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Opening a Document for Editing
Editing can take place at any time after you have created the document.
to do so, you need to open the file you created so you can work on it again.
You can use a word-processing program's Open command to open
a file, or you can use a file management program to find files on a disk.
In Windows, file names have extensions, such as .txt, .rtf, .doc, or .wpd,
although these extensions may be hidden from view. On a Macintosh
computer, documents are simply listed by file name.
Word-processing programs make editing easy. You can
add words simply by typing them. You can delete characters by pressing
the Delete or Backspace keys. Powerful features in these programs help
you do even more.
Insert and Overtype
Word-processing programs offer two ways of entering text. They are
called insert mode and overtype mode. When you work in insert mode,
new characters are inserted between existing ones. This mode lets you
add a new word to the middle of a sentence, for example.
In overtype mode, as you type new characters, they replace
any characters in front of them. In other words, overtype mode lets
you "type over" existing text. be sure to select the typing mode you
want or problems will occur.
The status bar at the bottom of the program window usually
shows what mode the program is using. Programs let you switch from one
mode to another using either the keyboard or the mouse. Some keyboards
have an Insert key to do this, too.
Selecting Text
Usually, people edit more than one character at a time. The select
text feature lets you highlight anything from a word to a whole document.
Then you can delete it, move it, copy it, or change its formatting.
To select text, simply drag the mouse over the text you
want. Some programs also let you select text by using the keyboard.
Selected text is highlighted on the screen; that is, it appears with a
different background color.
Cutting, Copying, and Pasting
Two common reasons for selecting text are cutting and copying.
Both actions place the text in the Clipboard.
The Clipboard
The Clipboard stores cut or copied text while you work. Once you close
the program or shut down the computer, items on the Clipboard are lost.
Some programs store only one item at a time, so cutting or copying new text
replaces what was held before. Some programs can hold many items on
the clipboard.
The Cut and Copy commands can be found in the Edit menu.
These commands also have icons on the Standard toolbar.
Pasting
Use the Paste command to relocate items stored on teh Clipboard.
Simply position the insertion point where you want the text to reappear.
Then click the Paste icon on the Standard toolbar or choose Paste from the
Edit menu. The cut or copied text appears where you want it.
Using Cut and Paste
Moving a sentence from the middle of a paragraph to the beginning can be
done by selecting and dragging it. You can use Cut and Paste to move
that sentence farther- for example, to another page- or to move text or a
graphic from one document to another document, and save the pasted text as a
new document.
Using Copy and Paste
Copying and pasting saves time when you need to repeat some text.
You can also copy and paste to bring a graphic from one document into
another.
Undoing and Redoing
Word-processing programs have commands that can undo or cancel an edit.
If you delete a word by mistake, you can use the Undo command to put it
back. Many programs also have a Redo command. You can use this
feature to put a change back in effect after canceling it with Undo.
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