2.4. The menu bars
Sophie's menu bars look like this:
This page explains what the menu bars do, broken down by menu.
File
The File menu generally contains things having to do with opening and saving Sophie books and their contents. It looks like this:
New Book
File > New Book will make a new Sophie book. Control-n does the same thing. This will open the Book Properties window, where you'll be asked for the title, width, and height of your new book:
Click OK to close this window and create your book. The title, width, and height can all be changed later by selecting File > Book Properties.
Open Book
File > Open Book will open a Sophie book. Control-o does the same thing.
Save
File > Save will save the current Sophie book. Control-s will do the same thing.
Save As
File > Save As will save the current Sophie book with a new name. Control-shift-s will do the same thing.
Save As Template
File > Save As Template should save the current Sophie book as a book template. This doesn't currently work.
Book Properties
File > Book Properties will open the Book Properties window (as does control-b), where you'll be asked for the title, width, and height of your new book:
Click OK to close it.
File > Print will print the current book to a printer if an appropriate printer exists. (If not, you can try File > Print To File, which will generate PostScript, or File > Export As > PDF, which will generate a PDF.) The print dialogue box will look something like this:
Export As…
Selecting File > Export As... will show the export options, which currently look like this:
File > Export As > PDF will generate a PDF version of your book. File > Export As > HTML will generate an HTML version of your book. For both of these, you'll be prompted for a name and location for the exported file. Note that note all Sophie functionality will be in the exported file; this will improve as Sophie moves closer to release.
Print to File
File > Print to File will print the current book to a PostScript file, which you can later print or convert to a PDF. You will be prompted to select a location and a filename for the file. The Print To File dialogue box looks exactly like the Print dialogue box, except that you're printing to a file rather than to a printer.
Close
File > Close will close the current Sophie book. This does the same thing as clicking the X icon at the right of a book's status bar. If your book has been changed since it was last saved, you'll be asked if you want to save the changes before closing it.
Quit Sophie 2
File > Quit Sophie 2 quits Sophie. Control-q does the same thing, as will clicking the X icon at the upper right of the Sophie window. If books are open, the user is asked if they want to save changes.
Edit
The Edit menu generally contains things having to do with manipulating objects or text on a Sophie page. It looks like this:
Undo
Edit > Undo will undo the last action, if there is one that can be undone. Control-z does the same thing.
Redo
Edit > Redo will redo the last undone action, if there is one that can be undone. Control-y does the same thing.
Set Title
Edit > Set Title allows you to set the title for your current book. A window like this will appear:
Enter a tile, click OK, and the title will appear in the title bar of the currently selected book. This is the same thing that File > Book Properties does; soon, this menu item will be removed.
Set Page Dimensions
Edit > Set Page Dimensions will first ask you for a new width for your book:
If you click OK, you will then be asked for a new height for your book:
If you click OK again, your book will be resized. This is the same thing that File > Book Properties does; soon, this menu item will be removed.
Show Frame Connections
Edit > Show Frame Connections will show the connections between text frames, if connections exist. A + will appear next to Show Frame Connections if this is set.
Insert
The Insert menu lets you insert content into your Sophie book. It looks like this:
Text
Insert > Text will add a new text frame to your currently selected Sophie book.
Image
Insert > Image will insert an image into your currently selected Sophie book.
Audio
Insert > Audio will insert an audio file into your currently selected Sophie book.
Video
Insert > Video will insert a video file into your currently selected Sophie book.
Audio Record
Insert > Audio Record will allow you to record audio using your computer's microphone or line in and include it in your currently selected Sophie book as an audio file. Selecting this option will open the audio recording window, which looks like this:
If you click the red Record button, it will start recording. If you click the Close button, this will be cancelled. Recording starts recording what's coming in the microphone; it changes the window to look like this:
Clicking Close button, which will cancel the recording. Clicking the red Stop button when you are done will stop recording; the audio that you have recorded will appear on the current page of your current book.
Insert > PDF will insert a PDF into your currently selected Sophie book. Only the first page is inserted.
Book
Insert > Book will insert a previously-saved Sophie book as an embedded book on the current page of your book. See the section of the documentation on embedded books for more information about them.
Browser Frame
Insert > Browser Frame will insert a browser frame into your book. A browser frame behaves like a regular frame except that its content is a web browser pointed at a specific URL, which can be set on insertion. You need to have a Mozilla-based browser (like Firefox) on your system for this to work; note that this may not work correctly in this release of Sophie as it is new functionality.
View
The 'View menu lets you choose different ways to look at your Sophie book:
Normal Mode
View > Normal Mode will show your book in the regular mode. Sophie starts up in this mode, so choosing it won't do anything unless you're in full screen mode.
Full Screen Mode
View > Full Screen Mode will display your current book in full screen mode; the flaps will also be visible. You can also go in and out of full screen mode by pressing F11.
Skins
The Skins menu allows you to choose different skins, which change the look and feel of Sophie. The Skins menu lists all skins that are currently installed in Sophie, including the default skin:
Note that these skins are not final; they are included as proof of concept.
Window
The 'Window menu lets you manage the windows of your currently open Sophie books. It looks like this:
Every open book (like "My New Book", above) appears in this menu; the currently selected book has a + next to it.
Cascade
Window > Cascade will cascade all of your currently open book windows.
Tile
Window > Tile will tile all of your currently open book windows.
Help
The Help menu shows help for Sophie. The Help menu looks like this:
Help Window
Help > Help Contents opens Sophie's internal help viewer. The help viewer looks like this:
It should contain the same documentation that you find online, but inside of Sophie for quick reference.
Send an Error Report
Help > Send an Error Report triggers the error-reporting window, which looks like this:
You should be aware that choosing to use the error-reporting window may transmit personal information (like the name of the directories on your hard drive) to Sophie's developers; if you're worried about this, don't use it. If you do use it, that's great: this will help us make Sophie better. Filling in information about the error and attaching any files that might have contributed to the error (like the saved book, if the saved book always causes the same error at a certain point) will be extremely useful to us.
This error-reporting window will also appear any time that there's a major error while using Sophie; it functions the same way there.
About
Help > About shows information about the current release of Sophie 2. Currently the About window looks like this:
Click OK to close this window.
Inspector
Help > Inspector shows the inspector, a developer tool which looks like this:
The inspector is useful for developers; it isn't meant to be used by the end user and will be removed from the final version of Sophie. The inspector can also be opened by pressing command-i.
