Cut: To remove an item from one place to another, or to delete an item entirely; usually used with the Paste function

Desktop: The area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear [syn: background, screen background]

Default setting: A setting that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified

Dialog box: A window displayed on screen in response to selecting some menu option. It provides the user with the current status and available options for a particular feature in the program. Dialog boxes can be small or large, depending on the amount of information that must be conveyed.

Digitization: Conversion of an image, text, or signal into digital code by scanning, tracing on a graphics tablet or using an analog to digital conversion device

Double click: Click twice the left-side button on your mouse

Drive: A piece of software that enables a computer to communicate with a peripheral device. Examples include C (c:) drive for the computer’s hard drive, A: (a:) drive for the floppy disk drive, L (l:) drive for the EPC server, etc.

Drop-down menu: Also called a "pull-down menu" or "pop-down menu," the common type of menu used with a graphical user interface (GUI).

A menu title is displayed that, when selected by clicking it, causes the menu to drop down from that position and be displayed. Items are selected by highlighting the line in the menu and either clicking it or letting go of the mouse button.

Extensions: File types that are added to the end of DOS, Windows and OS/2 file names.

All programs and almost all data files use extensions, which are separated from the file name with a dot. For example, LETTER.DOC is a Word document. NOTEPAD.EXE is a text editor program that comes with Windows.

File type: The kind of file. All computer files are categorized by their contents, such as program files, text files, image files and so on. (see also "Extensions")

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language--The document format used on the World Wide Web. Web pages are built with HTML tags (codes) embedded in the text. HTML defines the page layout, fonts and graphic elements as well as the hypertext links to other documents on the Web.

Icon: In a graphical user interface (GUI), a small, pictorial, on-screen representation of an object, such as a document, program, folder or disk drive.

Image: 1) Anything on a document page that is not text; examples include pictures, maps, graphs, drawings, etc.

2) The picture produced on screen from a scanned document

JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg): Joint Photographic Expert Group--a graphic image file used for web pages

Minimize: To hide an application that is currently displayed on screen; the window is hidden and represented with an icon either on the desktop or in the taskbar

Maximize: To enlarge a window to its full size, or to reopen a minimized window

Parse: To convert from one format to another. The term is often used as a substitute for the word "convert" when continuous strings of text are scanned to find embedded format codes that must be changed.

Paste: After cutting or copying an item, use the Paste function to move the item to its new location

Right click: Press once the right-side button on your mouse

Shortcut icon: In Windows, a shortcut is a pointer to a program or data file. Shortcut icons can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders. Double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. However, deleting a shortcut does not remove the original.

Single click: Press once the left-side button on your mouse

Special characters: Non-alphabetic or non-numeric characters, such as @, #, $, %, &, * and +.

Text file (.txt): A file that contains data made up of ASCII characters. It is essentially raw text just like the words you’re reading now. Each byte in the file contains one character that conforms to the standard ASCII code.

TIFF: Tagged Image File Format--a graphic image file format

Toolbar: A row or column of on-screen buttons used to activate functions in the application. Some toolbars are customizable, letting you add and delete buttons as required.