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## User Interface and Operation

SISCAD-P has an icon-oriented graphical user interface.For the user this means that the standard input device is the mouse. With the mouse all system functions and alphanumerical inputs can be activated. For the design of the user interface of SISCAD-P the latest findings with regard to ergonomical design and intuitive operating have been considered. The Window-System, on which SISCAD-P bases, is OSF/Motif, a standard in the UNIX-world.
The graphic area requires the major part of the available space at the standard menu. The icon header above contains functions, with which different modi, information menus and other objects of general importance are executed. The right column contains all icons for the operation and control of the CAD commands. The icons are to be understood as a kind of button,which has to be pressed (clicking with the left mouse button) to execute the corresponding function.
The mouse is the most important input device for the user. With it functions are selected, information is recalled and geometry is created. By moving the mouse the cursor moves on the screen. Clicking of a mouse button executes a certain action depending on the respective position of the cursor. Basically the operation of the window system, i.e. the touching, dragging or dropping of windows is done with the left mouse button.
The following rules apply for the SISCAD-P user interface: