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Text Cursor: Bi-Directional

The text cursor, also known as a caret, indicates where text will be inserted in command line interfaces and text editors. It is typically displayed as an underscore, solid rectangle, or vertical line. In text mode displays, an underscore or block was used instead of a vertical line. Modern text editors on bitmapped displays usually use a vertical line cursor. The cursor can be moved around using arrow keys, page keys, home/end keys, and mouse clicks. It may blink on and off while moving to make its position clear. Larger block cursors indicate overwrite mode while thinner underscores or lines indicate insert mode.

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TanmayThakur
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37 views

Text Cursor: Bi-Directional

The text cursor, also known as a caret, indicates where text will be inserted in command line interfaces and text editors. It is typically displayed as an underscore, solid rectangle, or vertical line. In text mode displays, an underscore or block was used instead of a vertical line. Modern text editors on bitmapped displays usually use a vertical line cursor. The cursor can be moved around using arrow keys, page keys, home/end keys, and mouse clicks. It may blink on and off while moving to make its position clear. Larger block cursors indicate overwrite mode while thinner underscores or lines indicate insert mode.

Uploaded by

TanmayThakur
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Text cursor

In most command-line interfaces or text editors, the text cursor, also known as a caret,[2] is
an underscore, a solid rectangle, or a vertical line, which may be flashing or steady, indicating where
text will be placed when entered (the insertion point). In text mode displays, it was not possible to
show a vertical bar between characters to show where the new text would be inserted, so an
underscore or block cursor was used instead. In situations where a block was used, the block was
usually created by inverting the pixels of the character using the boolean math exclusive
or function.[3] On text editors and word processors of modern design on bitmapped displays, the
vertical bar is typically used instead.
In a typical text editing application, the cursor can be moved by pressing various keys. These include
the four arrow keys, the Page Up and Page Down keys, the Home key, the End key, and various key
combinations involving a modifier key such as the Control key. The position of the cursor also may
be changed by moving the mouse pointer to a different location in the document and clicking.
The blinking of the text cursor is usually temporarily suspended when it is being moved; otherwise,
the cursor may change position when it is not visible, making its location difficult to follow.
Some interfaces use an underscore or thin vertical bar to indicate that the user is in insert mode,
a mode where text will be inserted in the middle of the existing text, and a larger block to indicate
that the user is in overtype mode, where inserted text will overwrite existing text. In this way, a block
cursor may be seen as a piece of selected text one character wide, since typing will replace the text
"in" the cursor with the new text.

Bi-directional
A vertical line text cursor with a small left-pointing or right-pointing appendage are for indicating the
direction of text flow on systems that support bi-directional text, and is thus usually known among
programmers as a 'bidi cursor'. In some cases, the cursor may split into two parts, each indicating
where left-to-right and right-to-left text would be inserted.[4]

Mouse cursor
The pointer or mouse cursor echoes movements of the pointing device, commonly
a mouse, touchpad or trackball. This kind of cursor is used to manipulate elements of graphical user
interfaces such as menus, buttons, scrollbars or any other widget. It may be called a "mouse
pointer," because the mouse is the dominant type of pointing device used with desktop computers.

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