tekla symed user’s guide

cir-Audience This manual is aimed at administrators of Tekla applications who want to: • create symbol files to be used in Tekla applications • edit existing symbol files We assume you a

SymEd User’s Guide

Product version 2.2

March, 2002

Copyright© 1992-2003 Tekla Corporation All rights reserved.

This Software Manual has been developed for use with the referenced Software Use of the Software, and use of this Software Manual are governed by a License Agreement Among other provisions, the License Agreement sets certain warranties for the Software and this Man-ual, disclaims other warranties, limits recoverable damages, defines permitted uses of the Soft-ware, and determines whether you are an authorized user of the Software Please refer to the License Agreement for important obligations and applicable limitations and restrictions on your rights

In addition, this Software Manual is protected by copyright law and by international treaties Unauthorized reproduction, display, modification, or distribution of this Manual, or any portion

of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the full extent permitted by law

Tekla, Tekla Structures, Xcity, Xengineer, Xpipe, Xpower, Xsteel, and Xstreet are either tered trademarks or trademarks of Tekla Corporation in the European Union, the United States, and/or other countries Other product and company names mentioned in this Manual are or may be trademarks of their respective owners By referring to a third-party product or brand, Tekla does not intend to suggest an affiliation with or endorsement by such third party and dis-claims any such affiliation or endorsement, except where otherwise expressly stated

regis-Elements of the software described in this Manual may be the subject of pending patent tions in the European Union and/or other countries

Contents i

Preface 1

1 Getting started 5

1.1 Introducing symbol files 6

1.2 Installing and running SymEd 6

1.3 Introducing the workarea 8

1.4 Working with symbol files 13

1.5 Working with symbols 15

1.6 Setting program options 16

1.7 Working with SymEd windows 20

2 Drawing and editing symbols 23

2.1 Selecting and moving objects 23

2.2 Drawing primitives 27

2.3 Editing primitives 33

3 Using advanced functions 55

3.1 Importing DXF images 56

3.2 Using a digitizer tablet 56

4 Menu Reference 61

4.1 File menu commands 62

4.2 Edit menu commands 63

4.3 View menu commands 65

4.4 Insert menu commands 66

4.5 Misc menu commands 67

4.6 Options menu commands 68

4.7 Help menu command 70

4.8 Popup menu commands 70

Glossary 73

Index 77

Introduction

This is the SymEd User’s Guide, which explains how to create and edit symbol

files using SymEd Symbol files are used in Tekla applications

A symbol file consists of up to 256 individual symbols made up of lines, arcs, cles, filled areas and text These are called primitives.

cir-Audience

This manual is aimed at administrators of Tekla applications who want to:

• create symbol files to be used in Tekla applications

• edit existing symbol files

We assume you are familiar with basic Windows commands such as starting and closing applications and using application windows

How to use this guide

This manual is meant to be both a textbook and a reference book depending on your needs and level of familiarity with SymEd

If you are new to SymEd, you start with Chapter 1, Getting started

If you have the basics and want to get started with creating and editing symbols,

go to Chapter 2, Drawing and editing symbols

If you want information about SymEd’s advanced features, go to Chapter 3,

Using advanced functions

If you want information about SymEd menu commands, see Chapter 4, Menu

Reference, on page 61

Conventions used in this guide

Typefaces We use different typefaces in this manual to mark different types of items In

most cases, the meaning is obvious from the context If you are not sure what a certain typeface represents, check it here

• Any text that appears in the user interface is displayed using bold, for example window and dialog box titles, field and button labels, combo-box options and list box items

• New terms appear in italic bold when they are used for the first time.

• Any text that you type into the user interface appears in "quotation marks" For example, typing "romsim" into the Font name field

• Italic is used for information that needs to be emphasized.

