HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

Changing Directories for Drafts and Distribution Lists

When you save a draft of a message, Mail stores the draft in your default directory. Perform the following steps to specify a different directory for storage of draft files.

1. From the Session Manager window, create a DECterm window.
2. Edit your LOGIN.COM file to include the following command:

   $ DEFINE DECW$MAIL_DRAFTS directory-spec

   
   where directory-spec is the name of the directory in which drafts are to be stored. For example, [SMITH.DRAFTS] is a valid directory name.

You can also change the default directory for distribution lists. When you display a list of your distribution lists, Mail lists all files in your default directory with a DIS file extension. To specify a different directory to be searched for DIS files:

1. From the Session Manager window, create a DECterm window.
2. Edit your LOGIN.COM file to include the following command:

   $ DEFINE DECW$MAIL_DISTRIBUTIONLISTS directory-spec

   
   where directory-spec is the name of the directory in which distribution lists are stored. For example, [JONES.DISTLISTS] is a valid directory name.

Using Accelerators

The following table shows how you can use certain key combinations, called accelerators, to perform common Mail tasks quickly.

Using Hyperapplication Features

Mail is a hyperapplication. Through the Link menu, you can make and follow links between pieces of information (linkable objects). The information at the other end of any link can be another Mail object or an object accessed by any other hyperapplication. For detailed information about hyperapplications and the Link menu, see the chapter on hyperapplication features in Using DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS.

Mail's linkable objects are drawers, folders, and messages. For example, you can link messages to messages or a message to a Calendar timeslot.

If highlighting is enabled, Mail highlights linked objects by using the light bulb icon. If highlighting is not enabled and you want to see which objects have links, choose Turn Highlight On from the Link menu to enable highlighting. (To prepare for the reverse action, the menu item changes to read Turn Highlight Off.)

Exiting Mail

To exit the Mail application, choose Exit from the main window's File menu. The main window and any open Read or Create--Send windows are closed. If you have made changes in a Create--Send window and the window is still open, Mail asks whether you really want to exit. Open folders and drawers are closed. The WASTEBASKET folder is emptied unless you have disabled that option in your user profile.

If multiple main windows are open, the File menu contains the Close menu item rather than Exit. Choosing Close closes only the main window from which Close is chosen. When only one main window remains, its File menu contains the Exit menu item.

If you have made any changes to your user profile, Mail asks whether you want to save them. Click MB1 on Yes to save the changes or on No to cancel any changes you have made.

Paint is a graphics application that lets you create a simple picture, such as a sketch or an illustration, using an assortment of art tools. If you have a color monitor, you can choose colors from a color palette.

Paint can save your pictures, print them on different kinds of printers, or copy them to other applications. You can also display the pictures on your screen with the CDA Viewer application (see Chapter 5).

This chapter describes how to

• Start Paint
• Choose tools and menu items
• Draw lines and shapes
• Introduce patterns
• Choose colors (for color monitors only)
• Use the paintbrush
• Edit pictures
• Insert text
• Size the canvas
• Exit Paint

Starting Paint

To start Paint, choose Paint from the Session Manager's Applications menu.

The Paint window appears, which contains a tool palette and a work area where you draw your picture.

The Paint window frames a portion of the canvas. At the bottom of the tool palette, you see this portion of the canvas in the bolded box that is enclosed in a larger box. To display different areas of the canvas, press MB1 in the bolded box and drag until the box is in the position you want. Alternatively, you can use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to move about the canvas.

Learning the Basics

Paint is a bitmap graphics application, which means that it treats pictures as a collection of dots called pixels. Different drawing tools, such as the Pencil, the Paintbrush, and the Text tool, edit the color of the pixels to create a pattern. Because the canvas has so many pixels in every square inch, you do not actually see patterns of dots. Instead you see a collection of lines, shapes, and text.

You can learn the basic steps in Paint by modifying a sample picture called the Clock Tower.

To display the Clock Tower:

1. Choose Open... from the File menu.
   The Open dialog box appears with the names of the graphics files in your current directory.

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2. In the Selection entry box, enter the picture file name DECW$EXAMPLES:CLOCK.IMG. IMG is the standard format of a Paint file.
3. Click on OK. Paint displays the Clock Tower picture. You can now practice choosing tools and using some of the Paint menu items.

