Using the Mouse Buttons

The mouse has three buttons: the left, middle, and right. Depending on where you point and click (press and release a mouse button) on the screen, each mouse button has a different function, and can have different effects. Brief descriptions of the different actions you can take with each of the mouse buttons appear below.

When the pointer is in the titlebar of a window such as a UNIX window, the mouse buttons act as follows:

• Left: Enables you to move the window around on your screen. To do this, press and hold down this button, then move the mouse around. An outline of the window should move accordingly on your screen; when you release the left mouse button, the window should redraw in the new location.
• Middle: Toggles the order in which the windows display; that is, the way in which the windows overlap each other. For example, if the window you select is currently on top of other windows, clicking the middle mouse button on its titlebar will push the window to the back; if the window is covered, even slightly, by other windows, clicking the middle mouse button on its titlebar will bring it in front of the others. We sometimes refer to this toggling as ``raising and lowering."
• Right: Enables you to control the appearance of the window, using such options as Minimize, Maximize, Move, Resize, etc. To do this, press and hold down this button on the window's titlebar; a separate pop-up menu will appear, and you may now drag the mouse down to highlight the desired sub-menu option.

You can also use the right mouse button to open an ``emergency" RCS background menu, should you ever close your RCS Applications menu. To do this, position the mouse cursor anywhere on the blue workstation background, and press and hold down the right mouse button. A separate pop-up menu will appear; continue to hold down the right mouse button, and drag the mouse down to highlight the desired sub-menu option. You may find this especially handy when you wish to do a relatively simple operation, such as open a UNIX window, open the RCS Applications menu, or logout from the system.