Byte From the users viewpoint, this term is synonymous with a character, number, or special character.

Copy Within a program, a command on the Edit menu that places a duplicate of a selected object, graphic, or text on the clipboard. Accomplishes nothing unless the cursor is placed somewhere else and then execute the paste command also found on the Edit menu.

Cut Within a program, a command on the Edit menu that removes a selected object, graphic, or text to the clipboard. When used in conjunction with the paste command, this command moves data from one location to another. If this command is not followed by the paste command and another cut or copy command is initiated, the data is deleted.

Date Within a program, a continually updating marker that displays the contents of the computer’s clock as the date.
The date setting is used by the operating system to identify when files or folders are created or modified when viewed in a name (detail) mode..

Default The standard settings in a program, such as single-spaced and a one inch margin in a word processing document.

Document See file

Enhancements The act of altering text to conform to a better design standard or visual understanding. In other words, use of bold, underline, italics, fonts, etc. to make a document more understandable. Top

Environment Modules or applications in an integrated software program. ClarisWorks uses this term to emphasize a high degree of data flow capability between the programs six applications.

File A generic term for a collection of information. A file has a name and a format (determined by the user and the program that created it). There are two general types of files: programs, which you purchase to accomplish various kinds of work, and documents, which are created by programs. Documents can be text, graphics or combinations.

Floppy disk A 3 1/2 inch rigid plastic case containing a mylar donut coated with an emulsion having magnetic properties. The main advantage over the computer’s hard disk is that external storage device allows data to be transported from one computer to another. All disks are double-sided (recording capability on both surfaces) and offered in two capacities (720K in IBM format or 800K in Mac format or 1.44MB for either Mac or IBM)

Folder An icon that looks like a manila folder where documents, applications, and other folders are kept. Used to organize computer storage, analogous to organizing paperwork.

Font A set of letters or characters with a particular design. Fonts change from computer to computer based on the software installed.

Footer An area at the bottom of the page that contains information placed there by the user. This information is repeated on every page.

Format or Initialize To prepare a floppy disk for use on an IBM or compatible or a Macintosh.

Format The way numbers and text are displayed within a program.
Freeze The cursor becomes immovable on the screen and the keyboard is locked. Data in RAM is lost; data that has been saved on any disk medium is not affected. Top

Get Info/Properties A file-handling tool that supplies information.
Mac: When a file icon is selected and the Get Info command is chosen from the File menu, the Macintosh Operating System (OS) returns information about the file. When a program file is selected, the user can change the amount of RAM allocated to the program in the multitasking environment of the Mac OS.
IBM: When a file icon is selected and the Properties command is chosen from the File menu, Windows 95 Operating System (OS) returns information about the file.

Gigabyte Approximately 1,000,000,000 bytes or characters. Usually referred to by the term gig.

Hanging paragraph To extend the first line of a paragraph to the left of the remainder of the paragraph by using the the indent marker in reverse.
Example: If this sentence is considered a paragraph, then it is an example of a reverse indent where the word “example” is extended .

Hard Disk A computer’s filing cabinet that electronically stores all files and programs. Normally found enclosed in the computer’s case. The icon is represented by a rectangular box called the Macintosh HD found in the upper-right hand corner of the desktop (screen). Selecting this icon and using the Open command on the FILE menu opens its contents window. The main advantage of the hard disk over the flop disk is its greater storage capacity.

Hard copy A synonym for a printout.

Header An area at the top of the page that contains information placed there by the user. This information is repeated on every page.

Icons A graphic (pictorial) representation of an object. For example, the trash can on a Mac and the recycle bin on an IBM. These pictures are meant to be intuitive to the user.

Indent Markers Markers on the text ruler that indicates where lines of text begin on the left and end on the right of a page. These markers allows text in a paragraph to be indented from the margin.

Insert A command on the ClarisWorks File menu that places the contents of an unopened file or document into the currently open document being displayed. Top

Invisibles A non-printing formatting characters such as tab, spaces, returns, etc. which are not usually visible within the text in a document. When working with text within a document, the invisible characters should always be displayed.

Kilobyte 1,024 bytes. Usually referred to by the letter K.

Label Mac: This menu item in the Mac Operating System(OS) allows the user to color the folders or files selected.
IBM: On the IBM or compatibles, this term refers to the name of a disk (hard or floppy).

Local Area Network (LAN) A network composed of devices that are housed in close proximity to one another such as in one building or on a campus. Networking is the interconnecting of computer stations as well as selected input and output devices that allow many computer to access connected peripheral devices such as printers or other computers called servers. This interconnection permits the sharing of software, files, and peripheral devices.

Megabyte Approximately 1,000,000 bytes or characters. Usually referred to by the letter M.

Modem A hardware connection between a computer and a phone line that translates the digital computer data into an analog format that can be transmitted over a phone line and translates it back into computer data when the connection has been made. Modem is an acronym for modulator-demodulator

Multimedia The presentation of materials to the user which may include audio, video (still frame and motion), and text that is often interwoven in an interactive format.

Negative space The space within a document which is not used.

New The command on the File menu of a program that the creation of a new document.

Object An icon, frame, button, or graphic on the screen that can be selected, moved around, resized, or otherwise manipulated as a whole unit. Top

Open To make the contents of an application, document, or folder available for use. The Open command is found on the File menu.

Paste The command on the Edit menu that inserts a copy of what is on the clipboard into a document at the cursor location.

Peripheral A hardware device external to the computer system.

Preferences The option on the edit menu of the Mac Version of ClarisWorks that allows the user to change document defaults for a variety of miscellaneous options, such as Show Invisibles.

Primary storage see RAM
Print The options on the File menu that displays a Print dialog box for making printing choices when printing documents.

Random Access Memory (RAM) where programs that are running and current documents are housed. This temporary storage category allows the user to load a program, type a letter, etc. while data is being credited or modified. RAM is considered volatile because it required a constant source of power to maintain itself. Should power fail, the entire contents of RAM is lost forever.

Save The option on the File menu that places a copy of the current document on the disk currently in use.

Save As The options on the File menu that places a copy of the current document in a new place and/or with a new name determined by the user.

Scanner A computer peripheral device that copies text or graphics from paper and translates it through a program into a data format that can be used in a number of different other programs.

Secondary storage Computer hardware used to store and retrieve data and information, such as floppy disk drives, zip drives, or a hard disk drive Top

Select Objects or text that has been chosen by the user by dragging the mouse pointer over the object or text.

Show/Hide Rulers The command on the View (Window) menu that alternates between displaying and hiding the rulers in the various environments.
Show/Hide Tools An icon at the bottom of a ClarisWorks window that alternates between displaying and hiding the tool palette. The same command can also be found on the View (Window) menu.

Size A menu selection that contains options of sizes for the text selected.

Spell Checker Software that checks each word in the text against a list of correctly spelled words. When an error is detected, the spell checking software gives the user choices to determine the correct word.

Style A menu selection that contains options for text, such as bold or italics.

Thesaurus A command to assist the user in finding a synonym, an antonym, or related words.

View (Window) The menu that provides options to create new ways to display a document in a window. In ClarisWorks the document can be seen in multiple ways at the same time with each view displaying a different portion or layout of the document. Top