______ _________ ___________ / /\ / // \ / / \ / ____// ___ \ / / \ / /___//\ \ /\ \ / / \ \ \ \ \ \ \ / /_______/ __\____ \ _\ \__\ \ / // \\ \ \ // \\ / \___________//________________\\_____________/ \ \\ // / \ \\ // / \ \\ // / \__________\\__________//____________/ P R E S E N T P R O V E C T O R H E L P F I L E Brought to you by MUB/LSD. Choose the PROJECT/NEW menu item to open an empty, "Untitled," project window for creating a new project. You may have as many projects open at one time as memory will allow. Choose the PROJECT/OPEN menu item to open a project previously saved to a disk file. The file requester will open, displaying a list of the entries in the current directory. If you see the project you wish to load before the requester is done listing, you may immediately click on it, click the "OK" gadget, and the file will be loaded. Double-clicking on the file name eliminates the need for the "OK" gadget. Selecting a directory will list the contents of that directory. Selecting the "Parent" gadget will list the contents of the next higher directory level. Selecting the "Drives" gadget will list the currently available drives and logical file devices. Clicking with the Right- Mouse Button in the listing window has the same effect as the "Drives" gadget. You may have as many projects open at one time as memory will allow. Choose the PROJECT/CLOSE menu item to close the current project. The current ("active") project window has a clearly readable title in the title bar, non- active windows have fuzzy or "ghosted" titles. If the most recent changes have not been saved, you will be asked whether you wish to save them. Choose the PROJECT/SAVE menu item to save the current project to a disk file. If you have not named this project, the file requester will open. Name your project, then click "OK" (choose HELP for PROJECT/OPEN for more details on the file requester). Choose the PROJECT/SAVE AS menu item to rename the current project and then save it to a disk file. The file requester will open. Type a new name into the "File" string gadget, or, if you wish to replace an existing file with the new file, click on a file name in the requester window. WARNING - This will permanently erase the old file! Click "OK" to save (choose HELP for PROJECT/OPEN for more details on the file requester). Choose the PROJECT/BITMAP menu item to load a bitmap into the current project. After the file requester opens, select a standard (IFF- ILBM) bitmap file, just as you would any other file. The bitmap will be displayed in the project. The image can be traced with ProVector drawing tools to create a structured (and thus, resolution independent) version of the image; the original bitmap can then be DELETEd to save memory. All of the Object Manipulation tools with the exceptions of the ROTATE tool and the CHANGE tool will operate on a bitmap. The bitmap can also be saved in the project file. Choose the PROJECT/FULL PLOT menu item to produce a plot (or print) of the current project. The file requester will dislay a list of available output drivers. Select the appro- priate driver for the device you wish to plot to in the same way in which you would select a file to load. Each driver has its own requester inter- face. Consult the ProVector documentation for details on the use of each driver. The plot will display the entire project (see the HELP for PROJECT/PARTIAL PLOT). The PROJECT/PARTIAL PLOT menu item is iden- tical to that of PROJECT/FULL PLOT, except that it will plot only a portion of your project. Prior to choosing PROJECT/PARTIAL PLOT, specify the area to be plotted with the toolbox MAGNIFY tool. Choose PROJECT/PARTIAL PLOT. You may now proceed exactly as if you were making a full- sized plot. ProVector will plot (print) only the portion of the project visible in the project window. Choose the PROJECT/QUIT menu item to quit the program. If you have not saved your most recent changes to any open project, you will be asked if you want to do so. Choose the EDIT/UNDO menu item to undo the action of the most recent editing action (such as a CUT, COPY, drawing a new object, deleting an object, moving an object, etc.). You may also undo the previous undo if no editing actions have been performed since that undo. Choose the EDIT/REDO menu item to reperform the editing action that the last UNDO has undone. Note that this only works if no editing actions have been performed since the last UNDO. Choose the EDIT/CUT menu item to cut the currently selected objects and place them in the clipboard. Any objects already in the clipboard will be replaced with the current cut. Choose the EDIT/COPY menu item to copy the currently selected objects into the clipboard. Any objects already in the clipboard will be replaced with the current cut. Choose the EDIT/PASTE menu item to insert the current contents of the clipboard into your project. They will be inserted at the same relative position as that which they occupied in the project from which they were copied or cut. Choose the EDIT/SELECT ALL menu item to select all of the objects in the project. You may unselect individual objects by clicking on them. Choose the EDIT/SMOOTH menu item to smooth the currently selected objects. Curves will be approximated from the existing endpoints of the objects. You can not smooth GROUPS or text. NOTE: smoothing Bezier objects (including ellipses and smooth polygons) loses important information about the objects that can not be recovered by the EDIT/UNSMOOTH menu item. If you find you have accidentally smoothed such an object, use the UNDO menu item to restore it. Choose the EDIT/UNSMOOTH