• Names of files and directory paths appear in bold, for example:

.\DXK_Fontpath\romsim.fon

Noteboxes A notebox is a shaded area that contains special information which must stand

out from the surrounding text

There are four different types of noteboxes They contain:

• Tips

• Notes

• Important notes and warnings

Different types of noteboxes contain different icons Below are some examples:

A tip looks like this It might introduce a shortcut or suggest

alternative ways of doing things

This is a note A note is to draw your attention to details that

may be overlooked

Very important notes and warnings are marked with a stop

sign Read these! They are to save you from making mistakes

or wasting your time

This guide is divided into four chapters and a glossary

Chapter 1: Getting started

This chapter provides an overview of symbol files and how they are used in Tekla applications The chapter introduces SymEd and the workareas and basic symbol file operations

Chapter 2: Drawing and editing symbols

This chapter gives detailed instructions on selecting objects and drawing and editing symbols

Chapter 3: Using advanced functions

This chapter provides information about adavnced SymEd features such as importing DXF images and using a digitizer tablet

Chapter 4: Menu Reference

This chapter provides short descriptions of all SymEd commands

Glossary

The glossary includes definitions for the most central terms and concepts in the manual

1 Getting started

Overview

Introduction This chapter gives an overview of symbol files and how they are used in Tekla

applications, and discusses installing the SymEd software and starting and ing the program

exit-Audience This chapter is for beginners Whatever plans you have for using SymEd, you

should start with this chapter

You need to be familiar with basic Windows concepts

Organization This chapter contains the following sections:

• Introducing symbol files (p 6)

• Installing and running SymEd (p 6)

• Introducing the workarea (p 8)

• Working with symbol files (p 13)

• Working with symbols (p 15)

• Setting program options (p 16)

• Working with SymEd windows (p 20)

1.1 Introducing symbol files

Introduction A symbol file is a collection of individual symbols saved in a single file A

sym-bol file can contain up to 256 symsym-bols A symsym-bol is made up of primitives and

their combinations such as lines, polygon lines, arcs, circles, boxes, filled areas, and text You can identify the individual symbols of a symbol file with numbers from 0 to 255 For detailed information about primitives and other shapes, see

Available primitives and shapes (p 29)

Symbol file usage We use SymEd symbol files in Tekla Xproducts for creating user interface items

The attributes of a symbol (line or fill color, for example) are defined at runtime,

or they can be set in the symbol file

You can use symbol files to adjust symbols for your own needs You can duce your own customized symbols without making changes in the Xproduct

intro-Tekla applications use SymEd symbol files in a variety of ways Some tions (Tekla Xsteel, for example) use symbol files directly, others (Tekla Xpower, for example) use a combination of symbol and presentation files created with

applica-PresEd.

To find out how your Tekla product uses symbol files, refer to the product mentation

docu-1.2 Installing and running SymEd

This section contains information on how to install SymEd The installation cedure depends on which Tekla application you are using This section also cov-ers hardware requirements and describes how to start and exit SymEd

pro-Do not edit the standard symbol files delivered in your Tekla applications If you need to edit any symbols, copy the original symbol file and work on the copy, keeping the original symbol file intact

SymEd installation depends on which Tekla application you are using With some applications SymEd is installed automatically With others, SymEd is delivered as a part of an optional tools package

The installation location will depend on the application and the type of your application license:

• If you have a single-user license, SymEd is typically installed on

your local workstation

• If you have a multi-user license, SymEd is typically installed on an

three-but-If you use a two-button mouse, moving, resizing and rotating objects varies from the procedures of a three-button mouse For more details on using a two-button mouse, see Selecting and moving objects (p 23) and Moving, resizing and rotating primitives (p 38)

Starting SymEd

Starting SymEd depends on how it is installed:

• If SymEd is installed on an application server, you have a shortcut

on your desktop To start SymEd, double-click the SymEd shortcut icon SymEd starts via a batch file

• If SymEd is installed on your local workstation, you start by going

to the SymEd installation directory and double-clicking the

Symed.exe icon In some Tekla products, you can start SymEd directly from the product pulldown menu

For detailed information on starting SymEd in your Tekla Xproduct, refer to the product documentation

Exiting SymEd

To exit SymEd, do one of the following:

• On the File menu, click Exit

• Click the Close button on the upper right corner of the SymEd program window

SymEd asks for confirmation before exiting:

• Click OK to exit

• Click Cancel to continue the current session

1.3 Introducing the workarea

This section covers the SymEd program and zoom windows and their contents

Program window

When you start SymEd, the program window appears:

Attribute bar

Zoom toolbar

Coordinate bar Symbol slots

Symbol Library

Workarea

The Symbol Library Workarea shows the contents of the current symbol file, so

you can select symbols for editing The Symbol Library Workarea is also

referred to as the Library Workarea.

