Section 1.6: Using the Default Profile

Controlling Font Size | Controlling Transparency | Scrolling | QuickZoom | Using Keypads | Copy and Paste | Text Completion | E-mail | Directory Navigation | Ctrl-C and Locking the Screen | Disconnecting

TouchTerm Pro provides a default configuration Profile that provides many useful shortcuts, and access to most of the interface features provided by TT Pro. This section gives an overview of how to use these standard settings.

We recommend that you start using TouchTerm Pro with these default settings. Then, once you have acclimated to the standard settings, you can easily create new Profiles and customize TT Pro to best suit your needs.

Keep in mind that you can always tap the Settings button in the upper-right corner to access the basic configuration Options that control TouchTerm's opertaion. (For TouchTerm Basic users, all of the settings that you are used to are available from the Options menu.)

Controlling Font Size

(Back to Top)

When using the compact display of the iPhone or iPod Touch, it's often useful to quickly switch between larger, more-readable text, and smaller text, for seeing more of the terminal output at once. In order to increase or decrease the Font Size, use the Swipe Up and Swipe Down gestures, respectively. To quickly change to a large, easily readable Font Size, use a Double-Swipe Up gesture; similarly, use a Double-Swipe Down gesture to quickly change to a very small Font Size.

It's also easy to adjust the Font Size so that the size of the Terminal display matches the device screen height or width. Use a Tap-Swipe Right gesture to fit the screen to match the device screen width, and use the Tap-Swipe Down gesture to fit the terminal screen height to match the device screen height.

Controlling Transparency

(Back to Top)

One of TouchTerm's key features is the use of semi-transparent interfaces in order to allow the entire device screen to be used for displaying terminal output. With the Default Profile, it's easy to quickly adjust the Interface Transparency based on your current activity.

Controlling the transparency is similar to controlling Font Size: only instead of using straight up-and-down Swipes, use diagonal Swipes to the right. So, to adjust the Interface Transparency, use the Swipe Up-Right and Swipe Down-Right gestures. To quickly make the interface highly opaque, use the Double-Swipe Up-Right gesture; similarly, use a Double-Swipe Down-Right gesture to quickly make the interface highly transparent.

Scrolling

(Back to Top)

In order to use Swipe gestures, the Terminal display must be locked. This means that it's not possible to use standard swipe gestures to control the scroll position of the Terminal Display.

If you wish to use swipes to scroll around the contents of the Terminal display, use a Top Edge Tap gesture. This toggles the Lock Scrolling option, which allows swipes to control the position of the Terminal display. To switch back, again use the Top Edge Tap gesture, and then you will be able to perform Actions that are bounds to Swipe gestures as before.

Even when the Terminal display is locked, it's possible to scroll the display by using Swipe-and-Tap gestures. You can use these gestures in each of the horizontal and vertical directions, in order to scroll to that particular edge: so, for example, use a Swipe-and-Tap Right gesture to scroll the Terminal display all the way to the right.

QuickZoom

(Back to Top)

In order to use QuickZoom to quickly zoom-in on an area of the Terminal display, simply perform a Double-Tap gesture on the area which you'd like to have zoomed-in. This will display the QuickZoom window overlaid on top of the TouchTerm interface. Use a tap anywhere on the screen to dismiss the QuickZoom view.

Using Keypads

(Back to Top)

TouchTerm Pro comes with three standard Keypads: the Arrow Keys, the Commonly Used Keys, and the Function Keys. (These are the same keypads as those used in the Basic version of TouchTerm.) These Keypads are overlaid on top of the Terminal display, and their transparency level is controlled by the Interface Transparency option.

To toggle the visibility of the Arrow Keys, perform a Left-Edge Tap gesture. To toggle the visibility of the Commonly Used Keys, perform a Left-Edge Double-Tap gesture. And finally, to toggle the Function Keys, use a Left-Edge Triple-Tap gesture.

You can also use the Left-Edge Tap-and-Hold gesture to hide all visible Keypads.

Copy and Paste

(Back to Top)

TouchTerm's Copy and Paste interface is easy to use with the Default Profile. First, in order to display the selection markers, place two fingers on the touchscreen display: this will show the Selection Markers, as well as popup-zoom views which help to display exactly which characters are selected.

