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > Set Up and Start NFS to open an Interactive Guide. Also, the other system's directory must have read permission (see the online book Desktop User's Guide, Chapter 9, for an introduction to permissions).
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