IBrowse² Documentation

Last Updated: 19th June 2003

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Drag & Drop is used throughout IBrowse² for a number of functions, from re-arranging the GUI, to aiding with browsing operations. The GUI chapter covers the procedures for re-arranging the GUI, leaving this section to cover the Drag & Drop operations that make IBrowse² nicer to use. Due to the range of the Drag & Drop permutations, this chapter has been split into two sections.

The first covers the main IBrowse² window, this is the main area for creating what is known as a "URL item", which is the name given to the graphic that appears attached to your mouse pointer when performing a Drag & Drop operation. This section contains all of the source elements (the elements that can be dragged), and the available destination dropzones (the area that they can be dropped).

The second section covers the rest of the IBrowse² windows, but due to the vast number of possible dropzone combinations, this area is not as in depth as the first. Instead, each of the windows that can create or accept a URL item via Drag & Drop has been listed simply providing you with a hint to the possibilities of the Drag & Drop. By clicking on one of the compatible source elements, you can drag it to an alternative location, and drop it into place over the highlighted dropzone.

The way the Drag & Drop behaves on your system will depend on your MUI settings, so your results may differ to those here. The settings used in these examples are shown in the image top right.

The Drag & Drop documented in this chapter is different to that described in the GUI chapter, in that you are not Drag & Drop'ing the actual GUI element, but the content of the element, which in 99% of cases is the URL (the remaining 1% would be the Browser Tab element when re-arranging them).

Source element: Fastlinks
Destination dropzones:

Location gadget
Display Area
Active Browser Tab
Inactive Browser Tab
New Browser Tab space

Procedure:
With the mouse positioned over the actual Fastlink button, click and hold the left mouse button and move the pointer towards one of the destination dropzones. As you do so, a new graphic will appear attached to the pointer with the Fastlink button title and URL listed. Once you reach your chosen destination dropzone, release the left mouse button and IBrowse² will continue as if the URL had been entered normally.

Note(s): n/a

(click on the image for a larger version)

Source element: Location Gadget
Destination dropzones:

Fastlinks
Display Area
Active Browser Tab
Inactive Browser Tab
New Browser Tab space

Procedure:
With the mouse positioned over the border of the Location gadget, click and hold the left mouse button and move the pointer away towards one of the destination dropzones. As you do so, a new graphic will appear attached to the pointer with the current web page title and URL listed. Once you reach your chosen destination dropzone, release the left mouse button and IBrowse² will continue as if the URL had been entered normally.

Note(s):

When dropping in the Fastlinks dropzone, the Specify title requester will open allowing you to set the Fastlink button title.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Source element: Browser Tabs (Active or Inactive)
Destination dropzones:

Fastlinks
Display Area
Location gadget
Gap between Browser Tabs / Ends of Browser Tabs (to re-arrange)
Out of window / Onto window border (to convert the tab into a window)

Procedure:
With the mouse positioned over the Browser Tab, click and hold the left mouse button and move the pointer away towards one of the destination dropzones. As you do so, a new graphic will appear attached to the pointer with the current web page title and URL listed. Once you reach your chosen destination dropzone, release the left mouse button and IBrowse² will continue as if the URL had been entered normally.

Note(s):

When dropping in the Fastlinks dropzone, the Specify title requester will open allowing you to set the Fastlink button title.
When re-arranging Browser Tabs, the dropzone indicator will appear at the end of the tab that the mouse is currently over. The position of the mouse will determine which end the dropzone indicator appears, and will show where the dragged tab will re-position itself when dropped.
Dragging the Browser Tab to the window border, or if the window is not full screen, out of the window, will convert the Browser Tab into a new IBrowse² window. The tab will be closed and the URL loaded directly into the new window.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Source element: Display Area Link or Imagelink
Destination dropzones:

Fastlinks
Display Area
Location gadget
Active Browser Tab
Inactive Browser Tab
New Browser Tab space

Procedure:
With the mouse positioned over a Link or an Imagelink in the Display Area, click and hold the left mouse button and move the pointer away towards one of the destination dropzones. As you do so, a new graphic will appear attached to the pointer with the URL listed. Once you reach your chosen destination dropzone, release the left mouse button and IBrowse² will continue as if the URL had been entered normally.

Note(s):

When dropping in the Fastlinks dropzone, the Specify title requester will open allowing you to set the Fastlink button title.
When dropping in the Display Area, the link will load just as if you had left clicked on the link in the normal manner.

Display Area Link or Imagelink Drag & Drop Options

(click on the image for a larger version)

If you start a Drag & Drop operation but you wish to abort it, clicking the right mouse button while in the process will cause it to abort and the Drag & Drop graphic to reset.

As explained in the Introduction, this section of the chapter will just list the possible source and destination windows that will create and accept a URL item when performed via a Drag & Drop operation. Source windows will just create a URL item by dragging the entry from the window, and as such does not have a detailed explanation. Destination windows will accept a URL item in one or more location, which is explained in simple terms. Although this does not sound very informative, the Drag & Drop is quite logical in that you can only drop a URL item on an area that you would normally enter a URL. IBrowse² can Drag & Drop across windows, be it from one IBrowse² browser window to another, or from an IBrowse² browser window to the Preferences window, etc.
Download Manager Source: No / Destination: Yes The Download Manager window will accept URL items in the Current downloads and the Queued downloads tabs. Dropping the URL item will commence or queue the file for download; if the Current downloads is already at the limit set for Preferences » Network » Max. simultaneous downloads then it will be automatically added to the Queued downloads tab.
URL Clipboard Manager Source: Yes / Destination: Yes The URL Clipboard Manager window will accept URL items in the main list. Dropping the URL item will add the URL to the clipboard and automatically save it if Preferences » General » Save URL Clipboard on change is enabled. A URL item will be created when dragging an entry from the window.
Browser History Source: Yes / Destination: No The Browser History window will create a URL item when an entry is dragged from the window.
Hotlist Manager Source: Yes / Destination: Yes The Hotlist Manager window will accept URL items in the main list. Dropping the URL item will add a new entry to the Hotlist, which can then be edited. If the URL item has a title it will be added along with the URL, otherwise the new entry will be added as (Untitled). A URL item will be created when dragging an entry from the window.
Global History Window Source: Yes / Destination: No The Global History Window will create a URL item when an entry is dragged from the window.
IBrowse Cache Explorer Source: Yes / Destination: No The ICE window will create a URL item when an entry is dragged from the window.
Preferences Source: Yes / Destination: Yes The Preferences window will accept URL items in various areas, such as the URL gadgets and/or lists in various sections, e.g. the GUI » Fastlinks preferences. Dropping the URL item will add a new entry to the relevant section, which can then be edited if required. If the URL item has a title it will be added along with the URL, otherwise the new entry will be added as (Untitled), where applicable. A URL item will be created when dragging an entry from the window, from an applicable area, e.g. the GUI » Fastlinks preferences.
	Currently, the URL Prefs will not accept an entry via Drag & Drop. This will be addressed in a future release of IBrowse.

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IBrowse² Documentation v2.3 © 2002, 2003 Dave Fisher ~ IBrowse² Development Team	Revision 1.0