The scenarios in this section cover full details of Edit commands. The Edit menu contains commands for manipulating gradebook data during editing.
2.10.1. Undo
When the user selects Undo from the Edit menu, the system undoes the effect of the most recently executed editing command on the given Gradebook. These editing commands consist of adding, cutting, copying, pasting, or deleting text from a data cell of the Gradebook. Repeated successive invocations of 'Undo' will undo successively earlier editing commands.
2.10.2. Redo
When the user selects Redo from the Edit menu, the system redoes the most recently undone editting command. Repeated successive invocations of 'Redo' will redo successively earlier undone commands. Once the end of saved undo history has been reached, the Redo command will no longer affect the Gradebook.
2.10.3. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete
Operating systems typically provide a "clipboard" area through which cut and paste editing commands operate. This clipboard holds values that are cut, copied, and pasted in tools such as the Grader. Hence, the Grader Cut, Copy, and Paste commands operate through such a clipboard.
To execute the Cut or Copy command, the user must first select a segment of text in a text box. Text selection is performed using click and drag with the mouse, or by other environment-specific means such as double or triple clicking in a text box.
After text selection, when the user selects the Cut command from the Edit menu, the system removes the selected text from the edit box and copies the text into the clipboard. When the user selects the Copy command, the selected text is copied to the clipboard, but is not removed from the display in which it is selected and the text remains selected. A particular segment of selected text is unselected by selecting another text segment or by single-clicking the mouse anywhere in the Grader interface. Other environment-specific means of unselecting text may be available.
The Cut command can only be executed in the context of a display where the text boxes are editable. Often times this can be the individual cells of a Gradebook. In contrast to Cut, the Copy command can be executed in any dialog in which text boxes appear, including read-only text boxes.
To execute the Paste command, the user must first execute a Cut or Copy and then place the typing cursor within some editable text box. After these steps, when the user selects the Paste command from the Edit menu, the text stored in the clipboard is inserted at the point of the typing cursor, as if it had been entered by the user from the keyboard. Pasted text appears in normal font, i.e., it is not highlighted as selected text.
To execute the Delete command, the user must first select a segment of text in a text box. This can be done in a similar way to Cut and Copy.
After text selection, when the user selects the Delete command from the Edit menu, the system removes the selected text from the edit box. The text is not saved to the clipboard.
If the user attempts to execute a Cut or Copy command without first selecting text, the commands have no effect. If the user attempts to execute a Paste command without having executed either a Cut or Copy, the Paste command has no effect. The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands operate only on plain text strings within a single displayed text box.
The use of the clipboard for communication between the Grader Tool and the outside operating environment depends on the capabilities of the environment. Specifically, the environment must support the insertion and removal of plain text to and from the clipboard. If this requirement is met, and the operating environment permits inter-tool clipboard communication, then plain text copied to the clipboard from a another tool can be pasted in the Grader Tool using Paste. Similarly, plain text cut or copied in the Grader Tool can be pasted or otherwise accessed as plain text in another tool, via the clipboard.
2.10.4. Select All
When the user selects Select All from the Edit menu, all currently displayed editable data is selected. This efficient method of selecting all text fields can be used in conjunction with other Edit commands to easily cut, copy, past, or delete all cells.