Artifice, Inc.
DesignWorkshop

The Standard Document Window

Standard Document | Lights & Textures | Object Info | Phases | Views | Walkthrough

The window title bar displays the document name, followed by the name of the current phase, followed by the window number when more than one window is open for a given file. Multiple windows may be opened of the same document, or of more than one document at a time if enough application memory is available.

The DesignWorkshop document window provides 2D panning through the standard Macintosh scroll bars, plus numerical control of coordinate entry through the extra "location bar" displayed just above the horizontal scroll bar.

Location Bar
The Location Bar displays the current location of the 3D crosshair. The X, Y, and Z fields show the location in absolute coordinates (the distance along the coordinate axes from zero x/y/z in the overall modeling space).

The E, S, and V fields show the crosshair location in relative coordinates, measured from the crosshair location at the last reset in the direction of East, South, and Vertical.

The relative coordinates are reset to zero at the beginning and end of most crosshair dragging operations, so that for instance while you're creating a block, the E/S/V coordinates control the size of the block.

Numerical Entry to Location Bar
You can type E/S/V (relative position) or X/Y/Z (absolute position) coordinates into location bar fields, to position the crosshair during mouse operations, or between them. To start entering numbers to the location bar, type the letter for a coordinate you want to specify (X, Y, Z; E, S, or V) or alternatively, hit the Tab key to start at East. Then type the numerical value. The value will take effect when you type either Tab (which locks the value you just entered and advances the insertion point to the next coordinate field) or Return (which puts any values you have entered into effect and forces an exit from the text boxes).

If you are typing coordinates during an operation such as creating a block, you must hold down the mouse button while typing. When you release the mouse button, it ends the creation operation at the current crosshair location. Typing Return has the same effect as typing Tab and then releasing the mouse button. While drawing polyline objects, for which you normally click for each point, typing Return places a new point in the polyline, without ending the polyline.

Entering coordinates numerically rather than graphically is useful for creating objects to specific known dimensions. You can combine numerical and graphical methods to define coordinates. For example, you can enter only one or two coordinates numerically, type Tab after each to lock the value, and then finish an operation specifying the other dimensions graphically. This lets you combine predetermined dimensions with visual judgments to match the knowns and unknowns in the unfolding of the design process.

You can also use the Object Info box to set already-created objects to a particular size or location.

Scroll Bars
When zoomed into a view two-dimensionally, scroll bars are active for panning (moving the viewing frame from side to side or up and down two- dimensionally around the overall image) the view in normal Macintosh fashion by clicking on the end arrows (for small jumps) or by clicking between the handle and an end (to jump a screen at a time) or by dragging the scroll handle (for arbitrary big jumps). Also, the view will pan automatically to track the crosshair.