Symbol Edit

Workarea

The Symbol Edit Workarea shows the selected symbol, so you can create new

symbols or edit existing ones The Symbol Edit Workarea is also referred to as

the Edit Workarea.

Symbol slot A symbol slot is a container in the Library Workarea and contains a single

sym-bol The Library Workarea has 256 symbol slots

Toolbars

SymEd has the following toolbars:

• The File toolbar contains buttons for common operations such as opening

and saving symbol files

• The Zoom toolbar contains buttons for zoom operations.

• The Primitive toolbar contains buttons for all SymEd primitives and

other shapes you can draw

To view or hide toolbars, click View > Toolbars A check mark in front of the bar name indicates that the toolbar is visible

tool-File toolbar

The File toolbar contains the following buttons:

Button Description Menu selection

New File > New

Open File > Open

Save File > Save

Cut Edit > Cut

Copy Edit > Copy

Paste Edit > Paste

Clear Edit > Clear

Zoom toolbar

The Zoom toolbar contains the following buttons:

Primitive toolbar

The Primitive toolbar contains the following buttons:

End command Misc > End command

Undo Edit > Undo

Redo Edit > Redo

Button Description Menu selection

Pan View > Pan

Zoom in View > Zoom In

Zoom out View > Zoom Out

Create new zoom window View > New Zoom Window

Turn zoom window into magnifier

View > Magnifier

Button Description Menu selection

Line Insert > Line

Polyline Insert > Polyline

Arc Insert > Arc

Fillarea Insert > Fillarea

Circle Insert > Circle

Box Insert > Box

Button Description Menu selection

Other controls

Attribute bar The Attribute bar shows object-specific information such as position and size of

the object The fields that you cannot edit are inactive

Coordinate bar The Coordinate bar shows the index number (0–255) of the current symbol and

the current coordinates of the mouse pointer

Status bar The Status bar shows tooltips for the selected tool or button.

Zoom window

You can magnify symbols with the Zoom windows You can create new zoom

windows in both workareas

To create a new zoom window, do the following:

1 Click View > New Zoom Window

2 Do one of the following:

• Left-drag over the area you want to view in the new window

• Left-click to magnify the symbol to the next preset percentage, centering the display around the point you click

The following figure illustrates the zoom window:

Filled circle Insert > Filled circle

Filled box Insert > Filled box

Text Insert > Text

Button Description Menu selection

Zoom window

toolbar

The Zoom window toolbar contains the following buttons:

Pans inside any workarea or zoom window

View > Pan

Increases the displayed area View > Zoom In

Reduces the displayed area View > Zoom Out

Restores the previous view –

Restores the original view –

Magnifies selected workarea View > Magnifier

Creates a new zoom window View > New Zoom Window

Deletes the zoom window –

1.4 Working with symbol files

This section introduces basic file operations such as opening and saving symbol files that are accessed via the File menu

Creating a new symbol file

To create a new symbol file, do one of the following:

• On the File menu, click New

• On the File toolbar, click New.This creates a new, empty symbol file Save the new symbol file using the

File > Save As command

Opening existing symbol file

To open an existing symbol file, do one of the following:

• Click File > Open

• Press Ctrl + o

• On the File toolbar, click Open.This displays a file selection dialog box where you can select a symbol file

Saving symbol file

You can save a symbol file under a new name or under the current name

To save a symbol file under a new name:

1 Click File > Save As A file selection dialog box appears

2 Specify a file name and location and click OK

If you already have a symbol file open, SymEd will ask if you want to save changes to the current file

If you already have a symbol file open, SymEd will ask if you want to save changes to the current file

This saves the current symbol file with a new name.