menu item to unsmooth the currently selected objects. All curves (B-splines) in the objects will be simplified to straight lines. You can not unsmooth GROUPS or text. NOTE: unsmoothing Bezier objects (including ellipses and smooth polygons) loses important information about the objects that can not be recovered by the SMOOTH menu item. If you find you have accidentally unsmoothed such an object, use the UNDO menu item to restore it. Choose the EDIT/SPLIT menu item to SPLIT an object and its related subpolygons into separate objects. Note that the subpolygons will NOT regain their original attributes. They will retain the attributes of the former parent. See EDIT/MERGE for more details. Choose the EDIT/MERGE menu item to MERGE the selected objects into parent- and sub- polygons. The hierarchy of the parent and sub- polygons will be assigned according to the order in which the objects were selected. The first object selected will become the parent object, the second becomes subpolygon-A, the third object becomes subpolygon-B (a subpolygon of the first subpolygon), and so on. All subpolygons will assume the attributes of the parent object. If a subpolygon overlaps a parent, the common area becomes transparent. When a combi- nation of several subpolygons, or subpolygons and a parent share a common area the area will be either opaque or transparent depending upon the number of objects (subpolygons or a parent) that are overlapping. If an even number of objects is involved, the area of overlap will be transparent. If the number of objects is odd, the area will be opaque. Choose the EDIT/LAYERS menu item to control the arragement and status of layers in the current project. The largest and most important area in the requester is the list of layers present in the project. The layers are shown in the list in the same order as they are displayed in the project. You may scroll through the list by using the scroll bar to the right of the list. The letters to the left of each layer name signifies the status of the layer. These letters may be 'C', 'E', 'L', or 'H'. These signify 'Current', 'Edit', 'Lock' and 'Hide', respectively. The Current layer is that layer in which newly created objects are placed. An Editable layer allows objects in that layer to be modified. A Locked layer displayes the objects in the layer, but does not allow the objects to be modified. A Hidden layer is not displayed on the screen at all. At times, another character may be shown immediately to the right of the status letter in the layers list. This character may be '+', indicating that the layer was added during this layer editing session; '-' indicating that this layer is marked to be deleted; or '*' indicating that the layer has been otherwise modified during this layer editing session. There are four gadgets immediately to the left of the layer list. The gadgets are labelled 'Current', 'Hide', 'Lock' and 'Edit'. The gadgets are highlighted according to the status of the currently selected layer in the layer list. You may modify the status of the selected layer by clicking on the appropriate gadget. You may reposition the selected layer in the layer list by using the gadgets below the list. These gadgets are labelled 'Up', 'Down', 'Top' and 'Bottom' and they performe the actions with which they are labelled. To rename the currently selected layer, click on the 'Rename' gadget. The string gadget will become activated. Type in the new name you wish the layer to have, then hit the Return key. The layer will be renamed. Note that layer names may have mixed case in them, but that they are compared as if all letters were in upper case. ProVector rejects attempts to have more than one layer with the same name. To create a new layer, click on the 'Create' gadget. The string gadget will be activated. Type in the name of the layer you wish to create. Again, ProVector will reject attempts to have multiple layers with the same name. To delete a layer, simply click on the 'Delete' gadget. You may undelete a deleted layer by clicking again on the 'Delete' gadget. Once you are done editing the layers, click on the 'OK' or 'Cancel' button. Note that no changes are actually performed until you click 'OK'. Note also that there is no way to UNDO the deletion of a layer. ProVector will warn you when you are about to delete layers. Choose the EDIT/RELAYER OBJECT menu item to reassign the currently selected object(s) to the current layer as set by the Layer requester. The object(s) will be deselected after RELAYER'ing. Choose the STYLE/FILL menu item to open the Fill Requester for selecting and editing the fill attributes with which new objects will be drawn. Available fills include 256 colors and object-oriented fills. You may also shift-click or double-click on the CLOSED-FILLED tool to display the Fill Requester. There are several areas of interest in the Fill Requester. The largest area is the palette in which all 256 colors available for display are shown. To select a color as an area fill, simply click on the color you desire. The color will be displayed in the large square in the top center of the requester. The Red, Green, and Blue components of the color will be displayed both in the sliders in the center of the requester and in the string gadgets below each slider. If you want the colors to be shown as proportions of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow, click on the 'CMY' gadget. To return to the Red, Green, Blue mode, click on the 'RGB' gadget. To modify colors, simply move the sliders up and down, or type in the numeric value of the color component that you