Red Hat System Administration I
Using an editor in a graphical desktop environment to change file content and move text between windows and files.
Objectives
After completing this section, students should be able to:
Edit text files with gedit.
Copy text between graphical windows.
Editing files with gedit
The gedit application is a full-featured text editor for the GNOME desktop environment. Launch gedit by selecting → → from the GNOME menu. Like other graphical applications, gedit can be started without navigating the menu. Press Alt+F2 to open the Enter a Command dialog box. Type gedit and press Enter.
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GNOME Help includes a gedit help guide, which may be found by selecting → → from the GNOME menu. Then select → to view the list of graphical applications. Scroll down to select the hyperlink.
Basic gedit Keystrokes
Perform many file management tasks using gedit's menu:
To create a new file in gedit, click the toolbar icon, or select → (Ctrl+n) from the menu.
To save a file, click the toolbar icon, or select → (Ctrl+s) from the menu.
To open an existing file, click the toolbar icon, or select → (Ctrl+o) from the menu. The Open Files dialog window will display from which users can locate and select the file to open.
Multiple files may be opened simultaneously, each with a unique tab under the menu bar. Tabs display a file name after being saved the first time.
Copying text between graphical windows
Text can be copied between documents, text windows, and command windows in the graphical environment. Selected text is duplicated using copy and paste or moved using cut and paste. Whether cut or copied, the text is held in memory for pasting into another location.
To select text:
Click and hold the left mouse button before the first character desired.
Drag the mouse over and down until all required text is in a single highlighted selection, then release the left button. Do not click again with the left button, as that deselects the text.
To paste the selection, multiple methods can accomplish the same result. In the first method:
Click the right mouse button anywhere on the text area just selected.
From the resulting context menu, select either or .
Move the mouse to the window or document where the text is to be placed, click the left mouse button to position where the text should go, and click the right mouse button again, now choosing .
Here is a shorter mouse technique to practice:
First, select the text.
Hover the mouse over the destination window and click the center mouse button, just once, to paste the text at the cursor.
This last method can only copy, not cut. The original text remains selected and can be deleted. As with other methods, the text remains in memory and can be repeatedly pasted.
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The keyboard shortcut method can also be used in graphical applications:
First, select the text.
Use Ctrl+x to cut or Ctrl+c to copy the text.
Click the location where the text is to be placed to position the cursor.
Use Ctrl+v to paste.
Note
Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v will not copy and paste within a terminal window. Ctrl+c will actually terminate the current running process within a terminal window. To copy and paste within a terminal window, use Ctrl+Shift+c and Ctrl+Shift+v.
