NOTE: [key] next to a menu item indicates a keyboard shortcut.

Cut

Copies the pattern in the current selection to the clipboard (in RLE format) and then kills all cells in the selection. [In the X11 app the pattern is saved in a file called ".golly_clipboard".]

Copy

Copies the pattern in the current selection to the clipboard. The clipboard data is in RLE format. [In the X11 app the pattern is saved in a file called ".golly_clipboard".]

Clear  [delete]

Kills all cells in the current selection.

Clear Outside  [shift-delete]

Kills all cells outside the current selection. This is often the quickest way to delete escaping gliders.

Paste  [v]

Pastes a pattern stored in the clipboard into the existing pattern. Any rule information in the clipboard pattern is ignored. After selecting this item you'll be asked to click where you want the paste to occur. Before clicking you can use keyboard shortcuts to scroll, change scale, etc. You can also type "M" to change the paste mode or "L" to change the paste location (see below). To cancel the paste, just click anywhere outside the view area or hit the escape key.

The References section has links to a number of good sources for clipboard patterns. [There is currently no global clipboard support in the X11 version; you can only paste a pattern that has been saved by the Cut/Copy commands.]

Paste Mode

This submenu lets you choose the logical function used when pasting in a clipboard pattern. The choices are Copy, Or and Xor. Typing "M" will cycle through all these modes, even after selecting the Paste command.

Paste Location

This submenu lets you choose the location of the cursor within the paste rectangle that appears after selecting the Paste command. You can choose any corner or the middle of the rectangle. Typing "L" will cycle through all possible locations, even after selecting the Paste command.

Paste to Selection

Pastes a clipboard pattern into the current selection, but only if it will fit. The paste always occurs at the top left corner of the selection. This command can be used as a quick check to see if the pattern in the clipboard matches the pattern in the selection -- if Xor paste mode is used then all the resulting cells will be dead if the patterns match.

Select All  [a]

Selects the entire pattern, assuming there are one or more live cells. If there are no live cells then any existing selection is removed.

Remove Selection  [k]

Removes the current selection (without changing any cell states).

Shrink Selection

Reduces the size of the current selection to the smallest rectangle containing all of the selection's live cells. You can hit "s" to shrink the selection and fit it in the current view.

Random Fill (n%)

Randomly fills the current selection with the indicated percentage of live cells. Use the Preferences dialog to change the percentage (from 1 to 100).

Flip Up-Down

The cells in the current selection are reflected about its central horizontal axis.

Flip Left-Right

The cells in the current selection are reflected about its central vertical axis.

Rotate Clockwise

The current selection is rotated 90 degrees clockwise about its center.

Rotate Anticlockwise

As above, but the rotation is anticlockwise.

Cursor Mode

This submenu lets you choose a cursor mode for various editing operations: drawing cells, selecting cells, moving the view, and zooming into or out from a clicked cell. There are other (quicker) ways to change the cursor mode:

• Click on the corresponding buttons in the tool bar.
• Hit the corresponding function keys (F5 to F9).
• Hit "c" to cycle through all the cursor modes.
• Press the shift key to temporarily toggle the zoom in/out cursor.