To save a symbol file under the current name, do one of the following:

• Click File > Save

• Press Ctrl + s

• On the File toolbar, click Save.This saves the current symbol file with the current name If you have not saved the file before, a file selection dialog box appears so you can specify a file name and location

Reverting to last saved version

To revert to the last saved version of the current file:

• Select File > Revert.This opens the previously saved version of the current symbol file Note that all unsaved changes made in the symbol file are lost

If you specify an existing file name when saving a symbol file, SymEd will overwrite the existing file without a warning

If you specify an existing file name when saving a symbol file, SymEd will overwrite the existing file without a warning

1.5 Working with symbols

This section introduces the procedures of adding a symbol to a symbol file and editing an existing symbol

Adding a new symbol

To add a new symbol to an existing symbol file, you must select a symbol for editing and then draw the symbol

To add a new symbol:

1 Open the symbol file you want to edit

For details, see Working with symbol files (p 13)

2 In the Library Workarea, double-click the symbol slot you want to add a

symbol to This selects the symbol for editing in the Edit Workarea For details, see Selecting and moving objects (p 23)

If the Single Click Select option is on, you can select a symbol for editing by

single-clicking For details, see Single Click Select (p 19)

3 In the Edit Workarea, insert primitives and other shapes.

Use the Insert menu or the Primitive toolbar to select the primitive or another shape For details, see Drawing primitives (p 27)

4 When you are done, click File > Save to save the symbol file

Editing an existing symbol

To edit an existing symbol, you must select the symbol for editing and then edit the symbol’s primitives and other shapes

To edit an existing symbol:

1 Open the symbol file you want to edit

For details, see Working with symbol files (p 13)

2 In the Library Workarea, double-click the symbol slot you want to edit This

selects the symbol for editing in the Edit Workarea

For details, see Selecting and moving objects (p 23)

3 In the Edit Workarea, edit the primitives and other shapes as needed.

You can edit the shapes, values and attributes

For details, see Editing primitives (p 33).Use the zoom window to magnify the workarea if necessary

4 When you are done, save the file by selecting File > Save.

1.6 Setting program options

This section covers SymEd program options

Automatic Redraw

If the automatic redraw option is on (default setting), SymEd updates all dows after each user operation On a slow computer, this feature may cause unnecessary delays and you may want to turn it off

win-To set the automatic redraw ON or OFF:

• Click Options > Automatic Redraw.The check mark next to the Automatic Redraw menu option indicates that the option is on

Continuous Drawing

If the continuous drawing option is on (default setting), all the drawing tools are continuous and must be ended manually

To set the continuous drawing option ON or OFF:

• Click Options > Continuous Drawing.The check mark next to the Continuous Drawing menu option indicates that the option is on You can draw several objects with the same tool without reselecting the tool

Temporary

continuous mode

If the Continuous Drawing option is off, you can still make the current drawing tool temporarily continuous This only affects the current tool; when you end drawing by selecting another drawing tool, or click End Command, the

Continuous Drawing option is turned off again

To make a tool temporarily continuous:

1 Select a drawing tool

2 Do one of the following:

• Click Misc > Continuous

• Right-click and select Continuous

3 Draw with the drawing tool

You can draw several objects with the current tool without reselecting it after each primitive.

Grid settings

The drawing grid is provided as an aid for drawing primitives When the grid is

used, each click snaps to the nearest grid point This means you can draw shapes that are more regular than those drawn without the aid of the grid

Grid size and tolerance

To set the grid size and tolerance:

1 Click Options > Settings The following dialog box appears:

2 Set grid size and tolerance in pixels

• The Grid setting defines the distance between the grid points in the Edit Workarea

• The Tolerance setting defines the snap distance (How close to a

grid point do you have to click in order for the click to snap to the grid point?)

