path: root/tde-i18n-en_GB/docs/tdebase/kcontrol/index.docbook

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<!ENTITY % British-English "INCLUDE"> <!-- change language only here -->
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<book lang="&language;">
<bookinfo>
<title>The &kcontrolcenter;</title>

<authorgroup>
<author><firstname>Michael</firstname> <surname>McBride</surname> <affiliation><address><email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></address></affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

<date>2002-02-02</date>
<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>

<abstract>
<para>This documentation describes &kde;'s control centre.</para>
</abstract>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>kcontrol</keyword>
<keyword>configuration</keyword>
<keyword>settings</keyword>
<keyword>module</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>

<chapter id="introduction">
<title>The &kcontrolcenter;</title>

<para>The &kcontrolcenter; (from now on referred to simply as <quote>the control centre</quote>) provides you with a centralised and convenient way to configure all of your &kde; settings. </para>

<para>The control centre is made up of multiple modules. Each module is a separate application, but the control centre organises all of these programs into a convenient location. </para>

<tip>
<para>Each control centre module can be executed individually </para>

<para>See section entitled <link linkend="control-center-run-indiv">Running individual control centre modules</link> for more information. </para>
</tip>

<para>The control centre groups the configuration modules into categories, so they are easy to locate. Within each category, the control centre shows all the modules in a list, so it is easier to find the right configuration module. </para>
</chapter>

<chapter id="control-center">
<title>Using The &kcontrolcenter;</title>

<para>This next section details the use of the control centre itself. For information on individual modules, please see <link linkend="module">Control Centre Modules</link> </para>

<sect1 id="control-center-starting">
<title>Starting the &kcontrol;</title>

<para>The &kcontrolcenter; can be started 3 ways: </para>

<orderedlist> 
<listitem>
<para>By selecting <menuchoice><guimenu>K Button</guimenu><guimenuitem>Control Centre</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the &kde; Panel. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>By pressing <keycombo action="simul">&Alt;<keycap>F2</keycap></keycombo>. </para>

<para>This will bring up a dialogue box. Type <userinput><command>kcontrol</command></userinput>, and click <guibutton>Run</guibutton>. </para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>You can type <command>kcontrol &amp;</command> at any command prompt. </para>
</listitem> 
</orderedlist> 

<para>All three of these methods are equivalent, and produce the same result. </para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="control-center-screen"> 
<title>The &kcontrolcenter; Screen</title>

<para>When you start the control centre, you are presented with a window, which can be divided into 3 functional parts. </para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject> <imagedata fileref="screenshot.png" format="PNG"/> 
</imageobject>
<textobject> <phrase>Screenshot</phrase> </textobject>
<caption>
<para>The &kde; Control Centre Screen</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot> 

<para>Across the top is a menubar. The menubar will provide you with quick access to most of &kcontrolcenter;'s features. The menus are detailed in <link linkend="control-center-menus">The &kde; Control Centre Menus</link>. </para>

<para>Along the left hand side, is a column. This is a where you choose which module to configure. You can learn how to navigate through the modules in the section called <link linkend="module-intro">Navigating Modules</link>. </para>

<para>The main panel shows you some system information. </para>

<para>In this example, we are running &kde; 2.99, we started &kcontrolcenter; as user <systemitem class="username">adridg</systemitem>, the computer is named <systemitem class="systemname">aramis</systemitem>, it is a FreeBSD system, Version 4.4-RELEASE, on a Pentium. </para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="control-center-menus">
<title>The &kcontrol; Menus</title>

<para>This next section gives you a brief description of what each menu item does. </para>

<sect2 id="control-center-menu-file">
<title><guimenu>File</guimenu> Menu</title>

<para>The <guimenu>File</guimenu> menu has a single entry. </para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><shortcut> <keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo> </shortcut> <guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<action>Closes the control centre.</action>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="control-center-menu-view">
<title><guimenu>View</guimenu> Menu</title>

<para>These options determine how the module selection looks and behaves. </para>

<variablelist> 
<varlistentry> 
<term><menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Mode</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>

<listitem>
<para>Determines whether to use <guimenuitem>Tree</guimenuitem> view, or <guimenuitem>Icon</guimenuitem> view for your modules. </para>

<para>With <guimenuitem>Tree</guimenuitem> view, each submenu appears as an indented list. </para>