wish to modify. You may also perform other modifications of colors. To get a continuous range from one color to another, select the first color. Click on the 'Spread' gadget, then click on the second color. The colors in between the first and second colors will be replaced by a continuous range of colors. You may exchange two colors in the pallete by clicking on the first color, clicking on the 'Exch' gadget, then clicking on the second color. The exchange will be performed immediately. To make a copy of a color, click on the color you wish to copy, click on the 'Copy' gadget, then click on the color you want replaced. The copy will be performed immediately. To undo all changes to the color palette made during this Fill Requester session, click on the 'Undo' gadget. There are other ways to fill objects other than with a solid color. Selecting the gadget labelled 'No Fill' ensures that objects created while the CLOSED/FILLED tool is active will be closed, but not filled at all. For a more interesting fill effect, you may select one of the 32 object-oriented patterns. You may define your own object- oriented patterns; see the HELP for the STYLE/OBJ TO FILL menu item. Once you are done editing your fill style, click on the 'OK' or 'Cancel' gadget. If you click on 'Cancel', no modifications you have made to the color palette will be retained. Choose the STYLE/BORDER menu item to open the Border Requester for selecting and editing the border attributes with which new objects will be drawn. Available options include 256 colors, variable line weights, line joins and patterns. You may also shift-click or double- click on the FREEHAND tool to display the Border Requester. The color palette works in the same way the color palette in the Fill Requester works. See the HELP for STYLE/FILL for more information on the color palette. The Border Pattern (line pattern) gadgets are in a column to the left of the palette. From top to bottom, they are NOLINE, SOLID LINE, DASHED LINE, and DASH-DOT LINE. Just select (click) the desired gadget. The Border Weight (line weight) is set by entering the value in the "Weight" string gadget just beneath the palette. The value is in the current unit of measure; the default unit is inches. Thus, "0.013889" in the default units would be a one point (approximately 1/72 of an inch) line weight. Be sure to press "Return" so the string gadget will recognize the new value. The Line Join gadgets are located in the lower right of the requester, just under the Border Patterns. In order, the Line Joins supported are "NoJoin," "Mitered," "Beveled," and "Rounded." Just select (click) the desired gadget. Once you are done editing your border styles, click on the 'OK' or 'Cancel' gadget. If you click on 'Cancel', no modifications you have made to the color palette will be retained. Choose the STYLE/TYPEFACE menu item to set the current Typeface attributes. These attri- butes include the point size and typeface in which newly created TEXT objects will be displayed. To change the point size, simply enter the desired size in the string gadget. To change the typeface, click on the TYPEFACE button. A file requester will appear from which you may select the name of the typeface you desire. You may also shift-click on the TEXT tool to open the font requester. To change the attributes of an existing text object, change the current Typeface attributes to the desired values, SELECT the text object, then click on the CHANGE tool. The text object will be redisplayed using the new attributes you selected. Choose the STYLE/OBJ TO FILL menu item to convert the currently selected object or GROUP of objects into a structured fill-pattern. First select a structured fill-pattern from the Fill Requester. Then create a pattern. If the pattern consists of more than one object, you must GROUP them. Be sure the object or pattern is selected, then choose OBJ TO FILL from the Style menu. The current structured fill-pattern will be replaced with the new pattern. Any existing objects filled with the old pattern will be refilled with the new pattern. Choose the STYLE/FILL TO OBJ menu item to paste the currently selected structured fill- pattern into the project window as a standard ProVector object (the current fill attribute must be a structured-fill pattern for this command to work). This object may then be UNGROUPed, edited and reassigned as a new fill pattern with the OBJ TO FILL command (See the HELP for STYLE/OBJ TO FILL). Choose the STYLE/TEXT TO OBJ menu item to transform all selected TEXT objects into GROUPs of objects. This is useful for special effects, such as shearing text, or distorting individual letters. Use the 'w' key to define the current line weight without having to use the Border requester. To do this, first type in the new line weight you desire (for example, 1.5). Then type the 'w' key. This weight will be used when creating new objects. "-" (minus sign) and "=" (equals sign) will select the previous or next BORDER JOIN (line join) in the order NOJOIN, MITERED, BEVELED, and ROUNDED. If the current join is BEVELED, "-" would step sucessively through ROUNDED, NOJOIN, MITERED, and back to BEVELED; "=" would step backwards through MITERED, NOJOIN, ROUNDED, and back to BEVELED. The default join is MITERED. See also the HELP for the following characters: "(" and ")", "<" and ">", "[" and "]", "{" and "}". "(" and ")" will select the previous or next FILL TYPE (either solid fill or structured pattern-fill) without calling up the Fill Requester. See also the HELP for the following characters: "<" and ">", "-" and "=", "[" and "]", "{" and "}". "<" and ">" will select the previous or next BORDER STYLE (either NONE, SOLID, DASH, DOT, or DASH_DOT without calling up the Border Requester. The default is SOLID. See also the HELP for the following characters: "(" and ")", "-" and "=", "[" and "]", "{" and "}". "[" and "]" will select the previous or next FILL VALUE (either color values, 0-255, or pattern-fill values, 0-31, depending on the FILL TYPE selected) without calling up the Fill Requester. The default is BLACK (color value 0). See also the HELP for the following characters: "(" and ")", "<" and ">", "-" and "=", "{" and "}". "{" and "}" will select the previous or next BORDER COLOR (0-255) without calling up the Border Requester. The default is BLACK (color value 0). See also the HELP for the following characters: "(" and ")", "<" and ">", "-" and "=", "[" and "]". Use the arrow keys or arrow gadgets to move the current 'viewport' around in the current project window. The viewport is moved in the direction of the arrow key or gadget. The scroll bars reflect the current size and position of the 'viewport' in which the objects of the current project are displayed. You may move the scroll bars around to view a different part of the project. Choose the SCREEN/FULL VIEW menu item to show the entire project in the project window. Choosing the MISC/DISP PREFS menu item opens the DISPLAY PREFS requester. This requester allows you to modify the screen attributes that ProVector uses to display your projects. When the 'Use WB' gadget is selected, ProVector will run on the WorkBench screen. Note that the 'Interlace', 'Mono', 'Depth:' and 'Bright:' gadgets are disabled when this gadget is selected. To run on a custom screen instead, make sure that the 'Use WB' gadget is not selected. When the 'Interlace' gadget is selected, ProVector will run on an interlaced custom screen. Not counting overscan, this will result in a screen 400 (NTSC) or 512 (PAL) lines high. When the gadget is not selected, ProVector will run on a non-interlaced custom screen. This results in a screen 200 (NTSC) or 256 (PAL) lines high. The interlace screen produces less jagged lines, but will flicker on most displays. When the 'Mono' gadget is selected, ProVector will use a hardware color map consisting only of gray scales. This produces less flicker when dithered colors are rendered. In addition, actual gray scales are rendered much more accurately. When running under version 2.0 or greater of the Amiga operating system, a Mono screen will enable the 'New Look' windows and system gadgets. When the 'Dither' gadget is selected, ProVector will use dithering to approximate all 256 colors on screen, no matter what the hardware color map is. When the gadget is not selected, each color is instead displayed in the closest available hardware color. When 'WB Open' gadget is selected, ProVector will refrain from closing the WorkBench. When the gadget is not selected, ProVector will attempt to close the WorkBench screen. This can result in a substantial CHIP memory savings. When the 'Toolbox' gadget is selected, the Toolbox will be opened. When the gadget is not selected, the Toolbox will be closed. The string gadget labelled 'Depth:' determines the number of hardware colors that ProVector will use to render objects. The number of colors is as follows: Depth 1 = 2 colors; Depth 2 = 4 colors; Depth 3 = 8 colors; Depth 4 = 16 colors. Note that at Depth 3 and Depth 4, ProVector screen operations can be slowed down substantially; however, the color rendition is much better. You may use the slider immediately below the 'Depth:' string gadget instead of typing in values. The string gadget labelled 'Bright:' determines how bright the hardware colors that ProVector uses will be. Turning down the brightness can substantially reduce the 'flicker' present in Interlaced screens. The brightness may range from 1 (dim) to 5 (bright). You may use the slider immediately below the 'Bright:' string gadget instead of typing in values. When the 'Status' gadget is selected, the Status window will be opened. When the gadget is not selected, the Status window will be closed. When the 'Coords' gadget is selected, the Coordinate window will be opened. When the gadget is not selected, the Coordinate window will be closed. When you have finished modifying your Display Prefs, select the 'OK' gadget. If you do not want the Display Prefs to take effect, select 'Cancel' instead. Shift-click on the GRID LOCK gadget to define the spacing between the grid lines without having to open the Page Prefs requester. You will be prompted to enter a value. This value is in the current units. The default value is 1.0 inches. Choosing the MISC/PAGE PREFS menu item opens the PAGE PREFS requester. Use this requestor to change the page layout attributes of the current project. You may select from a variety of standard page sizes by selecting one of the following gadgets: 'Standard' (8.5 by 11 inches), 'Legal' (8.5 by 14 inches), 'B4' (25.6 by 36.4 cm), 'B5' (18.2 by 25.7 cm), 'A3' (29.7 by 42 cm), 'A4' (21 by 29.7 cm), or 'A5' (14.8 by 21 cm). The actual dimensions of the page will appear in the string gadgets labelled 'Page Size:' in the current units. If none of the standard page sizes meet your needs, you may create your own page size by selecting the 'Custom' gadget. You may now enter the actual dimensions of your page in the current units. Note that if you type in these string gadgets when one of the standard page sizes is selected, ProVector will automatically select the 'Custom' gadget for you. The 'Portrait' gadget lays the page out according to standard typesetting