Only one cursor appears on the screen at a time-either marking the text-insertion point (a text cursor) or indicating which items the user can interact with from the keyboard (a selection cursor). For example, when an entry field has the keyboard focus, it displays a blinking vertical bar to show the text-insertion point; however, when a button has the keyboard focus, the cursor appears as a halftone rectangle the size of the button. The operating system draws and blinks the cursor, freeing the application from handling these details. Notice that the cursor has no direct relationship with the mouse pointer.


[Back] [Next]