GLOSSARY FOR WORD PROCESSING
ASCII:
It stands for
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This is a world wide
standard. All computers in the world use this code.
A WORD:
A word to a
computer is the characters that make up the word and then a space at the end of
the word. A word is not a complete computer word until you put the space at its
end. This is probably different from what you learned in grade school, where
spaces were put between words. Also a word at the end of a sentence is not a word
until you put a period and a space.
BACKUP:
This is when you
make a copy of your master disk to a backup disk, so if something happens to
your master disk; you have not lost all the files that are saved on the master
disk.
COMMANDS:
Commands are operations
the computer will perform for you. Examples are Save, Open and Print. With
Windows you can select a command by clicking an icon with the mouse on the Tool
Bar, or click on File on the menu bar.
- Save: the process of writing the contents of
a file or document to a floppy disk or hard drive.
- Save
As: Use this command
when saving a file for the first time, or changing the name of an exiting
document.
- New: the process of starting a new file or
document.
- Print: the process of making a paper copy of
your document or file.
- Open: the process of reading a file already
saved on your floppy or hard drive to your desktop (screen), so you can
work on it. Open also means to start a program.
- Cut: The process of removing a part of
your text from a document.
- Copy: The process of copying a part of your
text from a document.
- Paste: The process of pasting a part of a
text that you have either cut or copied from a document to another part of
the document.
- Bold: The process of making a word,
sentence, or entire document in bold face.
- Underline: The process of making a word,
sentence, or entire document underlined.
- Center: The process of centering text on the
computer screen.
- Close: The process of closing a document on
the computer screen.
- Exit: The process of removing software from
the random access memory of the computer.
CD/ROM DRIVE:
For holding CD/ROM
disks (Compact Disk/Read Only Memory) commonly called the “D” drive. Many
computer programs now come on a CD/ROM disk.
COMPUTER STORAGE
UNITS:
There are several
different kinds of computer storage units such as:
- A 31/2 Floppy disk: This refers to the
31/2 inch floppy diskette. A storage device that is portable. The sliding
metal part goes in first, with the little round wheel of the disk goes
down.
- A folder on the hard disk drive, which
is sometimes called the local disk.
- A folder on a Flash drive, which is
sometimes called a removable disk.
- A Compact Disk CD/W, CD/R-W, A DVD
- And of course some others like a flash
card from a digital camera.
CURSOR:
The curser is the
little blinking vertical line on your screen. The cursor tells you where the
next character (letter) will be inserted when you type it in from the keyboard.
The cursor has other names like: insertion point and place marker. Actually the
cursor marks the insertion point on the text screen.
DESKTOP:
The screen of your
monitor that displays some of your applications software icons...and is called
the desktop.
DOCUMENT:
A document is typed
in text to a computer monitor screen using word processing software. This text
is temporarily residing in the memory (Random Access Memory-RAM) of the
computer. To preserve this document, it must be saved to one of several
computer storage units such as:
- A folder on the hard drive (local disk)
- A folder on a flash drive
- A floppy disk: This refers to the 31/2
inch floppy diskette. A storage device that is portable. The sliding metal
part goes in first, with the little round wheel of the disk goes down.
- A CD
In the process of
being saved, the document is given a proper file name that describes the text
on the document. After the document is saved it is referred to as a text file
or just file.
FILE:
A file is a text or
graphics document that has been saved with a file name to a proper folder in a
computer storage unit. A file can be plain text, plain graphics or a
combination of text and graphics. Note that music can also be saved to a folder
on computer storage units.
FLOPPY DISK DRIVE:
The floppy disk
drive is where you insert the floppy disk. Commonly called the “A” drive.
FOLDER:
A named space on a
computer storage unit used to save files. There is one folder that is created
when the computer is assembled. It is called My Documents. Computer users
create many different folders on different storage units to accommodate their
files in an organized manner.
FORMATTING:
Getting a floppy
disk ready to have files (documents) saved to it. You can format a disk by
right clicking on the 31/2 floppy icon.
HARD DRIVE:
A storage device
inside your computer for holding and saving software and the files you create.
It is usually identified as the “C” drive.
I-BEAM:
The I-Beam is the
presence of the mouse when it is in the Text area of the word processing
screen. Notice when you move the mouse the I-Beam moves around the screen.
However if you move the I-Beam up into the top of the word processing screen,
notice it turns into an arrow. This is so you can select a command from the
many possibilities from the menu or tool bars.
ICONS:
Icons are the
small-labeled pictures you see on your desktop. The technical name for icons is
desktop objects.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard is an
input device.
Keyboard Keys of
Special Importance
- Enter
Key: A key that is on
the right side of the main keyboard and on the right side of the number
pad. It is used frequently to make the computer go to the next operation.
I call it the Go key.