conventions, where the long dimension is vertical and the short dimension is horizontal. If you prefer, select the 'Landscape' gadget to reverse this orientation. Your project will be printed out properly regardless of the orientation. You may customize the units used by ProVector by selecting one of the 'Inch', 'CM' or 'Pica' gadgets. Internally, ProVector uses Inches. ProVector uses the conversion factors of 2.54 CM per inch and 0.16608 inches per Pica. There are exactly 12 points per Pica. This yields approximately 72 points per inch or 6 Picas per inch. You may use the string gadget labelled 'Grid size:' to modify the spacing between the grid points displayed when the Grid Display tool is active. This number is shown in the current units. When you are done modifying your Page Prefs, select the 'OK' gadget to confirm your changes. If you do not wish your changes to take effect, select 'Cancel' instead. Choosing the MISC/EDIT PREFS menu item opens the EDIT PREFS requester. Use this requester to set global editing preferences that effect all projects. When the 'Patterns' gadget is selected, ProVector will display object-oriented fill patterns like they will be shown on final output. When the gadget is not selected, the patterns will be (crudely) approximated. When the 'Scale Lines' gadget is selected, ProVector will scale the weights of the borders in objects as the objects themselves are scaled. ProVector chooses the larger of the horizontal and vertical scales when scaling the line weights. The string gadgets labelled 'Spline Accuracy:' and 'Spline Steps:' control how precisely ProVector renders curves. The actual mechanics of these two gadgets is explained in detail in the ProVector documentation; in short, though, the lower the Spline Accuracy and/or the higher the Spline Steps, the more accurately splines are rendered. The 'Undo depth:' string gadget controls how many steps of Undo ProVector will allow. Note that large values of Undo Depth will require large amounts of free memory. The 'Freehand Tolerance:' string gadget controls how accurately ProVector will attempt to fit a curve to the points entered with the Freehand tool. This number is in pixels. Lower numbers will result in more accurate curves; however, a larger number of points will be required to achieve this accuracy. When the Freehand Tolerance is set to 0, no curve fitting will be attempted. The 'Magnet Strength:' string gadget controls how strongly Magnetized objects attract the input points. This value is in pixels and it is the number of pixels within which input points will be attracted to the Magnetized objects. When you are done modifying your Edit Prefs, select the 'OK' gadget to confirm your changes. If you do not wish your changes to take effect, select 'Cancel' instead. This drop down menu can be configured by users to call the ARexx macros of their choice. With a text editor, include a 'DEFINE' command in the file REXX:ProVector.pvrx for each menu item you wish to define. Command syntax: 'Define "Menu item text" Macro.pvrx' "Menu item text" is the message to be displayed in the menu. "Macro.pvrx" is the name of the ARexx program to be run. The ".pvrx" suffix may be omitted from the ARexx clause, but must be part of the macro's actual filename. Hotkey: M Select the MAGNET tool to assign "MAGNETISM" to the currently selected objects. When the left-mouse button is clicked within a specified distance of an object which has been "MAGNETIZED," it will be drawn to that object. The effect is similar to the mouse snapping to the grid when the GRID SNAP tool is selected. If you are creating a new object, the new points clicked within the range of the "magnetized" object will snap to its border. In this way the new object can be given a perfectly contiguous edge with the "magnetized" object. To "MAGNETIZE" an object or objects, SELECT (high-light) them, then click on the MAGNET tool. Note that previously "magnetized" objects will be "demagnetized" by this action. The MAGNET tool will remain high-lighted as long as there are "magnetized" objects. If you click on the MAGNET tool when no objects are selected, all "magnetized" objects will be "demagnetized." Like the GRID tools and the MAGNIFY tool, the MAGNET tool can be selected at any stage of object creation or manipulation. Virtually all toolbox operations which expect additional input are affected by "magnetism," including the MAGNIFY tool. Hotkey: z Select the MAGNIFY tool to "zoom in" on an area of your project to do detailed work. Click on the MAGNIFY tool to activate it, then click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button in the project window at a corner of the area that you want to enlarge. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. "Stretch" the rubberband by dragging the mouse, until it encloses the area to be magnified, then release the mouse button. The area will be magnified to fill the window. The MAGNIFY tool can be activated at almost any stage of creating or editing an object. Simply click on the tool, set the desired magnification, and resume entering points, manipulating the object, etc. Once magnified, use your cursor arrows or the window sliders to move your "magnified window" around your project. Hotkey: Z Shift-click on the MAGNIFY tool to "zoom out" from the portion of your project that is currently displayed. Shift-clicking or double- clicking on this tool will display an area of your project twice as large as the current area. The objects in your project will thus appear smaller. Note that you cannot "zoom out" past the boundaries of your project. You may "zoom out" at almost