3 When you are done, click Close

Activating the grid

Setting the grid size and tolerance does not automatically make the grid active

To activate (or deactivate) the grid:

• Click Options > Grid > Active

• The check mark next to the Active menu option indicates that the grid is active

• If the grid is active, all clicks during drawing operations will snap to the nearest grid point as if the grid point had been clicked

Showing and hiding the grid

Activating the grid does not automatically make it visible On the other hand, the grid may be visible without being active

To show or hide the grid:

• Click Options > Grid > Visible.The check mark next to the Visible menu option indicates that the grid is vis-ible

Pick settings

This section covers the pick settings of the Edit Workarea, which affect selection operations and certain input operations (cut and copy, for example)

Pick multiple The Multiple pick setting specifies whether a single click selects all primitives

within the click tolerance or only the nearest one

To turn the multiple pick ON or OFF:

• Click Options > Pick > Multiple.The check mark next to the Multiple menu option indicates that the multiple pick option is on

Pick partially The Partially pick option affects select operations you make by dragging If the

option is on, all objects that are either completely or partially inside the drag box are selected If the option is off, all parts of an object must be inside the drag box for the object to be selected

To turn the Partially pick option ON or OFF:

• Select Options > Pick > Partially.The check mark next to the Partially option indicates that the option is on

Background image visibility

Selecting a background image file to display and actually displaying the image are two separate operations If you select a file using File > Background image, it

is displayed (or hidden) with the Options > Background Image option

To turn the background image visibility ON or OFF:

• Click Options > Background Image.The check mark next to the Background Image menu option indicates that the background image is visible

Single Click Select

When the Single Click Select option is on, you can select symbols in the symbol file window by clicking once If the option is off, you must double-click to select

a symbol for editing

To set the Single Click Select option ON or OFF:

• Select Options > Single Click Select.The check mark next to the menu option indicates that it is on

Import transform

This command displays a dialog box in which you define the convertion settings for imported DXF images These include settings for scaling and x and y coordi-nates

To set the import transform settings:

1 Click Options > Import Transform The following dialog box appears:

2 In the Import Transform dialog box, enter values for scaling and shifting the x and y coordinates When you are done, click OK

• In the Scale field, enter the scaling rate The value 1 means that the DXF image is imported in its original size The value 2 means that the image is imported in size which is twice as big as the original

• In the Translate x and Translate y fields, enter values for shifting the x and y coordinates if necessary The coordinate values are calculated from the DXF file coordinates

1.7 Working with SymEd windows

This section provides an overview of SymEd windowing operations

SymEd has standard windowing operations available in most Tekla applications

and utilities They include zooming, panning, and positioning the view of a dow

win-Redrawing a window

Redrawing an active SymEd window is useful if you are working on a slow

computer and cannot use the Automatic Redraw (p 16) option

To redraw the active program window, do one of the following:

• Click Misc > Redraw

• Press Ctrl + l

Creating new zoom windows

You can create independent zoom windows for either the Library or the Edit work area

To create a new zoom window:

1 Click View > New Zoom Window, or click Create New Zoom Window in the Zoom toolbar

2 Left-drag over the area you want to view in the new zoom window

– or –

Left-click to create a zoom window with a preset amount of magnification The display of the new zoom window is centered around the point you click

Panning, zooming and magnifying

Panning, zooming and magnifying operations are accessed via the View menu

Panning You can pan over both workareas

Left-click to zoom in to the next preset percentage

The display is centered around the point you click

To zoom out:

1 Click View > Zoom Out, or click the Zoom Out button in the Zoom toolbar or a zoom window

2 Left-click to zoom out to the previous preset percentage

The display is centered around the point you click

Magnifying You can turn a zoom window into a magnifier and magnify a part of either the

Library or the Edit Workarea in the zoom window

To turn a zoom window into a magnifier:

