3.2. Working with Window controls

This section describes how to start applications in NsCDE, move them around, iconify, shade, resize, maximize, close and so on.

3.2.1. Window Frame Controls

A window's frame provides controls with which you can:

  • Focus attention on a window, making it active for input from mouse or keyboard. When window is selected and it becomes active, its titlebar changes color into a active window color.

  • Move a window.

  • Turn the window into a icon (iconify).

  • Size a window.

  • Close a window, removing it from the desktop.

  • Migrate open window into other workspaces.

Figure 5. Window Frame Controls: Titlebar and Buttons

Window Frame Controls: Titlebar and Buttons

The leftmost button on the window titlebar is menu button. Click the Window menu button to display the Window Operations Menu.

To close a window and remove it from the desktop, double-click the Window menu button or display the Window menu and click on Close. If this doesn't work for some reason, you can try to forcibly remove a window with Forcefully Close.

Right of the window title, there are iconify and maximize buttons. Iconify is the first one, while maximize is the rightmost at the corner. Click the iconify button to turn the window into a window icon. To restore a window from its icon, double-click the icon.

Click the maximize button to display the window in maximized state. To ignore area of the Front Panel, and really maximize a window to the whole screen, double-click the button. Window can be turned into its former size by clicking the maximize button again.

The title bar shows the name of the application that owns the window. Select a window by clicking its title bar. You can move a window by dragging its title bar. Clicking title bar with the third mouse button will lower or raise it below or above another overlapping window, second (middle) mouse button gives you a quick diagnostic and screenshot options menu.

Click and drag a window's resize corner or border to resize the window in any direction.

3.2.2. Opening Application Windows

There are couple ways to open applications in NsCDE. NsCDE offers a handy way to group often used applications and other applications in a more or less accessible desktop controls.

  • Front Panel: big icons of the Front Panel offer easiest and most visible access to applications. By default,it contains access to editor, office application, terminal, Style Manager, Printer Manager etc. This list can be customized to suit individual needs.

  • Subpanels of the Front Panel are by category grouped popup menus of applications. Often used, important and popular applications are here, and can be put here by the user, to suit the needs.

  • Workspace Menu: called with third mouse button on the root window (screen backdrop). It contains submenu Applications which is generated by gathering system GUI applications into categorized submenus. Almost every application is accessible from this menu. There is also a Quick Menu submenu of the Workspace Menu, where user can put it' picks of applications for ease of access.

  • Exec dialog, called with Alt+F12, or rofi(1) launcher if it is installed and configured to work with NsCDE. Here, the name of the command which invokes application can be typed. Return will execute a command and window will appear.

  • By using some file manager which supports menu://applications/ pseudo path, that is, it can serve as Application Manager. PcmanFM is a good choice here.

  • By typing application invocation commands into terminal emulator.