1. A general state, usually us
ed with an adjective describing the state. Use of the word "mode" rather than "state" implies that the state is extend
ed over time, and probably also that some activity characteristic of that state is being carri
ed out. "No time to hack I' m in thesis mode." In its jargon sense, "mode" is most often attribut
ed to people, though it is sometimes appli
ed to programs and inanimate objects. In particular, see
hack mode, {day mode}, {night mode}, {demo mode}, {fireworks mode}, and {yoyo mode} also {chat}. 2. More technically, a mode is a special state that certain user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain functions. For example, in order to insert characters into a document in the Unix
editor "vi", one must type the "i" key, which invokes the "Insert" command. The effect of this command is to put vi into "insert mode", in which typing the "i" key has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an "i" into the document). One must then hit another special key, "ESC", in order to leave "insert mode". Nowadays, modeful interfaces are generally consider
ed losing but survive in quite a few widely us
ed tools built in less enlighten
ed times. [
Jargon File] (1994-12-22)
In addition suitable contents:
[ 2 ] [ = ] [ ad ] [ ai ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ app ] [ ar ] [ arc ] [ arg ] [ as ] [ at ] [ attribute ] [ av ] [ b ] [ ba ] [ be ] [ bi ] [ bj ] [ C ] [ ca ] [ ch ] [ char ] [ character ] [ ci ] [ ck ] [ co ] [ com ] [ comma ] [ command ] [ con ] [ cons ] [ cr ] [ cu ] [ day mode ] [ de ] [ demo ] [ demo mode ] [ diff ] [ dj ] [ do ] [ doc ] [ document ] [ du ] [ E ] [ ec ] [ ed ] [ ee ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ ESC ] [ et ] [ extend ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ fireworks mode ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ function ] [ ge ] [ gen ] [ gh ] [ gr ] [ h ] [ hack ] [ hack mode ] [ hat ] [ hit ] [ hn ] [ hr ] [ ht ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ iff ] [ il ] [ implies ] [ in ] [ int ] [ interface ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ J ] [ jar ] [ Jargon File ] [ ke ] [ key ] [ la ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ losing ] [ ls ] [ lt ] [ ly ] [ M ] [ ma ] [ man ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ ms ] [ mu ] [ N ] [ na ] [ nc ] [ ne ] [ ng ] [ ni ] [ night mode ] [ nl ] [ no ] [ ns ] [ O ] [ object ] [ om ] [ op ] [ pa ] [ pe ] [ perf ] [ ph ] [ ping ] [ pl ] [ pr ] [ program ] [ query ] [ rc ] [ re ] [ ro ] [ S ] [ SC ] [ sc ] [ se ] [ si ] [ so ] [ spec ] [ st ] [ state ] [ su ] [ T ] [ th ] [ to ] [ tool ] [ tr ] [ tt ] [ type ] [ ua ] [ ug ] [ um ] [ us ] [ user ] [ user interface ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ word ] [ yoyo mode ]