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Commands
The commands panel contains a list of buttons that can be used for design purposes. After clicking a command, it will be activated and it could be used until a different command gets clicked.
Once a command has been activated, the Toolbar will show a form with a few parameters used to change the functionalities of the command. Not all the commands provide this kind of parameters.
Here's explained what are the available commands and how they can be used.
Selection
The Selection command is used to select the shapes within the canvas, and the canvas itself. It is possible to select a shape by clicking it. Instead, the canvas can be selected by clicking an empty point within the drawing area. The selected element(s) will be inspected automatically.
It is possible to press the S character from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button.
The system allows the multi-selection of the elements, which can be done by pressing the mouse in an empty point of the canvas and dragging it. When releasing the mouse, all the shapes that intersect the selection rectangle will be selected.
The multi-selection can be applied also by holding the SHIFT (⇧) key while clicking a shape. This won't reset the shapes that were already selected. In this case, by clicking a shape that is already selected, it will be unselected.
It is also possible to combine the SHIFT (⇧) key with the multi-selection rectangle.
Events
When dragging a shape while holding the SHIFT (⇧) key, all the selected shapes will be proportionally moved.
When resizing a shape while holding the SHIFT (⇧) key, all the selected shapes will be proportionally resized.
When rotating a shape while holding the SHIFT (⇧) key, all the selected shapes will be proportionally rotated.
Inspector
When multiple elements are selected, the Inspector will show only the fields that those shapes have in common. For example, in case all the selected shapes are rectangles, the Inspector will show all the supported fields. In case some of them are rectangles and circles, the Inspector won't show the fields that belong only to one type of shape, such as the radius, the roundness and so on.
In addition, only the fields that share the same value will be filled. For example, in case of 2 rectangles that are aligned horizontally and have the same size, the Position X field will result empty, unlike the Position Y, Width and Height parameters.
The example below shows the behavior of the Inspector after selecting 5 rectangles that have only the width in common.
The example below shows what the Inspector does while editing the parameters of the selected rectangles.
The example below shows what the Inspector does while editing the parameters of the selected shapes (a rectangle, a circle and an image).
Toolbar
This command supports 2 different types of selection:
- Simple selection
- Reverse selection
The first selection type works as explained in the previous section: all the shapes that INTERSECT the selection rectangle will be selected. Instead, the second one works in the opposite way: all the shapes that DON'T INTERSECT the selection rectangle will be selected.
Reverse selection doesn't apply while trying to select a shape by clicking it.
Draw
The Draw command is used to add new shapes within the canvas. When this command is active, it is possible to create new shapes by clicking an empty point of the canvas. The clicked point will be the exact position of the shape (top-left corner). In case the clicked point is an existing shape, that element will be automatically selected and the Selection command will become active.
When the Grid Snap setting is turned on, the position of the new shape will be automatically adjusted to the closest grid rectangle.
It is possible to press the N character from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button.
Toolbar
The Toolbar provides a few parameters that can be used to create the shape. Before all, it is needed to select the Shape type.
In case of Rectangle shape, here's a list of parameters that can be specified.
- Background - the default background color of the rectangle.
- Width - the default width of the rectangle.
- Height - the default height of the rectangle.
In case of Circle shape, here's a list of parameters that can be specified.
- Background - the default background color of the circle.
- Radius - the default radius of the circle.
In case of Image shape, here's a list of parameters that can be specified.
- Background - the default background image of the shape.
Once a table has been drawn into the canvas, it is no more possible to change its shape.
Rubber
The Rubber command is used to erase the tables from the canvas, which will be removed from the whole system too. When this command is active, it is possible to click an element to erase it.
It is also possible to HOLD the mouse button and start dragging it in order to erase all the tables that intersect the mouse cursor. When this happens, the cursor icon will change.
It is possible to press the R character from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button.
Clone
The Clone command can be used to clone an existing element. This can be done by clicking the shape to clone. In this way, the system will create an exact copy of the selected shape by translating it a bit to the right-bottom.
It is possible to press the C character from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button.
Toolbar
It is possible to specify what the system should do after cloning the selected shape:
- Keep cloning
- Auto select
In the first case (as described in the previous example), it is possible to clone a table in cascade (multiple times). In the second case, the cloned table will be automatically selected and the Selection command will become active (only once).
Search
The Search command can be used to find quickly certain tables by using a few predefined query parameters. All the tables that match the specified query will be automatically selected. In case of no result, all the tables will be unselected and the Status Bar will report a text to inform that no tables have been found.
By typing something within the search bar, the system will search for one or more tables owning a name that contains the specified string.
It is possible to search by other values by starting the string with these specific terms:
- min: - will search for tables with matching minimum capacity (e.g. min:2).
- max: - will search for tables with matching maximum capacity (e.g. max:8).
- id: - will search for tables with matching ID (e.g. id:25).
For Mac OS users, it is possible to press the CMD + F (⌘F) combination from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button. For other operating systems, the shortcut to use is CTRL + F (⌃F).
The specified term doesn't need to match the requested parameter, it is enough that it contains the query string. For example, by using "T" as query, the system will search for all the tables owning a name that contains at least a "T" character, such as table, T2, test and so on. Also, by using "min:2" query, the system will search for all the tables owning a minimum capacity that reports the "2" digit, such as 2, 12, 28, 32 and so on.
Search comparison is case-insensitive. This means that t and T characters have the same value.
Help
If you are here, probably you already know what it's for. After clicking the Help command, the system will open a new tab within the browser which points exactly to this documentation. After opening the documentation, the Selection command will be immediately reselected.
It is possible to press the H character from the keyboard as a shortcut instead of clicking the button.