Common Software Commands
Introduction
Software is developing a common language in the form of commands.
Commands
Commands are words recognized by the computer to access functions.
Certain common commands appear in most software packages. You may
access commands by pulling down the menus of the software features.
FILE feature
The FILE feature offers the commands of NEW, OPEN, CLOSE, SAVE,
and PRINT. Clicking on a command either executes the command or offers
a dialogue box.
NEW: Enter the NEW command when you start a new file. A dialogue box
may appear to ask you to select a format for the new document.
OPEN: Access an existing document by clicking the command OPEN. A
dialogue box appears prompting you to select from a file of existing
documents. Once you select the document you want to open, click on the file
name, and OK or double click the file name to open the file.
CLOSE: To close or exit a file, click CLOSE. A prompt appears that
should ask if you want to save the document. Selecting the desired option
automatically executes the function and closes the file.
SAVE: To save a file, click SAVE. The computer automatically saves the
data to whatever drive you specify, hard drive or floppy disk and prompts
you to name the file before saving it. To save data to disks or alternate hard
drives in another format or to rename a file, click SAVE AS. . . and enter
the letter designator of the disk or alternate drive.
PRINT: To print hard copies of an open document, click PRINT. A
dialogue box appears asking if you want the entire document or a portion of
the document, and how many copies you require.
Common commands are not the only commands you will see offered the
FILE pull-down menu but, other commands may be program specific.
Familiarize yourself with the software in your computer.
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