<para>With <guimenuitem>Icon</guimenuitem> view, when you click on a category, the categories disappear and are replaced with the module list. You then use the <guiicon>up</guiicon> button to return to the categories. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry> 
<term><menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guisubmenu>Icon size</guisubmenu> </menuchoice></term> 

<listitem>
<para>Using this option, you can choose <guimenuitem>Small</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Medium</guimenuitem>, or <guimenuitem>Large</guimenuitem> icons to select your modules. </para>

<note><para>This menu item only controls the icon size if you are in <guimenuitem>Icon View</guimenuitem>. If you choose <guimenuitem>Tree View</guimenuitem>, the <guimenuitem>Small</guimenuitem> icon size will be used, no matter what size was previously selected in <guimenuitem>Icon View</guimenuitem>. </para>
</note>
</listitem>

</varlistentry> 
</variablelist> 
</sect2>

<sect2 id="control-center-menu-mod">
<title><guimenu>Modules</guimenu> Menu</title>

<para>The modules menu is a shortcut to take you directly to any module in the control centre. </para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="control-center-menu-help">
<title><guimenu>Help</guimenu> Menu</title>
&help.menu.documentation; </sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="control-center-exiting">
<title>Exiting The &kde; Control Centre</title>

<para>You can exit the control centre one of three ways: </para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the menu bar. </para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Type <keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo> on the keyboard. </para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Click on the <guiicon>Close</guiicon> button on the frame surrounding the control centre. </para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="control-center-run-indiv">
<title>Running Individual Modules</title>

<para>You can run individual modules without running kcontrol by selecting <menuchoice><guimenu>K Button</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Preferences</guisubmenu> </menuchoice> from the &kde; panel. You can then select the module you want to run in the submenus. </para>

</sect1>

</chapter>

<!--*****************************************************************-->

<chapter id="module">
<title>The &kcontrol; Modules</title>

<para>In order to make it as easy as possible, the &kcontrol; has organised similar options into groups. Each group is called a module. When you click on the name of a module in the left window, you will be presented with the options of the module on the right. </para>

<para>Each module will have some or all of the following buttons: </para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term>Help</term>
<listitem>
<para>This button will give you help specific to the current module. The button will show you a short summary help page in the left window. At the bottom of that window, you can click on a link to get more detailed help. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Use Defaults</guilabel></term> 
<listitem>
<para>This button will restore this module to its default values. You must click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> to save the options. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Apply</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>Clicking this button will save all changes to &kde;. If you have changed anything, clicking <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> will cause the changes to take effect. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Reset</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>This button will <quote>Reset</quote> the module. The exact effect will depend on the module. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry> 

</variablelist>

<note>
<para>You must save the options of one module using <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> before you can change to a different module. </para>
<para>If you try to change without saving your options, you will be asked if you want to save your changes, or discard them. </para>
</note>


<sect1 id="module-intro">
<title>Navigating Modules</title>

<para>This is a list of the <emphasis>standard</emphasis> configuration modules (sorted by category) provided by the <application role="package">KDE base</application> package. Please note that there may be many more modules on your system if you have installed additional software. </para>

