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2D Drawing Explorer

The Main Window

The Summary Report

To select the summary report, click the “Drawing Categories” branch at the top of the left-hand pane.  A report will appear on the right, showing the total number of drawings in each category and the number of checked drawings in the permanent selection set. To select a similar report for CAM data, click the “CAM Categories” branch in the left-hand pane.

The Drawing/CAM Categories

To select a drawing or CAM category, click any available category in the left-hand pane.  A column-based report will appear on the right, listing details of all drawings or CAM data in the selected category.

File Formats

A small icon in the left-most column of the report indicates the format of each file.

• S indicates a SPF drawing

• F indicates a FLX drawing

• C indicates a CAM data file

• N indicates a nested piece drawing

• X indicates a drawing with external references (xrefs)

Modified Drawings and Safe Layers

A red asterisk in the left-most column of the report indicates a modified drawing.  A green asterisk indicates a modified drawing with an associated safe layer.

Sorting the Rows

To sort the list of drawings or CAM data, click a column title in the header section at the top of the right-hand pane.  The list will be sorted in ascending order using values from the selected column.  Repeated clicking will toggle between ascending and descending order.  A small arrow will appear next to the column title, indicating the current sort direction.

Resizing the Columns

To make a column wider or narrower, simply drag the divider (next to the column title) using the mouse.

Hiding a Column

To hide an unwanted column, drag the column divider from right to left until the column has zero width and effectively “vanishes”.  If a hidden column is present, the mouse pointer changes (from a single bar | to a double bar ||) when the mouse is positioned over the column divider.  To redisplay a hidden column, position the mouse and, when the pointer changes, simply drag the divider in the opposite direction, from left to right.

Selecting Files

To select a single drawing or CAM file, simply click the corresponding line in the report.  To select a number of individual files, press the Ctrl key before clicking each line in turn.  To select a batch of adjacent files, click the line corresponding to the first file in the batch, then click the last line in the batch whilst pressing the Shift key.

The Selection Set

Drawings or CAM files can be added to a permanent selection set to allow easy access to frequently used items and/or batch processing across multiple drawing/CAM categories.  To add an item to the selection set, click the corresponding check box in the left-most column of the report.  A checkmark (or tick) will appear, indicating that the item is now part of the selection set.  Re-click the check box to clear the checkmark and remove the item from the selection set.

The Preview Pane

A preview of the selected drawing or CAM file appears at the bottom of the right-hand pane.  If more than one item is selected, the preview pane will show the item in the report that is enclosed by the dotted “focus” rectangle.  The preview height or width can be adjusted by dragging the horizontal or vertical dividers between the panes.

Drawing Preview

The drawing preview allows the rapid browsing of SPF drawings, with the option to zoom, scroll and configure the format of the display.  Text can be displayed using any fixed-pitch Windows font (e.g. Courier New) and the background colour can be selected from the standard Windows colour palette.  The following options are available on both the main menu (under View | Preview Pane) and on the pop-up menu, which is activated by right-clicking the preview pane:

Option	Shortcut	Description
Zoom In	or PgUp	To zoom in on a particular point, left click with the mouse
Zoom Out	or PgDn	To zoom out on a particular point, middle click with the mouse
Zoom Rectangle		Left click and drag to define diagonal corners of the zoom rectangle
Fit Pane	or End	Fits the current drawing to the preview pane
Scroll		Use the standard scroll bars that appear when the preview is zoomed in
Show Colours		Displays the preview in colour or black-and-white
Paper Colour		Selects the background colour for the preview (not available in black-and-white mode)
Text Font		Selects a fixed-pitch Windows font for the preview

 

Note:  The preview is not currently available for drawings in FelixCad’s FLX format.

CAM Preview

The CAM preview provides a pictorial representation of the selected CAM file that can be zoomed, scrolled, queried and printed.  Interaction with the CAM preview is through a built-in toolbar with the following options:

 

Option	Toolbar	Description
Open CAM File		Browses for CAM files outside the current model
Page Setup		Defines the page layout for printed output
Print CAM Drawing		Prints the current contents of the preview pane
Redraw the CAM File		Refreshes the preview pane
Fit CAM Drawing to Window		Expands or contracts the current drawing so that it just fills the preview pane
Enable Zoom		Left click twice to define diagonal corners of the zoom rectangle
Enable Distance Check		Starts continuous display of distance from initial click to location of mouse pointer
Enable Feature Info		Left click a feature (e.g. a hole or slot) to display a dialog with more information
Enable Dimension Feature		Left click a feature to show its running dimensions
Enable Undimension Feature		Left click a feature to hide its running dimensions
Show All Holes Data		Displays a dialog containing a summary of all the hole data
Dimension All Features		Shows running dimensions for all features
Undimension All Features		Hides running dimensions for all features
Show Options		Displays the options dialog (see separate table below for details)

 

Click the Show Options button on the toolbar to enable a number of configurable options:

Option	Description
Snap to Nearest Feature	Option to automatically select a feature when you click near it (useful for the Distance Check option)
Enable Scroll	Option to scroll the preview by dragging the middle mouse button
Enable Quick Fit	Option to “fit” the preview pane by double-clicking the middle mouse button
Show Dummy Face Views	Option to show all views, regardless of shape (useful for troubleshooting)

Note:  Certain components cannot be displayed in the preview pane, even though CAM data may be generated for them.  For example, the CAM preview is not currently available for CHS or cold-rolled shapes.  The message, "PREVIEW UNAVAILABLE" will appear whenever CAM data cannot be previewed.