Choosing Tools

The tool palette offers a variety of art tools and basic shapes. You can work with the Pencil, the Paintbrush, the Spray Can, or the Paint Bucket. The shapes on the tool palette let you compose pictures quickly and easily.

When you first start Paint, the Paintbrush is highlighted, indicating that it is the current default. Only one tool on the tool palette is active at a time, and that tool remains active until you make another selection.

The tools are as follows, starting with the Box tool in the upper left corner of the tool palette:

To change the time on the Clock Tower, choose the eraser and delete the current time. To use the Eraser:

1. Click on the eraser in the tool palette.
2. Point to the center of the clock face. Press and hold MB1. The Eraser is now active in the window.
3. Gently drag the eraser along each hand of the clock, eliminating the current time.

Now, using the Line tool, draw in the current time:

1. Click on the Line tool in the tool palette.
2. Point to the center of the clock face and press MB1.
   The Line tool is now active, and one end of the line is anchored at the center of the clock. To stretch and swing the line from the center point, move the mouse.
3. Drag the pointer from the center of the clock to the current hour position. Once the line points to the correct time, release MB1.
4. For the minute hand, add a second line in the same manner.

If you make a mistake, choose Undo Line from the Edit menu.

Inverting an Image

To create a reverse image of a picture, choose the Invert menu item from the Edit menu.

To reverse the tones of the Clock Tower, switching the foreground color and the background color:

1. Click on the Box tool in the tool palette.
2. Select the Clock Tower by positioning the pointer outside one corner of the Clock Tower area and dragging the pointer over the image.
3. Choose Invert from the Edit menu. A reverse image of the original Clock Tower appears. For color images, the color of the reverse image depends on the arrangement of colors in the palette.

Saving a Picture

To save your version of the Clock Tower:

1. Choose Save As... from the File menu. The Save As dialog box appears.

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2. In the Selection entry box, type a file name using the form SYS$LOGIN:filename.IMG so that Paint saves the picture in your login directory.
3. Click on OK.

Printing a Picture

To print the Clock Tower, choose either Print or Print... from the File menu.

The first time you choose one of the Print menu items, Paint displays the Print dialog box. You can change Paint's default print formats. To see the printer options, click on Options... and change them if you want. Thereafter, the Print menu item sends the picture to the default printer, whereas Print... always displays the Print dialog box.

Erasing

You can erase in several ways:

• To erase selected portions of your drawing, use the Eraser tool.
• To erase an entire area, select the area using the Box tool or the Scissors tool. Then choose Cut from the Edit menu.
• To erase the entire visible portion of the canvas, choose Clear Window from the Edit menu.
• To erase the last action you made, choose Undo from the Edit menu. In the Edit menu, Undo is followed by the name of the tool you chose. For example, the Undo Line menu item appears when you choose the Line tool.

Drawing Lines and Shapes

The bottom half of the tool palette contains a collection of line and shape tools that you use in a similar way.

Whenever you draw a straight line or a shape, the point where you press MB1 becomes the reference point. You can stretch and swing the line or shape from this reference point by dragging the pointer. When the shape is correct, anchor it in place by releasing MB1.

Use the Polyline tool as follows:

• To end one line and start another, click MB1.
• To terminate the polyline, double click MB1.
• If you are back at the starting point of a figure, click MB1 once to close the figure.

To use the Freehand Stroke tool, press and drag MB1, then release MB1 when you finish drawing that particular line.

To draw a rectangle:

1. Click on the Rectangle tool.
2. Point to where you want one corner of the rectangle to be. Press MB1 and drag the pointer diagonally across the drawing surface until the rectangle has the width and height you want. (Notice how you can stretch and shrink the rectangle; you can even flip it over.)
3. To anchor the shape, release MB1.

To line up a series of shapes or draw them equidistant from each other, choose Grid On from the Options menu. A horizontal and vertical pattern of dots is superimposed on the drawing window.

The pattern of dots serves as a guide yet does not become part of your picture. One advantage to using a grid is that a grid makes geometric figures easier to draw because lines "snap into place" on the dots.

To change the size of the grid:

1. Choose Grid Size... from the Options menu. The Grid Size dialog box is displayed.
2. Press MB1 on the slider bar and drag to the number you want.
3. Click on OK.

Changing the Line Width

Lines drawn with the shape tools can be thick or thin. To change the current line width:

1. Choose Line Width... from the Options menu.
   The Line Width dialog box appears.

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2. Click on the line thickness you want.
3. Click on OK.

