Using the Program

You control Log mainly with the mouse, and also from the keyboard. It takes some time to get comfortable with the mouse in Log, but it will soon become second nature. There are three basic mouse motions you need to learn:

Tap

Press and release the left button on a spot. This should feel like tapping a key on a keyboard. The spot you are tapping is indicated by the cursor on the screen, usually a small arrow.

Press/Drag

Press down and hold the left button, move the cursor somewhere else, and release.

Rest

Press the right button and release. This is used to cancel operations like drawing wires.

Some Log functions appear right on the screen, so you can activate them just by tapping the word. Others are in "menus," which you get by pressing on one of the words Frills, Editing, Cursor, or Misc, then dragging to and releasing on the word you want. If you decide you didn't want the menu after all, just release on some other part of the screen.

Keyboard Commands

Log also has keyboard commands, though everything you really need as a novice can be found in on-screen menus. When you press a key for Log, be sure the cursor is in one of the Log windows (it doesn't matter which one). There are several features of the keyboard to notice:

Single Keys

Many commands appear on keys as well as menus, just for convenience. For example, you can press the letter "s" to do the same thing as Scope in the Misc menu.

Control-C

Press the Control key and the C key together to exit from any mode you may find yourself in. If you get lost and confused, press Control-C until you know where you are.

Space Bar

The space bar at most times means to refresh the screen. If the screen has gotten trashed by too much editing, press this key to clean it up. Log will also silently clean up the screen if you stop editing for a few seconds.

: Commands

You can give full-word commands by pressing the : key, then typing the command. This is sometimes more convenient; for example, typing :Load foobar is faster than selecting Load from the Misc menu, then typing the file name foobar.

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