Macintosh Learning Center Editorial
by Shell Weinberg

  December 2004    Don’t curse the cursor for its fickle faces

Today’s column will be of interest to those Mac users who go beyond Internet and email and actually use their computer for computer functions and work projects. As we all know, the cursor is inextricably connected to the mouse. You move the mouse and the cursor on your screen obediently moves in tandem.

The all-important cursor is called cursor, or arrow, or pointer, but is usually referred to as the arrow, or the pointer... because it appears in the shape of an arrow most of the time. It is the very tip of the arrow that is the hot spot that will activate buttons on mouseover/click, and also deposits items when using drag&drop, such as when dropping a file into the Trash.

However, the cursor can also display other symbols depending on the environment you are active in. Each cursor image is meant to be a visual clue helping you understand the working mode you may be in, or the situation on your screen.

When working in AppleWorks 6, OS X, the following cursor images will appear when using these programs:

Word Processing:
arrow, general pointing anywhere outside the gray working frame
I-beam, inside gray working frame, means in typesetting mode
flush left tab marker (default), when in lower part of Text Ruler
any other tab marker (3 more available), click on tab button
bar w/double arrows, will split screen, found on Scroll bars

Spreadsheet:
arrow, general pointing outside the working area
outlined cross, inside working area, means Spreadsheet mode
I-beam, inside text entry area, means in typesetting mode
bar w/double arrows, will change a column or row width/height
bar w/double arrows, will split screen, found on Scroll bars

Drawing:
arrow, general pointing
white hand (becomes grab hand), will move the Tool window
(in the Tool window)
click on Text tool... I-beam appears, drag to make WP frame
click on Spreadsheet tool... cross appears, make SS frame
click on Paint tool... paintbrush appears, make PT frame
inside PT frame... pencil appears, means in painting mode
click on Table creation tool... square form appears, make frame
arrow pointer button... click here to restore cursor to arrow shape
9 drawing tools... will show plus sign, drag to draw an image
eyedropper... eyedropper appears
bar w/double arrows, will split screen, found on Scroll bars

Painting:
arrow, general pointing
pencil (default), means you are in painting mode
each of the 8 paint tools has its own cursor symbol
bar w/double arrows, will split screen, found on Scroll bars

In addition to the above described cursor changes...
white hand w/finger pointing... on Internet, indicates web link
spinning colored pinwheel... computer is engaged in activity
spinning beach ball... computer is engaged in activity, be patient
wrist watch... computer is engaged in activity, be patient