Pane Elements

The title bar is the top element of the pane.

The Toolbar

The toolbar appears as the main toolbar adjacent to the program’s main menu when the pane is active. In addition, the toolbar may be shown/hidden within the pane, just beneath its title bar, by clicking the button for the Pane menu in the title bar and selecting “Show Toolbar”.

The toolbar contains a different set of tools depending on the data type selected.

Zones

zone toolbar

Zone Faces

zone toolbar

The tools have the following meanings.

Icon Command/Mode Description/Comment
exec Execute/Stop toggle Execute or stop cycling; see the Toolbar topic for more information.
selecttool Selection mode This tool is used to select and manipulate objects. It is the default mode for the mouse to be in. See Selection
(list) Data type This is the list of data types that are available to work with. The type can be selected here or in the Objects control set.
disambiguator Disambiguator Using the disambiguator, click an object to choose which group(s) to use for selecting or hiding objects by group.
hidemode Hide mode In this mouse mode, click an object to hide it.
selectbyseed Select by plane Using this mouse mode, click a face to select faces in a plane defined by a break angle.
hidebyseed Hide by plane Using this mouse mode, click a face to hide faces in a plane defined by a break angle.
(degrees) Break angle This break angle defines a plane to use when selecting or hiding faces.
showselonly Show only selected objects After selecting one or more objects, click this tool to hide all the unselected objects.
hideselection Hide selection Click this to deselect and hide the current selection.
showall Show all Click this button to make all objects of the current type visible.
query Show details With this mouse mode, click an object to see detailed information about it.
center Center view on object Using this mouse mode, click an object to center the view on that object.
measure Measure distance In this mode, click two points on one or more objects to measure the distance between the points.
skin Skin Automatically add group names to faces in the model.
operation Operation This tool shows the icon of the most recently used operation from its list. You can click the icon to perform the operation or choose a different operation from the drop-down list.
cont Show/Hide Control Panel Toggle display of the Control Panel. See the Toolbar topic for more information.
cset Show/Hide Control Sets This button shows a menu that lists the available control sets for this pane; select an unchecked item to display it in the control panel; select a checked item to hide it. See the Toolbar topic for more information.

View Manipulation

  • the R and Ctrl+R keys work as they do in the plot window to reset the view
  • the right mouse button rotates the view
  • the mouse wheel zooms in and out
  • press and hold the right mouse button and then the left mouse button to drag the view up/down/left/right; or use the Shift key with the right mouse button

See the View Manipulation Quick Reference for more information.

The ESC Key

In general, the ESC key cancels the current operation and puts the mouse back into selection mode.

The Status Bar

The main window’s status bar shows controls and information related to the Model pane.

statusbar (click to see full size in a new window)

The Persp indicator at the right side of the status bar shows which rendering mode is being used: perspective vs. parallel. Click the indicator to change the mode (or press the P key).

The indicator next to the corner of the status bar shows whether navigation is in regular mode or first-person mode. Using regular navigation, the mouse wheel zooms in to the center point of the view or to the location on an object that the mouse is over. In first-person mode, the mouse wheel adjusts the view as if you were walking through the model. To use first-person navigation, hold down the Alt key while using the mouse wheel.

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Figure 1: Regular navigation.

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Figure 2: First-person navigation.