1 Create a new zoom window as instructed above

2 Click View > Magnifier, or click the Turn Zoom Window Into Magnifier button

in the Zoom toolbar or in the zoom window

3 If you select the Magnifier tool from the zoom window, move the mouse into the workarea displayed in the zoom window

If you select the Magnifier tool from the Zoom toolbar or the View menu, click the zoom window you want to turn into a magnifier and then move the mouse into the workarea displayed in the zoom window

4 Left-click to end the command

Restoring

previous views

After you use the Magnifier, you can return to the previous or the original zoom view in the zoom window

To return to the previous zoom view:

• Click the Restore previous view point button in the zoom window

To return to the original zoom view:

• Click the Restore original view point button in the zoom window

You can magnify only the workarea displayed in a zoom dow If you have created a new zoom window for the Edit Workarea, you cannot use that zoom window to magnify the Library Workarea

win-2 Drawing and

editing symbols

Overview

Introduction This chapter covers selection methods and primitives, their values and attributes

and also provides an overview of SymEd symbol drawing and editing tools

Symbols are created in the Edit Workarea by:

• drawing primitives and other shapes

• drawing using a background image

• digitizing with a digitizer tablet

• importing DXF images

Digitizing and importing DXF images are discussed in Chapter 3, Using

advanced functions

Audience This chapter is for administrators of Tekla products who create new symbol files

or edit existing ones You should be familiar with the SymEd terminology and operations discussed in Chapter 1, Getting started

Contents This chapter contains the following sections:

• Selecting and moving objects (p 23)

• Drawing primitives (p 27)

• Editing primitives (p 33)

2.1 Selecting and moving objects

This section describes how to select and manipulate objects

Predefined mouse operations

Mouse buttons have predefined functions and we describe them below You can use a regular two-button mouse but we recommend a three-button mouse or a wheel-mouse

• Use the left mouse button (or the right mouse button, if you are using left-handed mouse settings) for selecting symbol slots, symbols,

primitives and other shapes

• Use the the middle mouse button (if you are using a three-button mouse) for moving objects.

• The right mouse button opens a popup menu.

Select objects by clicking or dragging:

• Clicking means to press and release a mouse button.

• Left-click: Click the left mouse button

• Right-click: Click the right mouse button

• Dragging means to press a mouse button and hold it down, move the

mouse pointer and then release the button Press another mouse ton to abort dragging

but-• Left-drag: Press the left mouse button and drag

• Middle-drag: Press the middle mouse button and drag

End Command

You can only select objects when no command or tool is active To select

objects, you must restore the application to its normal state using the End

Command tool which ends any active command

To select the End Command tool, do one of the following:

• On the File toolbar, click End Command

• On the Misc menu, click End Command

• Right-click and select End Command from the popup menu

• Press the Esc (escape) key

Selecting objects

To select objects:

1 On the File toolbar, click End Command

2 Left-click the object, orleft-drag the mouse to select all the objects inside a rectangular area

• To select several objects, press Shift while selecting objects.

• To toggle the selection status of the affected objects, press

Control while selecting objects

Deselecting objects

To deselect objects:

1 On the File toolbar, click End Command

2 To deselect all objects, left-click outside the symbol grid in the Library

Workarea or in an empty area in the Edit Workarea.

To deselect one object, press the Control key and left-click the object

Moving objects

To move objects:

1 On the File toolbar, click End Command

2 Select object(s) as instructed in

3 Middle-drag to move the selection

– or –

If you are using a two-button mouse, position the mouse over the selection and left-drag

Single Click Select

Single Click Select means you can select a symbol for editing by single-clicking

a symbol slot in the Library Workarea

To turn the Single Click Select option ON or OFF:

• Click Options > Single Click Select

A check mark next to the option indicates that the option is on

If you use a two-button mouse, you must start dragging from

a selected object, otherwise you will make a new area tion

selec-Selecting a symbol for editing

To edit a symbol in the Edit Workarea, you must select it for editing in the

Library Workarea A red box around the symbol slot in the Library Workarea

indicates that the symbol is ready for editing, the symbol is visible in the Edit Workarea

To select a symbol for editing:

1 On the File toolbar, click End Command

2 Double-click a symbol slot in the Library Workarea

– or –

Turn the Single Click Select option on and single-click a symbol slot in the

Library Workarea

Moving symbol slot selection

To move the symbol slot selection by one slot in the Library Workarea:

1 On the File toolbar, click End Command

2 Click one of the commands in the Misc > Move menu

The Misc > Move menu contains the following commands:

Command Description

Previous Selects previous symbol slot in the Library Workarea

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Left Next Selects next symbol slot in the Library Workarea

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Right

Up Moves selection up in the Library Workarea

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Up Down Moves selection down in the Library Workarea

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Down

2.2 Drawing primitives

SymEd symbols consist of primitives, which are basic geometric shapes such as

a line or an arc This section tells you how to create primitives

In addition to the primitives listed above, SymEd has a number of shapes A

shape is group of primitives laid out in a certain way For example, a rectangle is

a shape made up of four line primitives

You can create shapes with the following drawing tools:

• Polyline (A group of lines and arcs)

• Rectangle (Four lines)

• Filled circle (A round fill area)

• Filled box (A rectangular fill area)

Once you create a shape, it behaves as if its constituent primitives had been ated one by one For example a rectangle is actually four lines made to look like

cre-a rectcre-angle

Later in this guide, the term primitive refers to all shapes available via SymEd’s

drawing tools

Creating a symbol

This section reviews how to create a symbol:

1 In the Library Workarea, select a symbol for editing by clicking or

double-clicking the symbol slot

• If the Single Click Select option is on, you can select a symbol

for editing by single-clicking the symbol slot

• If the Single Click Select option is off, you must double-click the

symbol slot to select the symbol for editing

3 Create the primitive as instructed in Available primitives and shapes

(p 29)

4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all primitives and shapes you need to finish the symbol

When you create a new primitive, it is added to the end of the Primitive List

unless you select a single existing primitive, in which case the new primitive appears before the selected primitive For more information, see Primitive List

Available primitives and shapes

This section tells you how to create individual primitives and shapes

Primitives and shapes are always drawn in the Edit Workarea The drawing

com-mands are in the Insert menu and the Primitive toolbar

Line

To draw a line primitive:

1 Select the Line tool

2 Define the end points of the line Do one of the following:

• Left-click at both ends of the line

• Left-drag the mouse The points where you start and end ging operations are the end points

drag-Polyline

To draw a polygon shape:

1 Select the Polyline tool

2 Position the mouse where you want to begin drawing, and left-click to define the starting point

3 Move the mouse and left-click to define the next vertex point

4 Repeat step 3 to add more vertex points

5 When you finish, double-click where you want to end drawing

Box

To draw a rectangle shape:

1 Select the Box tool

2 Define two opposite corner points of the box

Do one of the following:

• Left-click twice

• Left-drag the mouse

This creates four separate line primitives that together form a box Note that the box can only be edited as four separate lines, not as a box

To draw a circle primitive:

1 Select the Circle tool

2 Define the centerpoint and the radius of the circle

Do one of the following:

• Left-click twice

• Left-drag the mouse

Arc

To draw an arc primitive:

1 Select the Arc tool

2 Define the end points and the bulge point of the arc

Do one of the following:

• Left-click three times to define the end points and the bulge point

• Left-click to define the first end point and then left-drag to define the second end point and the bulge point

• Left-drag a line to define the end points and then left-click to define the bulge point

Filled box

To draw a filled rectangle shape:

1 Select the Filled box tool

2 Define two opposite corner points of the box

Do one of the following:

• Left-click twice

• Left-drag the mouse

Filled circle

To draw a filled circle:

1 Select the Filled circle tool

2 Define the centerpoint and the radius of the filled circle

Do one of the following:

• Left-click twice

• Left-drag the mouse

Fill area

To draw a fill area primitive:

1 Select the Fillarea tool

2 Position the mouse where you want begin drawing, and

left-click to define the starting point

3 Move the mouse and left-click to define the next vertex point

To draw an arc, click to define the starting point of the arc and then drag to define the ending point and the bulge

left-4 Repeat step 3 to add more vertex points

5 When you finish, end drawing by doing one of the following:

• Double-click where you want to end drawing

• Left-click the starting point

Text

To insert a text string primitive:

1 Select the Text tool The following dialog box appears:

2 Type the text into the field and click OK

3 Define the starting point and the angle of the text

Do one of the following:

• Left-click twice

• Left-drag the mouse

Fill area from lines

The Insert > Fillarea from lines command converts selected individual line tives into a filled area This is a useful command in grouping CAD DXF images composed of individual lines when you import them into SymEd

primi-To convert line primitives into a filled area:

1 Select the line primitives you want to convert into a filled area

2 Click Insert > Fillarea From Lines.The lines are converted into a filled area that uses the default attribute set-tings

Lines from fill area

The Insert > Lines From Fillarea command converts the selected fill area primitive into a group of line primitives.To convert line primitives into a filled area:

1 Select the fill area primitive you want to convert to line primitives

2 Click Insert > Lines From Fillarea

Using a background bitmap

Background bitmap images can be used in SymEd.They are in the background of every symbol in a symbol file The supported file formats are GIF, JPEG, and TIF.You can use a background image as a drawing aid to draw a symbol that is avail-able only in bitmap format Note that the background image is not saved in the symbol file, and it is not displayed in the symbols

Steps To import a background bitmap:

1 Select File > Background Image.The Open Background Image File dialog box appears

2 Select the file you want to use as a background image and click OK.Import the image to the current symbol file and it is displayed in the back-ground of every symbol

3 To turn the background visibility off or on, select Options > Background Image

A check mark next to the menu selection indicates that the background image is visible

2.3 Editing primitives

This section discusses selecting and editing primitives and other shapes

Topics in this section are:

• Selecting primitives (p 33)

• Moving, resizing and rotating primitives (p 38)

• Deleting objects (p 39)

• Editing primitive shapes (p 40)

• Editing primitive values (p 41)

• Editing primitive attributes (p 44)

• Editing font list (p 53)

Selecting primitives

Before you can edit an existing primitive or other shape, you must select it in the Edit Workarea To do this select the End Command tool and then click the primi-tive in the Edit Workarea

For more information, see Selecting and moving objects (p 23).You can also use the Primitive List to select from a stack of primitives This is useful when you edit a symbol that is made up of several overlapping primitives

Primitive List

The Primitive List shows the primitives and values of the current symbol You

open the Primitive List by selecting Misc > Primitive List.The following figure shows the Primitive List dialog box:

The background bitmap is not saved with the symbol file, and it is not displayed in the symbols It is available only as a help feature for drawing symbols from bitmap files

The Primitive List is useful for both drawing and editing:

• When you draw primitives, they appear at the end of the Primitive

List If you select a primitive before drawing a new one, the new primitive appears right above the selected primitive in the Primitive List

• When you edit primitives, select the primitive you want to edit from

the Primitive List You can only select one primitive from the tive List The selection shows up in the Edit Workarea

Primi-Primitive List example

The following illustrates the behavior and use of the Primitive List by creating a symbol that consists of several primitives

Open the Primitive List and do the following:

1 Draw a box

The box appears as four line primitives in the Primitive List The Primitive List also shows the coordinates of the beginning and ending points of the lines The Primitive List looks like this:

2 Draw a filled circle

The circle appears as a filled area in the Primitive List The filled area itive appears at the end of the list since no primitive was selected The Prim-itive List now looks like this:

prim-3 Draw an arc.

Again, the arc appears at the end of the Primitive List The Primitive List shows the coordinates of the starting and ending points and the bulge of the arc The Primitive List now looks like this:

4 Select the primitive number 5 (Fill area) from the Primitive List and draw a circle

Now the circle primitive appears above the selected fill area primitive as shown in the figure below The Primitive List shows the centerpoint and the radius of the circle