any stage of creating or editing an object. Use the 'F3' key to open and close the Coordinate window. The coordinate window shows the current position of the mouse cursor, in the project's coordinate system. Consult the HELP for MISC/PAGE PREFS for more information about the coordinate system. Use the 'F1' key to open and close the Toolbox window. Note that when no projects are open, closing the Toolbox window will quit ProVector. Use the 'F2' key to open and close the Status window. The status window shows the current fill style, border color, border pattern, and line weight, as well as the current number entered from the keyboard (for use with the 'w', '[', ']', '(', ')', '-', '=', '<', '>', '{', and '}' keys). Hotkey: P Select the POLYGON tool to create an irregular polygon composed of straight lines. Select this tool, then click inside the project window to define the first point of your polygon. Click on as many additional points as you wish, double-clicking to place the last point of the polygon. If the CLOSED-FILLED tool is selected, the polygon will be automatically closed. It will be drawn with the currently selected FILL and BORDER attributes. Hotkey: R Select the RECTANGLE tool to create polygons of a given number of sides. The default is four sides (a rectangle). To draw your regular polygon, visualize a bounding box around the object you wish to create, then click and hold the Left_Mouse- Button inside the project window to define a corner of the bounding box. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. "Stretch" the rubberband by dragging the mouse, until it represents the height and width of the polygon desired, then release the button. The new polygon will be added with the requested number of sides and the currently selected FILL and BORDER attributes. Shift-click on the RECTANGLE tool to open the REGULAR POLYGON requester. This requester allows you to draw regular polygons of a specified number of sides, such as squares, pentagons (five sides), and hexagons (six sides). When the requester opens, a string gadget will prompt you for the number of sides that the object is to have. Type in the number of sides (eg. "8" sides for an octagon), and press or click the OK gadget. Now, each time you select the RECTANGLE tool it will create a polygon of the specified number of sides. Shift-click on the RECTANGLE tool again to open the requester and set a new value. Note that you may guarantee that each new regular polygon you create has sides of equal length by selecting the CONSTRAIN gadget in this requester. When the gadget is highlighted, ProVector will constrain your input bounding box to a square. Hotkey: E Select the ELLIPSE tool to create ellipses, arcs, and pie-shaped wedges. The ELLIPSE tool defaults to drawing ellipses. To draw an ellipse, visualize a rectangle bounding the object you wish to create. Select this tool, then click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button on a corner of that bounding box. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. "Stretch" the rubberband by dragging the mouse, until it represents the size and proportions of the ellipse desired, then release the mouse button. The new ellipse will be added with the currently selected FILL and BORDER attributes. Shift-click on the ELLIPSE tool to open the ARC CONTROL requester. A requester will open with two string gadgets labeled "Arc from:" and "Arc to:" Type values in degrees for the start and end of your arc. Zero degrees is at three o'clock; degrees proceed counter-clockwise. If the CLOSED-FILLED tool is active, the object will be a pie-shaped wedge; if the CLOSED-FILLED tool is not active, the object will be an open arc. To ensure that the ellipses you create are actually circular, select the CONSTRAIN gagdet in this requester. When the gadget is hilighted, ProVector will constrain your input bounding box to a square. Drawing arcs and pie shapes is similar to drawing ellipses. The center of the arc or the "point' of the pie shape will be the center of the bounding box that you stretch out. NOTE: If you draw an open arc, then activate the CLOSED-FILLED tool, and the CHANGE tool to change the arc to a filled object, the object will be closed by a chord (a line drawn from one end of the arc to the other); it will not become a pie shape. The settings of the requester remain in effect each time you select the ELLIPSE tool, until you change them again with the requester. Hotkey: F Select the FREEHAND tool to create a freehand drawing. Select this tool, then click and drag in the project window. The freehand line will follow your mouse movements. When you have finished drawing your object, release the button, and the object will be rendered with the currently selected attributes. If the CLOSED- FILLED tool is selected, the polygon will be automatically closed with a straight line connecting your first and last point. Hotkey: I Select the SMOOTH POLYGON tool to create an object composed of curves interpolated from the points of a polygon. Select this tool, then click inside the project window to define the first point of your polygon. Click on as many additional points as you wish, double-clicking to place the last point of the polygon. The lines of the polygon will be smoothed, and drawn with the currently selected attributes. If the CLOSED-FILLED tool is selected the polygon will be automatically closed. Each point that you enter will be interpreted as an anchor point, and a curve (B-spline) will be interpolated between each point. Hotkeys: B and L Select the BEZIER SPLINE tool to create a "Bezier-spline object." The