Most of the time, geometric shapes or figures are opaque; that is, you cannot see what lies behind them. Opaque figures are the default, as indicated by the shaded radio button next to the Opaque menu item on the Options menu. Choosing Transparent from the Options menu causes background images to show through foreground images. The Transparent and Opaque settings affect not only figures but images you move, as well as the output of the Spray Can, Paintbrush, and Text tools.

Using Patterns

Lines and shapes need not be solid colors. They can be striped, speckled, woven, dotted, and so on.

The line and shape tools, the Spray Can, and the Paintbrush can paint patterned lines.

To use patterned outlines or centers:

1. Choose Patterns... from the Options menu.
   Paint displays the Patterns dialog box, which contains a selection of designs that are a mixture of foreground and background colors. The default Outline Pattern is a solid foreground color. The Default Fill Pattern is a solid background color.

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2. Click on either the Outline Pattern or Fill Pattern radio button.
3. Click on any pattern.
   Notice that the pattern you click on is displayed in the Outline Pattern or Fill Pattern option box, indicating that it is the active pattern.
4. Click on OK.
5. Click on the tool you want to use. The Paintbrush, the Spray Can, and the Line use the outline pattern only. The Paint Bucket uses the fill pattern only. The geometric shape tools use both the outline pattern and the fill pattern.
6. After positioning the pointer in the drawing window, drag the pointer to create a patterned line or center.

To fill existing shapes using the Paint Bucket tool, click inside the shape you want to fill. You must enclose the shape; any opening in the border causes the paint to spill out onto the canvas. To erase the fill, choose Undo Flood from the Edit menu.

Filling works only on the visible part of the canvas. For example, if you attempt to flood the entire canvas, only the visible portion is affected.

Creating Your Own Patterns

With Paint, you can create your own patterns and store them in the pattern palette during a Paint session. You create your own pattern from any of the patterns on the palette except the solid foreground, solid background, and None patterns.

To create your own pattern:

1. Decide whether you want an outline or a fill pattern, then click on the appropriate radio button in the Patterns dialog box.
2. From the palette, choose a pattern that is closest to the design you want and click on it. Paint also provides a few blank patterns at the end of the palette so you can create your own patterns from scratch.
3. Choose Edit Pattern... from the Options menu.
   A dialog box appears, which contains two large option boxes.

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   In the left-hand box you see the pattern you chose from the palette. In the right-hand box you see the same pattern magnified.
   While you are editing a pattern, the Edit Pattern dialog box has input focus, and the pointer assumes the shape of a pencil.
4. In the Edit Pattern dialog box, edit the magnified version of the pattern (in the right-hand box) to create the effect you want.
   To draw over pixels or click on individual pixels, use the Pencil tool. When you click the Pencil on a pixel, that pixel inverts its color. The new color of the pixel becomes the pencil color, and until MB1 is released, all pixels you pass the Pencil over take on the color of the Pencil.
   For example, if you are working with a black-and-white canvas and you start the Pencil in a white area, the Pencil draws black until you release MB1, even if it passes through a black area. Conversely, if you start the Pencil in a black area, the Pencil draws white until you release MB1, even if it passes through a white area.
   To see how the magnified pattern looks under normal conditions, refer to the pattern shown in the left-hand box.

5. To complete the pattern and return to the drawing window, click on OK.

The edited pattern is available on the Patterns palette for the rest of the session, replacing the original pattern. You cannot recover the original pattern for that session.

Choosing Colors

If you have a color monitor, you can create pictures in your choice of colors.

To choose a color:

1. Choose Palette... from the Options menu. A basic spectrum of colors appears in the Palette dialog box, with black set as the default.
2. To choose one of the basic spectrum colors, click on the color.
3. To mix and choose other colors of your choice, choose Mix Color... from the Options menu. The Mix Color dialog box appears, with options for a wide range of colors.
   Complete the Mix Color dialog box as described in Using DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS.
4. To add a color from the Mix Color dialog box to your Paint palette, click on Add. The color appears as the default in the Palette dialog box and takes effect immediately.
5. To dismiss the Palette dialog box, click on OK.
6. To change paint colors quickly when you are working in your Paint window, click on the Dropper tool. Then click on the color you want from the colors you see currently in the window. The Dropper picks up that color. To proceed with the new color, click on any tool.