The Editing Modes Toolbar

Use the Editing Modes toolbar to select an editing mode for the current buffer window. If the Main window is not large enough to display all the buttons, two arrow buttons are displayed for scrolling the toolbars.

Editing Modes Toolbar

The Editing Modes toolbar contains the following icons:

Selection Mode  Use the Selection mode for selecting, creating, deleting, moving, resizing and performing other common editing operations. This mode is selected when Views Studio is launched.

The Selection mode lets you:

  • Select objects:

Click an object to make that object the unique selected object.

Use Shift + Click to add (or remove) objects one by one to (or from) the current selection to select multiple objects.

Click the background and draw a rectangle with the pointer to select all objects that are contained in the drawn rectangle.

  • Move objects:

Click a selection and drag the pointer to move all the selected objects.

  • Resize an object:

Click one of the corners or side handles of an object and drag the pointer to resize it. Use the Shift key whilst resizing to maintain the aspect ratio of this object. This is particularly useful when resizing images or objects that must maintain a fixed aspect ratio. Note that a few objects cannot be resized, such as labels, for instance.

  • Edit individual points:

Click once on a selected object, such as a line, a polygon or a Spline curve to move individual points independently.

PolySelection Mode  Use this mode to move or rotate the different points of your IlvPolyline, IlvPolygon, IlvSpline, IlvFilledSpline, and IlvClosedSpline objects. To complete the operation, double-click the work space or select another mode.

Each object type has its own mode of operation:

  • Editing polylines and polygons:

Click and drag a point to move it.

Click on a segment to move it

Click on a point then press delete or backspace to remove it

Shift-click to select multiple points and move them altogether

Ctrl-click on a segment to insert a point at that position

  • Editing Bezier splines (closed or not):

Click and drag on a point to select it or move it. The tangent and tension handles for this point appear when you select a point.

Click and drag on a tangent/tension handle to change the tangent and tension of the curve at that point.

Press the Ctrl key while dragging a tangent handle to create/remove a cusp at the Bezier curve's position by dissociating the left and right tangents and tensions at that point.

Click on a point then press delete or backspace to remove it

Shift-click to select multiple points and move them altogether

Ctrl-click on the curve outside of a point to insert a point at that position

  • Editing arcs (see Arc Mode in the Palette section).

Label Mode  Use this mode to create and edit an IlvLabel object. After selecting this interactor, click the work space to indicate the label position and type the string you want. Press Enter to complete the operation.

To edit an existing IlvLabel object, select this mode and click the IlvLabel object you want to edit.

Label List Mode  Use this mode to create and edit a multiline label (IlvListLabel) object. After selecting this interactor, click the work space to indicate the label position and type the string you want. You can go to a new line by pressing Enter. Double-click the work space (outside this object) to complete the operation.

To edit an existing IlvListLabel, select this mode and click the IlvListLabel you want to edit.

Rotate Mode  Use this mode to rotate an object in the buffer window. First, select the object you want to rotate in the buffer window. Click the Rotate Mode icon in the Editing Modes toolbar. Then click the left mouse button in the buffer window. An arrow appears in the buffer window. Drag the mouse to indicate the angle of rotation. When you release the mouse button, the object will rotate the specified amount.

Active Mode  Use the Active mode to test the behavior of your objects and edit some of their properties. In the Active mode, the objects in the work space can respond to mouse and keyboard events. You can thus change text field labels, toggle the state of a toggle button, and so on.

Zoom Mode  Use this mode to enlarge a portion of the buffer window so you can see it in greater detail.

Pan Mode  Use the Pan mode to pan an area of the buffer window. This mode allows you to move around within a buffer window to see all the contents of the window.

Zoom In Mode  Use this mode to zoom in an object in the buffer window.

Zoom Out Mode  Use this mode to zoom out an object in the buffer window.

Fit to View Mode  Use this mode to fit all the contents of the buffer within the window.

In the course of interaction, all editing operations can be cancelled by pressing the Escape key. Once an operation has been performed, it can be undone using the Edit > Undo command.