- Backspace
Key: A key that is in
the upper right corner of the main keyboard that is used to erase the
character to the left of the cursor. It has an arrow on the top like so ←
- Delete
Key: A key that is in
between the main keyboard and the number pad. It is used to erase the
character to the right of the cursor.
- Ctrl
Key (Control Key): A
key that is in the lower left corner of the main keyboard that is used to
do special operations.
- Esc
Key (Escape Key): A
key that is in the upper left corner of the keyboard that is used to do
special operations as follows. Hold the Ctrl key down and without
releasing it peck the Esc key. This will display the Start menu. This key
will also clear the screen of any menus.
- Arrow
Keys: There are four
keys located on the lower right side of the keyboard that is used to move
the cursor.
- The
Microsoft flag key:
There are two Microsoft flag keys, one on each side to the space key. They
open the main menu.
- Shift
Key: Used to
capitalize letters and to get the symbols on the number keys and other
keys that have a symbol.
- Caps
Lock Key: Used to make
all the letters in a capital format.
- Tab
Key: Used to jump 5
spaces in your word processing document, or jump to the next field when
filling out a form.
- Alt
Key: Used in
combination with another key to perform some operation. Not used much
anymore.
- Space
Bar Key: This is the
long key at the bottom of the mail key board. It is used to make a space
in your document between words.
- Insert
Key: In some word
processors, pecking the Insert Key can put you in “overtype” mode. Pecking
the Insert Key will return you to the “insert” mode. You will normally
want the insert mode. When in overtype mode, what you type will wipe out
any existing text that gets in the way.
- The
function keys: These
keys at the top of the keyboard are used mostly to initiate powerful
commands. Not used much any more.
MOUSE:
The mouse is an
input device. It appears on the screen as either an arrow or a beam depending
on what part of the screen it is located. If it is out of a text area it
appears as an arrow. If it is in a text area it appears as a beam. On browser
software the mouse may appear as a pointing hand. Also the mouse has two
buttons on the top. When the instructions say click it means click with the
left button. Right clicking with the mouse usually brings up a new menu so you
can make a selection. The selection is then made by clicking with the left
button.
MOUSE ACTIVITIES:
- Point: Pointing is sliding the mouse arrow
over an icon or other kind of a button on the screen that you might want
to select or choose.
- Point
and Click: Placing the
mouse arrow over an icon or button and pecking the left mouse button.
- Single
Click: One peck on
either the left or right mouse button with either your index or middle
finger respectively. Left clicking is usually done to select something
like a menu to be used later. However as you may already know there are
exceptions to this.
- Right Clicking: The response to right clicking always
produces a menu. The response to right clicking is sometimes slow.
- Double
Click: Two pecks with
your index finger on the left mouse button on an Icon on the screen
(desktop). This is usually done to open application software. The response
is almost immediate.
- Drag: Means to put the mouse arrow on a
scroll bar or icon. Then press and hold the left button down, and while
holding the button down, move the mouse. The scroll or icon on the screen
will move to a new location. You can also drag across text to highlight
the text.
- Drag
and Drop: Means to put
the mouse arrow on a scroll bar or icon. Then press and hold the left
button down, and while holding the button down, move the mouse. The scroll
bar or icon on the screen will move to a new location. When you get to the
location desired left up you finger from the mouse button. That will drop
the scroll bar or icon where have you put it.
PARTS OF AN
APPLICATION PROGRAM
All applications
software have a main screen. On this main screen are normally a Title Bar, a
Menu Bar, a Tool Bar and a Task bar, and a text area where you prepare your
document. Each of these are described below.
- Title
Bar: Located at the
very top of the main screen and contains the title of the software and
document.
- Menu
Bar: Located at the
top of the main screen. A series of commands that can be started with a
click.
- Tool
Bar: A series of icons
located below the menu bar. The icons can be clicked to start commands.
- Task
Bar: A bar at the
bottom of your main screen listing the programs that are active on of your
desktop. The Task Bar also contains the Quick Launch Toolbar.
- Text
Area: This is where
you type in your document.
- Ruler: Shows the right and left margins of
the screen
- Vertical
Scroll Bar: Makes the
screen go up and down when there is more than one screen full.
- Horizontal
Scroll Bar: Makes the
screen go back and forth if the text is wider than the screen.
RAM (Random Access
Memory)
This is temporary
storage on a computer. When doing word processing, it stores your file
(document). When you turn off the computer all that is in RAM is lost. RAM also
stores your applications software (like Microsoft Word) until you turn off the
computer. The main permanent storage unit for you all your applications
software is on the hard drive.
READING:
The contents of
what you have typed into a computer applications program and/or saved on a
storage device such as a floppy disk or hard drive.
WRITING:
The process of
posting a file to a floppy disk or hard disk.