An edit box is a box that allows you to edit the text already inside it or type in some new text. For example. When you rename a folder or file its name is put inside an edit box so it can be renamed. The same when you create a new folder.

Fig 1.1  A newly created Folder

When you click, anywhere, inside the edit box for the first time the text becomes un-highlighted and a flashing cursor is positioned where you clicked (Fig 1.2 below). In Fig 1.2 I have clicked in between letters f and o. From here I can type in some new letters and/or delete old ones in order to rename the folder (Fig 1.3 and Fig 1.4). In this example I am renaming New folder to New friends. This did not have to be the case though. I could of renamed the folder John or whatever.

Fig 1.2  Click inside the Edit Box, between f and o.

Fig 1.3  Type riends

Fig 1.4  Delete older

Fig 1.5  Press ENTER

When you rename a folder you usually press the ENTER keyboard key to set the folder's new name. However. This also reselects the folder, and its new name, which means accidents can happen. For example. If you accidentally press the DEL (Delete) keyboard key, while the folder is selected, a Requester will appear asking you if you want to delete the folder. To avoid this scenario just click anywhere inside the DOCUMENTS folder (window) display area, after renaming, to set the new name and to then deselect the folder.

Fig 1.6  Click anywhere inside the white display area to set the folder name

If you want to delete the whole of the old name (New folder), before renaming, simply press the DEL keyboard key when the name is selected (Fig 1.8).

Fig 1.7  A New Folder

Fig 1.8  DELete the name New folder

Fig 1.9  Rename the folder

The address bar, which also has an edit box on it, allows you to type in a new website address or edit an existing website address. It can also be used to type/edit folder Path Names. To do this - Click on the right-hand-side of the existing path name (Fig 2.1), to highlight and select it (Fig 2.2), and then change the path name by editing its text. Either press the DEL (delete) keyboard key to delete all the text or click on the part of the path name you want to edit from (Fig 2.3) and then start typing. The flashing cursor indicates where your edit point is. In this example, at the end of the path name (Fig 2.3).

Fig 2.1  Click on the right-hand-side of the path name to.....




Fig 2.2  .....highlight and select the path name (text) - Press DEL to clear it




Fig 2.3  or edit the path name by changing its text.

In the above the edit box contained the address (path name) of the Downloads folder. To go inside a previously visited folder or sub-folder, without having to type its path name into the edit box, simply click on the edit box's drop-down menu (Fig 3.1) and then select the folder you need (Fig 3.2).

Fig 3.1  The current folder is highlighted only




Fig 3.2  Select a folder from the drop-down menu to go inside that folder

When you first click on the edit box's drop-down menu (Fig 3.1 above) the current folder is the folder that is highlighted, but not selected. To go inside a different folder, or the same folder, you must first select it from the drop-down menu (Fig 3.2 above). The above applies exactly the same to website addresses.

With website addresses you simply click inside the Address Bar edit box of your web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer), type in a website address and then press the ENTER keyboard key to go to that website address. Fig 4.1 below is showing the current website address, which is then selected in Fig 4.2 by clicking once inside the Address Bar edit box of internet explorer. From here you can press the DEL (delete) keyboard key to clear that website address from the Address Bar edit box or you can click inside the Address Bar edit box again (Fig 4.3) to edit the website address (Fig 4.4).

In Fig 4.3 I used the second click to position the flashing cursor at the end of the website address. I then deleted http://www.bbc.co.uk/ using the BackSpace keyboard key before typing www.yoingc and then pressing ENTER. www.yoingc was just to show the editing stage, but it would of been www.yoingco.com of course.

Fig 4.1  The old, but current, website address is inside the Address Bar edit box of internet explorer




Fig 4.2  Click inside the Address Bar edit box to select the website address




Fig 4.3  Click inside the Address Bar edit box again to edit the website address




Fig 4.4  Type a new website address into the Address Bar edit box

If you have typed a website's address before, and have Auto Complete switched on, the edit box will display one or more previously typed website addresses as you type (Fig 5.1). In which case, you simply click on a displayed website address (Fig 5.2) and the edit box is filled in for you. Internet Explorer then goes to that website. I started to type www.m in the example below before the AutoComplete option activated to give me the choice of http://www.microsoft.com/ and http://www.msn.co.uk/. The http:// is automatically added to the website's address by internet explorer.

Fig 5.1  Typing www.m activates AutoComplete to show me two previously typed website addresses




Fig 5.2  Click on a previously typed website address to go to that website address

You do not have to wait for AutoComplete to activate in order to see previously typed website addresses. You can click on the edit box's Arrow button (drop-down menu) instead - The currently opened website's address is the highlighted item, in this example http://www.bbc.co.uk/. After clicking on the drop-down menu you would then select a different website address to go to.

Fig 6.0  Click on the edit box's drop-down menu to see previously typed website addresses and then select one

Edit boxes can be found in many different types of window. Here are three more examples of where an edit box can be found.

Fig 7.0  When you enter your e-mail User Name (ID) and Password you are using two edit boxes




Fig 7.1  When you are searching the internet you are using a search engine's edit box (i.e. the Google Search edit box)




Fig 7.2  When you save a file using the SAVE AS File Requester you use its File Name edit box

In the case of the Google Search edit box, whereby it displays the top-ten common search phrases people have previously typed, you can select one of those phrases by clicking on it. Therefore the edit box doubles up as a drop-down menu.

You can use the following keyboard keys to help you edit your text.

Left Cursor Key		Move the flashing cursor leftwards.
Right Cursor Key		Move the flashing cursor rightwards.
Up Cursor Key		Move the flashing cursor upwards.
Down Cursor Key		Move the flashing cursor downwards.
Tab Key		Move down the drop-down list of already typed website addresses. Press SHIFT and then TAB to move up the list.
HOME Key		Move the flashing cursor to the beginning of the text.
END Key		Move the flashing cursor to the end of the text.
DEL Key		Delete the current character (to the right of the flashing cursor).

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.