Difference between revisions of "Linux102-KDE"

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Here we can type commands to control items in your directory structure, most importantly for the web development exercises, permissions.
 
Here we can type commands to control items in your directory structure, most importantly for the web development exercises, permissions.
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=== Your "Home" directory ===
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You can access your home directory (something like My Documents on Windows) by clicking the Home icon [[Image:HomeIcon.png]] at the bottom of the desktop screen - your home directory should look something like this
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[[Image:Home1.png]]
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==== Essentials for CP1079====
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* Don't forget that you click once with the left mouse button to open/run something - right clicking brings up different menus.
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* If you don't have a directory called "public_html" here, right-click in the blank space, and click "Create New..." and then "Folder..." - this will prompt you to enter a name - make sure you enter exactly "public_html"
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* Right-click the "public_html" and select "properties", click the "Permissions" tab - you should see a menu that looks like this.
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[[Image:Home2.png]]
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* Make sure the Owner is set to "Can View and Modify Content" and that Group and Others are set to "Can View Content" so that your webpages can be seen

Revision as of 15:23, 18 January 2007

NOTE: KDE Single Click Default

By default, icons on the desktop and in file manager applications are run by clicking them once rather than double-clicking as per windows. This can come as a surprise to some novice users as each application/directory opens twice when they double-click. Remember, in KDE - clicking once is like double-clicking in Windows. If you want to make KDE behave more like windows with regards to clicking and such, have a look at Make KDE more like Windows - not yet written.

Just after login...

When you have logged in, you'll see a desktop that looks something like this

KDEDesktop1.png

Web browser (Firefox)

Along the top row of icons on the desktop is an icon for Firefox web browser Firefox.png - I suggest you use this browser unless you have a preference for an alternate browser - there are many different browsers installed on Linux in MI

Along the bottom of the screen there are many icons in the left hand corner, the first of which is the "Geeko"

"Geeko" (and alternate web browsers)

Gecko.png

The Geeko is like the "Start" button in MS Windows - click it and have a look at the applications in the different menus

Take a look at the Internet, the Web Browser menu to see all the different web browser applications installed.

Text Editors

Click on "Geeko" then Utilities, then Editor to see all the text editors installed on Linux - if you intend to use the KDE desktop, I recommend you use the "KATE" text editor. KATE is very similar to PSPad for those students who have taken the CP1082 module - it is a simple text editor with syntax highlighting, with a few tools for tidying up your HTML etc.

KATE

The main window looks like this:

BlankKate.png

Let's look at some of the things KATE shows you.

  • at the bottom of the screen, you can see "LINE" and "COLUMN" - this is the line number and column that the cursor is currently on - this will be invaluable in finding problems with your code.
  • one of the first things I do is turn on line numbering so that I can more clearly see when the problems are in my code - do this through the View menu or press F11 on the keyboard
  • i also like to change the highlighting colour for my current line to something more obvious - go to the Settings Menu, Configure Kate, Fonts and Colours to do this if you like

Below is a screenshot with line numbers turned on, and a different current line highlight colour:

KateFewOptions.png

The command line (Konsole)

The last of the basics is to discuss the command line, as you'll need this from time to time to quickly change, move, etc. things around in your directories. There are many different wasys to get a command line in Linux - as we're in KDE we'll look at the default called Konsole, but there are many others if you don't want to use Konsole, you can click on "Geeko", System, Terminal to look at the others - they all do the same thing at the end of the day.

Along the bar at the bottom of the screen is a computer symbol that looks like a black screen with a command prompt KonsoleLink.png - click this.

When the program starts it should look something like this:

Konsole1.png

Here we can type commands to control items in your directory structure, most importantly for the web development exercises, permissions.


Your "Home" directory

You can access your home directory (something like My Documents on Windows) by clicking the Home icon HomeIcon.png at the bottom of the desktop screen - your home directory should look something like this

Home1.png

Essentials for CP1079

  • Don't forget that you click once with the left mouse button to open/run something - right clicking brings up different menus.
  • If you don't have a directory called "public_html" here, right-click in the blank space, and click "Create New..." and then "Folder..." - this will prompt you to enter a name - make sure you enter exactly "public_html"
  • Right-click the "public_html" and select "properties", click the "Permissions" tab - you should see a menu that looks like this.

Home2.png

  • Make sure the Owner is set to "Can View and Modify Content" and that Group and Others are set to "Can View Content" so that your webpages can be seen