When you lift your fingers from the display, the Selection Markers are left in their positions. At this point, you can tap-and-drag either of the Selection Markers, in order to place them more precisely. You may find that it turns out to be easier to perform a quick two-finger-tap to place the Selection Markers, and then drag each of them individually to the desired location.

In the Default Profile, you can also use a Double-Tap-and-Hold gesture to bring up and place one of the Selection Markers, instead of using a two-finger tap to place them both at once. The Double-Tap-and-Hold gesture will always leave the most recently moved Selection Marker where it is, and place the other one at the tap location.

Once your Selection Markers are placed and adjusted, use an Upper-Left Corner Tap gesture to copy the selected text to the Clipboard. The Selection Markers will flash yellow in order to indicate that the copy operation was successful, and then disappear from the Terminal display.

To paste the Clipboard contents back into your terminal session, use an Upper-Left Corner Double-Tap gesture.

Text Completion

(Back to Top)

The Text Completion interface provides immediate access to all words that have been typed or seen in any of your terminal sessions. This vastly reduces the amount of actual typing in many situations.

To launch the Text Completion interface, use a Right-Edge Tap gesture. This brings up the list of completions currently available, and displays it in the top area of the Terminal display.

You can scroll the list using the usual drag and swipe gestures, and tap any row to select it and complete it in the terminal session. You can also continue typing to further filter the list of matched completions. Or, use the "X" button to close the completion interface.

You can also use a Right-Edge Double-Tap gesture to turn on Auto-Completion Mode, which automatically launches the Text Completion interface whenever there are available completions.

E-mail

(Back to Top)

TouchTerm makes it easy to E-Mail the current Clipboard contents, the current 80x24 terminal screen area, or the entire session history in the scrollback buffer.

The Default Profile makes use of Swipe Gestures in the Up-Left direction to perform the E-Mail actions. Use a standard Swipe Up-Left gesture to e-mail the contents of the Clipboard. To e-mail the contents of the current 80x24 terminal screen area, use a Swipe-and-Tap Up-Left gesture. And finally, to e-mail the contents of the entire session history, use a Double-Swipe Up-Left gesture.

Note that in all cases, TouchTerm will display a confirmation dialog before terminating any active connections and launching the Mail application.

Directory Navigation

(Back to Top)

Directory Navigation Mode allows you to quickly navigate the filesystem of the remote host using an intuitive table interface, rather than the usual typing of "cd" commands. Use a Top-Edge Triple-Tap to launch the Directory Navigation interface.

NOTE: Directory Navigation Mode requires a standard UNIX-style server and shell, and also that your session is currently at an empty shell prompt. Improper use of Directory Navigation Mode could corrupt your terminal session, or even send invalid data to the remote host. Please be sure to read through the Directory Navigation Help before using this feature.

Tap any directory in the list to navigate to that directory, or use the Back button in the upper-left to navigate to the parent directory. Use the "C" icon on any row to copy the full pathname of the corresponding file to the Clipboard. When finished, tap "Done" to exit Directory Navigation Mode, and TouchTerm will leave you in the directory to which you have navigated.

Ctrl-C and Locking the Screen

(Back to Top)

Use a Swipe-and-Swipe-Back diagonally Up-and-Right gesture to quickly issue a Ctrl-C to the remote host. This can be especially useful when you want to cancel an operation as quickly as possible.

To temporarily lock the TouchTerm application, use a Swipe-and-Swipe-Back Down gesture. This will bring up the Application Lock screen, which will require the Application Password to be entered before allowing access to the active terminal session.

Disconnecting

(Back to Top)

Finally, you can use a Triple-Tap and Hold gesture to disconnect from the current SSH session. This will raise a confirmation alert, and, if confirmed, immediately disconnect from the remote host.

This concludes our overview of the Default Profile settings, which allow you to take advantage of the majority of TouchTerm Pro's interface features. After familiarizing yourself with these default settings and the interface features of TT Pro, we recommend that you proceed to the customization section of the guide to learn how to tailor TT Pro's behavior to meet your specific needs.