BEZIER SPLINE tool is actually composed of two tools, the CURVE tool and the STRAIGHT tool. With these tools an object can be created that contains both curves (B-splines) and straight lines. To place straight lines in a B-spline object, select the STRAIGHT tool, the lower half of the BEZIER SPLINE tool. Then click to enter the points of the lines. To place curves within the object, select the CURVE tool, the upper half of the BEZIER SPLINE tool. Then enter four points to define the curve. All curves in ProVector are defined by four points. The first and last points are called ANCHOR points; the second and third points are CONTROL points. The ANCHOR points define the beginning and end of the curve along the outline of the object. The distance and direction of the CONTROL points modify the straight line formed by the ANCHOR points. The direction of the curve and the distance it is distorted from the straight line is proportional to the that of the CONTROL points. As you create your object, you can alternate straight lines and curves by clicking on either the STRAIGHT or CURVE tools. Remember that all curves in ProVector require four points. So, anytime you have selected the CURVE tool, ProVector will insist that you complete the curve before you can switch to entering straight lines. When a curve is completed, ProVector will render that portion of the object. Thus, you will know when you may switch to the STRAIGHT tool. Double-click on your last point to complete the object. If the CLOSED- FILLED tool is selected the object will be closed and filled with the current attributes. Hotkey: T Select the TEXT tool to create text objects. Select this tool, then click and drag to mark the baseline/starting point of your text. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. Stretch the rubberband by dragging the mouse towards the upper-right of the screen until it is the approximate shape and size desired for a character. Release the mouse, and you will be prompted to enter your text. When you are finished, click on OK, or press the Return key. The text will be displayed with the currently selected style, font, fill, and border attributes (see the HELP for the TYPEFACE command in the STYLE menu). If a single ungrouped object is active when you create your text object, an additional gadget will be available, labelled "On Path". If you select this gadget, the text you type will follow the path of the border of the object. This can be useful for a variety of special effects. Hotkey: f If the CLOSED-FILLED tool is selected (highlighted), new objects will automatically be closed and filled with the current fill color or pattern. If it is not selected, they will be open-ended objects. This tool can be used with the CHANGE tool to convert closed, filled objects into open, unfilled objects, and vice versa. Hotkey: G Selecting the GRID SNAP tool causes your input points to be snapped to the grid intersections. The grid spacing can be modified with the MISC/PAGE PREFS menu item. The GRID DISPLAY tool is immediately to the left. Hotkey: g Selecting the GRID DISPLAY tool displays a grid in the current project window. The grid spacing can be modified with the MISC/PAGE PREFS menu item. The GRID SNAP tool is immediately to the right. Hotkey: c Select the CLONE tool to duplicate the currently selected object(s). Select this tool, then click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button on a point in the project window. This is the initial reference point. The selected objects will be boxed by dotted lines. As you drag the mouse pointer, a second box will follow it. Position the second box where you wish the cloned objects to appear, then release the mouse button. When the CLONE is completed, the duplicate object(s) is now selected. Note that it is helpful in visualizing to click on a point of your object(s) for the initial reference. The corresponding point on the clone will appear at the position of the mouse pointer when you release the mouse button. Hotkey: DEL Select the DELETE tool to DELETE the currently selected objects. Note that DELETE does NOT copy to the clipboard; DELETE'd objects can only be recovered by UNDO. The key is another equivalent to the DELETE tool. Hotkey: m Select the MOVE tool to MOVE the currently selected object(s) to a different position. After clicking on this tool, click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button on a point in the viewing area. This is the initial reference point. The selected object(s) will be boxed by dotted lines. As you drag the mouse pointer, a second bounding box will follow it. Position the second box where you wish to MOVE the object(s), and release the mouse button. When the MOVE is completed, the original object(s) remain selected. Note that it is helpful in visualizing to click on a point of your object(s) for the initial reference. That point will appear at the position of the mouse pointer when you release the mouse button. Hotkey: s The SCALE tool can change the size and proportions of objects in flexible ways, allowing special effects such as mirroring and inverting objects. First Select the object(s) you wish to scale, select this tool, then click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button on a point in the project window. The selected objects will be boxed by a dotted line. A second bounding box will attach its lower-right corner to the mouse pointer. Stretch or shrink this rubber-banding box to the proportions you desire, then release the mouse button. The resized objects will remain selected. Note that by moving the rubber band above or to the left