Using HP VUE

Introduction

HP VUE is a graphical environment and a set of applications for interacting with your computer. It features the following:

• Windows and Workspaces: Windows are containers on the screen for applications; they let you run more that one application at a time. Workspaces provide a way to make a single display seem like several displays. Each workspace occupies the entire display and you switch from one workspace to another using a control. It's as though your display had several layers you can shuffle.
• Icon-Based File Management: Files are represented by icons that can be selected and moved on the display.
• Front Panel and toolboxes for easy access to applications.
• Online help.
• Session Management: HP VUE remembers which applications you were running when you logged out and restarts them the next time you log in.
• Customization of colors, fonts, window behavior and other aspects of the appearance of your workstation.
• Text and icon editor.
• Multimedia applications for annotating files.

Logging In and Out

First, make sure that you have an account on the HP server. Talk to your professor or the site specialist if you do not have one.

On the HP login screen, place the cursor at the login box then type in your login. Press [ENTER] or move the cursor to the password box then type in your password. The screen should then change and start your HP VUE session. If not, make sure that you entered the correct login name and password (note that passwords are case sensitive). If you still cannot login, see the consultant.

To log out, click on the EXIT Icon in the Front Panel.

The Front Panel

Once your in the HP VUE, you will see a bar at the bottom of the screen that contains several icons and symbols. This bar is called the Front Panel. It provides a central location for information and applications you use frequently.

The Front Panel has several parts:

1. The Clock
2. The Date Display
3. The Load Display: located to the left of the Date Display, this shows workstation activity
4. The Style Manager: located to the left of the Load Display. This is the icon having a painter's palette and 3 "T"s among others. This allows you to customize your working environment.
5. The Help Manager: located to the left of the Style Manager. This is the icon that shows a set of books and when clicked invokes the Help Manager.
6. Workspace Switch: is the set of 6 rectangular buttons which usually have "ONE, TWO,...,SIX" written on them. This let's you move from one workspace to another.
7. Printer: beside the Workspace Switches, displays the job status of the system default printer.
8. Mailer: found to the right of the Printer Icon. It shows a stamped and addressed envelope. This starts the electronic mail application.
9. File Manager: the steel cabinet icon to the right of the Mailer. It invokes the File manager.
10. Toolbox: is represented by the icon containing a triangle, calculator and compass. This opens your Personal Toolbox.
11. Trash can: to the right of the Toolbox.
12. Lock: the padlock icon located beneath the Load Display, locks the screen when clicked. To resume the session, you need to enter the login password.
13. Rename Workspace: looks like a small set of 6 rectangles located to the right of the Lock Icon. This allows you to give names to your workspaces other than "ONE, TWO, ..., SIX".
14. Terminal Emulator: the small computer icon beneath the Style Manager Icon. This starts a terminal emulator (hpterm) window, providing access to a command line prompt.
15. Text Editor: located to the right of the Terminal Emulator Icon, starts Text Editor.
16. Logout: The icon beneath the Toolbox icon that has "EXIT" written on it. This starts the logout process.
17. Progress light: the icon at the lower right corner of the Front Panel blinks when an activity (such as a new window opening) is in progress.

Explore Your Workspace

For first time users, take time to check out the different features of the Front Panel and your workspace in general by clicking on the various icons and finding out what they do and what where is. This is the best way to become familiar with your workstation.

Getting Help

HP VUE provides online access to hundreds of help topics. There are several means of getting these topics:

• Press F1 — also known as the help key — to get context-sensitive help.
• Choose a command from the application's Help menu.
• Open the Help Manager from the Front Panel to browse all the available help.

Hyperlinks are commonly used in help windows. Any text in a help window that is displayed with an underline is a hyperlink. Choosing a link with the mouse or keyboard immediately jumps to another related topic. A solid underline indicates a standard jump. A dashed underline indicates a definition link, which displays a pop up definition window.

Customizing Your Environment

You can customize your working environments to suit your particular preference. You can change the font, color, background, modifying mouse behavior, etc. of your work area through the Style Manager. To run Style Manager, click on the Style Manager Icon in the Front Panel.

Some Common Tasks

1. To move from one window to another within one workspace, simply move the mouse pointer to the window you want to use. The target window will automatically surface and be active.
2. To copy text from one window to another, place the mouse pointer at the beginning of the block of text you want to copy. Press the left mouse button and then, while keeping this button pressed, move the mouse to highlight the text you want to copy. Then, move the mouse pointer into the window where you want to copy the text and then press the middle button of the mouse.