cursor

cursor

(1) The symbol used to point to some element on screen. On Windows, Mac and other graphics-based screens, it is also called a "pointer," and it changes shape as it is moved with the mouse into different areas of the application. For example, it may turn into an I-beam for editing text, an arrow for selecting menus or a pen for drawing.

On DOS and Unix command lines as well as other character-based screens, the cursor may be a rectangle, an underline or a vertical line, and it is typically blinking. See database cursor.

(2) A pen-like or puck-like device used with a digitizer tablet. Officially called the "tablet cursor," as it is moved across the tablet, the screen cursor moves correspondingly. See digitizer tablet.

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cursor

1. the sliding part of a measuring instrument, esp a transparent sliding square on a slide rule

2. Computing any of various means, typically a flashing bar or underline, of identifying a particular position on a computer screen, such as the insertion point for text

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cursor [′kər·sər]

(computer science)

A movable spot of light that appears on the screen of a visual display terminal and can be positioned horizontally and vertically through keyboard controls to instruct the computer at what point a change is to be made.

(design engineering)

A clear or amber-colored filter that can be placed over a radar screen and rotated until an etched diameter line on the filter passes through a target echo; the bearing from radar to target can then be read accurately on a stationary 360° scale surrounding the filter.

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1.	(hardware)	cursor - A visually distinct mark on a display indicating where newly typed text will be inserted. The cursor moves as text is typed and, in most modern editors, can be moved around within a document by the user to change the insertion point.
2.	(database)	cursor - In SQL, a named control structure used by an application program to point to a row of data. The position of the row is within a table or view, and the cursor is used interactively so select rows from columns.