Figure 6.1: The IDE screen immediately after startup
After start up, the screen of the IDE can look like figure (6.1).
At the top of the screen the menu bar is visible, at the bottom the status bar. The empty space between them is called the desktop.
The status bar shows the keyboard shortcuts for frequently used commands, and allows quick access to these commands by clicking them with the mouse. At the right edge of the status bar, the current amount of unused memory is displayed. This is only an indication, since the IDE tries to allocate more memory from the operating system if it runs out of memory.
The menu provides access to all of the IDE’s functionality, and at the right edge of the menu, a clock is displayed.
The IDE can be exited by selecting ”File—Exit” in the menu 1 or by pressing Alt-X.
Remark If a file fp.ans is found in the current directory, then it is loaded and used to paint the background. This file should contain ANSI drawing commands to draw on a screen.
1”File—Exit” means select the item ’Exit’ in the menu ’File’.