This chapter contains:
To install applications that came from your system's manufacturer, the administrator of your system must use the Software Manager. See “Installing Applications” in the Personal System Administration Guide for information. To install software from other vendors, see the instructions that came with the software.
You can find applications that are installed on your system in one of several ways:
Use the Icon Catalog. It shows collections of applications and tools that are available on your system. To open the Icon Catalog, click the words Icon Catalog now, or choose an item from the Icon Catalog menu on the Find toolchest.
See the Help menu on the Icon Catalog for information on using the tool.
Use the Search tool to find the application icon. To open the Search tool, click the words Search tool now, or choose “Files” from the Find toolchest.
See the Help menu on the Search tool for information on using the tool.
If you know the name of the application, choose “an Icon” from the Find toolchest in the text field below the “As User” label. type the application name in the window that appears. The application icon appears in the drop pocket to the left of the type-in field. Click the Help button on the Find an Icon window for more details.
This section lists three techniques for running applications: double-clicking icons, using the “Open Icon” command, and dragging and dropping icons. Also see “Saving Your Desktop Layout.” It describes how to make applications start up automatically when you log in.
The easiest way to run an application is to place the cursor over the application icon in the text field below the “As User” label. double-click with the left mouse button. If you use an application frequently, drag the icon onto the desktop so it is easily accessible. See also “Giving Yourself Easy Access to Icons.”
You can run an application by using the “ Open Icon” command on the Selected menu.
Place the cursor over the icon in the text field below the “As User” label. click the left mouse button to select the icon. The icon turns yellow when it's selected.
Choose “Open Icon” from the Selected menu on the window that contains the icon. If the icon is on the desktop, choose “Open Icon” from the Selected toolchest.
Dragging and dropping icons allows you to pick both the file and the application that you want to open.
Place the cursor over the icon of the file you want to view or edit. The icon brightens slightly when the cursor is above it.
Press and hold down the left mouse button. The icon turns yellow.
Drag the cursor and icon until they are over the application icon. The icon travels with the cursor, leaving behind a gray outline.
When the application icon turns blue, release the mouse button.
The icon you dragged returns to its original location. The application runs and the file opens.
 | Note: If the application icon doesn't turn blue when you drag an icon on top of it, click once on the application icon, then try dragging and dropping again. If the icon still does not turn blue, the system can't perform the operation. For example, a folder icon won't turn blue if you drag a file onto it but do not have permission to write to that directory. |
Some applications let you specify the mode in which you want them to run. You do so by specifying a command line option. You usually type command line options into a shell window. This section describes how you can specify a command line option without using a shell window.
For example, to run IRIS Showcase, the drawing and presentation package that came with your system, in view-only mode:
Place the cursor over the IRIS Showcase icon, press the < Alt> key, and double-click the left mouse button.
A form appears. The text that appears is the IRIX command required to run the application.
Type the command line option after the text in the text field below the “As User” label. click the Accept button or press < Enter>. In this example, you add -v to the end of the line.
Many applications offer command line options. Refer to the man pages to find out available command line options for a particular command.
If your workstation is part of a network, you can use applications that are stored on another workstation. To do this, use the Open Remote Directory form or use a shell window.
To open the Open Remote Directory form, click the words Remote Directory now, or choose “Remote Directory” from the Desktop toolchest.
To access an application from a remote system:
In the text field below the “Open Remote Directory” label, .type the full pathname of the remote directory that contains the application.
In the text field below the “On Host” label, tpe the name of the remote system.
In the text field below the “As User” label, type a user name.
You need to type in the name of a user who has a login account on the remote system. If you do not have an account on the remote system, or don't know another account name, try guest. If the account has a password, you will be prompted to type in the password.
After you have filled in the above information, click the Ok button.
A Directory View of the remote directory appears on your screen.
Double-click the application icon to open the application.
The application window appears on your desktop.
If your workstation is part of a network, you can use applications that are stored on another workstation. To do this, you can log in to the other workstation in the text field below the “As User” label. tell the application to display its windows on your workstation screen.
Open a shell window by choosing “Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest. When you see a red outline, click the left mouse button to place the window.
Place the cursor in the shell window, then type:
rlogin workstationname -l guest
Then press <Enter>.
After a few seconds, you see a message in the shell window that tells you the name of the workstation you logged in to, the version of software it is running, and some copyright information.
Note: If the workstation you are logging in to is in a different domain, you need to specify the domain name. For example, if you are logging in to a workstation named ambrosia, and it is part of a domain named bldg2, you need to type ambrosia.bldg2. Set the DISPLAY environment variable by typing:
setenv DISPLAY yourworkstationname:0.0
The DISPLAY environment variable specifies which workstation screen will display the program.
Type printenv to make sure DISPLAY is set properly.
You should see a line similar to this:
DISPLAY=yourworkstationame:0.0
Type the program name into the shell window in the text field below the “As User” label. press <Enter>.
Note: The command you type may be different from the full program name. For example, to run IRIS Showcase you type: showcase The program should appear on your screen.
When you are finished working with the application and want to log out of the other workstation, type:
exit
Then press <Enter>.
When your system starts getting low on disk space, you may want to review the list of software products that are currently installed.You may no longer need certain products, or you may discover that some products include large, optional subsystems that you can remove without removing the core product. See “Removing Optional Software” in the Personal System Administration Guide for information.
The Icon Catalog shows collections of applications and tools that are available on your system. You can also use the Icon Catalog to create your own collection of icons. For example, suppose you use a suite of tools to create 3D models. You can place them all on a page in the Icon Catalog so they are easily accessible.
To open the Icon Catalog, click the words Icon Catalog now, or choose an item from the Icon Catalog menu on the Find Toolchest. See the Help menu on the Icon Catalog for information on using the tool.
Some applications support a global copy and paste mechanism. This means you can copy and paste text, sound, images, and more from one application to another. For example, suppose you want to copy an image from an IRIS Showcase[tm] page and place it onto the InPerson[tm] whiteboard. You can do so using the “Copy” and “Paste” commands on the Edit menu or the middle mouse button.
To use the “Copy” and “Paste” commands on the Edit menu:
Select the image on the IRIS Showcase page.
The image is surrounded by green selection boxes when it's selected.
Choose “Copy” from the Edit menu in IRIS Showcase.
Choose “Paste” from the Edit menu in the InPerson window.
The image appears on the whiteboard.
To copy the image using the middle mouse button:
Select the image on the IRIS Showcase page.
The image is surrounded by green selection boxes when it's selected. This object is called the “primary selection” because it is the most recent selection.
Before clicking the left mouse button or making another selection, place the cursor over the InPerson whiteboard, then click the middle mouse button.
The image appears on the whiteboard.