<!-- Commented until fixed arrangement is made -->
<!-- 
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>File Browsing</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="file-assoc">File Associations</link>,
<link linkend="file-manager">File Manager</link>,
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Look and Feel</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="background">Background</link>,
<!- - <link linkend="borders">Borders</link>,- ->
<link linkend="color">Colors</link>,
<link linkend="desktop">Desktop</link>,
<link linkend="fonts">Fonts</link>,
<link linkend="icons">Icons</link>,
<!- -  <link linkend="iconstyle">Icon Style</link>, - ->
<link linkend="key-bindings">Key Bindings</link>,
<link linkend="launch-feedback">Launch feedback</link>,
<link linkend="panel">Panel</link>,
<link linkend="screensaver">Screensaver</link>,
<link linkend="style">Style</link>,
<link linkend="sys-notify">System Notifications</link>,
<link linkend="taskbar">Taskbar</link>,
<link linkend="theme-manager">Theme Manager</link>,
<!- - <link linkend="numbername">Virtual Desktops</link>,- ->
<link linkend="window-behavior">Window Behavior</link>,
<link linkend="window-deco">Window Decoration</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Network</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="e-mail">E-Mail</link>,
<link linkend="lan-browsing">LAN Browsing</link>,
<link linkend="timeouts">Preferences</link>, <!- - FIXME - ->
<link linkend="socks">SOCKS</link>,
<link linkend="talk">Talk Configuration</link>
<link linkend="windows-shares">Windows Shares</link>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Peripherals</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="kbd">Keyboard</link>,
<link linkend="mouse">Mouse</link>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Personalization</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="accessibility">Accessibility</link>,
<link linkend="locale">Country &amp; Language</link>,
<link linkend="crypto">Crypto</link>,
<!- - <link linkend="kblayout">Keyboard Layout</link>, - ->
<link linkend="passwords">Passwords</link>
<link linkend="spell-checking">Spell Checking</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Power Control</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="battery-monitor">Battery Monitor</link>,
<link linkend="energy">Energy</link>,
<link linkend="powerctrl">Laptop Power Control</link>,
<link linkend="lowbatcrit">Low Battery Critical</link>,
<link linkend="lowbatwarn">Low Battery Warning</link>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Sound</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="midi">Midi</link>,
<link linkend="mixer">Mixer</link>,
<link linkend="sndserver">Sound Server</link>,
<link linkend="bell">System Bell</link>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>System</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="datetime">Date and Time</link>,
<link linkend="konsole">&konsole;</link>,
<link linkend="login-manager">Login Manager</link>,
<link linkend="print-manager">Printing Manager</link>,
<link linkend="sessions">Session Manager</link>,
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Web Browsing</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<link linkend="cookie">Cookies</link>,
<link linkend="ebrowse">Enhanced Browsing</link>,
<link linkend="konq-browsing">Konqueror Browser</link>,
<link linkend="nsplugins">Netscape Plugins</link>,
<link linkend="proxies">Proxies &amp; Cache</link>,
<link linkend="stylesheets">Stylesheets</link>,
<link linkend="user-agent">User Agent</link>,
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>-->
</sect1>



<!--****************************************-->

</chapter>

<chapter id="laptop">
<title>Laptop Modules Notes</title>

<para>In order to use the laptop modules, you must have the kernel <acronym>APM</acronym> package installed in your kernel. Useful information on how to do this can be found at <ulink url="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/apm.html"> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/apm.html</ulink> and in the Battery Powered Linux mini-HOWTO at <ulink url="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html"> http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html</ulink>. </para>

<para>If you want the <guimenuitem>suspend</guimenuitem> and <guimenuitem>standby</guimenuitem> menu commands to work then you should install the &Linux; <application>apmd</application> package (version 2.4 or later). If you want to use them from non-root accounts you must mark the <application>apm</application> command <quote>set uid root</quote>. </para>

<para>To do this, log on as <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> and enter: </para>

<screen><prompt>%</prompt><userinput><command>chown</command> <option>root 
/usr/bin/apm</option>;<command>chmod</command> <option>+s 
/usr/bin/apm</option></userinput>
</screen>

<warning>
<para>By doing this you will allow any user of your system to put it into suspend or standby states - if you are the only user, this should not be a problem. </para>

<para>Also note that any program which has <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> access, can be a potential security problem. You should carefully determine if there are any security concerns <emphasis>before</emphasis> giving any program <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> permissions. </para>
</warning>

</chapter>

<chapter id="credits">
<title>Credits and Licence</title>

<para>&kcontrol;</para>
<para>Program copyright 1997-2001 The &kcontrolcenter; Developers</para>
<para>Contributors:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Matthias Hoelzer-Kluepfel <email>hoelzer@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Matthias Elter <email>elter@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Documentation <trademark class="copyright">copyright 2000 Michael McBride</trademark> <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>

<para>Contributors:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Paul Campbell <email>paul@taniwha.com</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Helge Deller <email>deller@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Mark Donohoe </para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Pat Dowler </para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Duncan Haldane <email>duncan@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Steffen Hansen <email>stefh@mip.ou.dk</email>.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Matthias Hoelzer-Kluepfel <email>hoelzer@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Martin Jones <email>mjones@kde.org</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Jost Schenck <email>jost@schenck.de</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Jonathan Singer <email>jsinger@leeta.net</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Thomas Tanghus <email>tanghus@earthling.net</email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Krishna Tateneni <email>tateneni@pluto.njcc.com></email></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Ellis Whitehead <email>ewhitehe@uni-freiburg.de</email></para></listitem>

</itemizedlist>
<para>Conversion to British English: Malcolm Hunter <email>malcolm.hunter@gmx.co.uk</email></para> 
&underFDL; &underGPL; </chapter>

</book>