of the original bounding box, you can mirror or invert the objects. Shift-click on this tool to open the SCALE CONTROL requester, which allows you to perform these operations under precise control. If you shift-click on the SCALE tool, the SCALE CONTROL requester will open for setting the preferences for this tool. When the requester opens, the "Horiz" and "Vert" gadgets will both be high-lighted. If you deselect one of these gadgets by clicking on it, the SCALE tool will not allow you to size the object(s) in the corresponding dimension. If the "Numeric" gadget is selected, all selected objects will automatically be sized by the factor entered in the adjacent string gadget. Numeric sizing takes place on either axis currently activated by the "Horiz" and "Vert" gadgets. If the "Prop" gadget is selected, you may size the object(s) in both dimensions, but the proportions of the object(s) will be maintained. Hotkey: r Select the ROTATE tool to ROTATE the currently selected object(s). First Select the object(s) you wish to rotate, select this tool, then click and hold the Left_Mouse-Button in the project window. The selected object(s) will be boxed by dotted lines. A second bounding-box will ROTATE about the center of the selected object(s) as you move the mouse pointer. The second box will have a line drawn from its center to the edge nearest the mouse pointer. When the line is exactly horizontal and extending to the right (i.e. towards the three o'clock or zero degree position), the object(s) are in their original orientation. When you have rotated the object(s) by the desired angle, release the mouse button. The rotated object(s) will remain selected. If you shift-click on the ROTATE tool, the ROTATE CONTROL requester will open for setting the preferences for this tool. The requester has a string gadget, labeled "Angle:", three gadgets labeled, "Free," "Incr," and "Fixed," respectively, and standard "OK," and "CANCEL" gadgets. If the "Free" gadget is selected, the bounding box of the object(s) will rotate freely with the movement of the mouse pointer, as described above. If the "Incr" gadget is selected, the bounding box, instead of rotating freely, will rotate in increments of the degrees specified in the "Angle:" string gadget. If the "Fixed" gadget is selected, there will be no bounding box; all selected objects will immediately be rotated by the "Angle:" value when the ROTATE tool is selected. Zero degrees is at three o'clock; degrees proceed counter- clockwise. Hotkey: C Select the CHANGE tool to change the attributes of the currently selected objects. The selected objects will acquire the attributes currently set by the STYLE menu items, and the CLOSED-FILLED tool. Logically, selected text objects will take on the current Typeface attribute. All objects remain selected. Shift-clicking on the CHANGE tool activates the GETSTYLE tool. The GETSTYLE tool will change the current settings of the STYLE menu items, and the CLOSED-FILLED tool to the attributes of the selected object. If multiple (non-GROUP'ed) objects are selected, the attributes of the object which was selected first will be "dominant." If GETSYLE is used on a GROUP, the attributes that were CURRENT at the time the GROUP was made will become current again. These attributes may not necessarily be the attributes of any object in that group. Hotkey: j Select the GROUP tool to group (or 'j'oin) the currently selected objects. Grouped objects are treated as one object for any of the object manipulations, such as CUT, COPY, CLONE, ROTATE, etc., while retaining their individual attributes. The new group becomes the currently selected object. Groups can be grouped with other objects or groups to form several levels of groups within groups. Hotkey: u Select the UNGROUP tool to ungroup a group of objects. The ungrouped objects will be UNSELECTED. Groups can be grouped with other objects or groups to form several levels of groups within groups. Thus, it may be necessary to reselect and UNGROUP groups within groups to break them down into their most elementary objects. Hotkey: t Select the FRONT tool to bring the currently selected object(s) to the front (or 't'op) of the project. All object(s) remain selected. Hotkey: b Select the BACK tool to push the currently selected object(s) to the back of the project. All object(s) remain selected. Hotkey: S This tool is the object SELECTION tool. When this tool is selected, you are in OBJECT MANIPULATION MODE. If this tool is already active (highlighted) when you click on this tool, all previously selected objects are unselected. You may then select objects by clicking on them. Individual objects can be selected and deselected by clicking them "on" and "off". Once you have selected the desired objects, you may manipulate them with either the Edit menu items or the object manipulation tools. Clicking outside the limits of any object activates LASSO SELECTION. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. "Stretch" the rubberband by dragging the mouse, until it encloses all the objects you wish to select, then release the mouse button. ALL POINTS of an object must be COMPLETELY ENCLOSED by the box to become selected. If the object you wish to manipulate is already selected (such as a newly created object), it is not necessary to select this tool before choosing a manipulation tool. You must also select this tool first if you wish to edit the text of an existing text object, which is done by shift-clicking on the text object. Shift-click or double-click on the SELECTION tool activates LASSO SELECTION. To lasso select objects, first click on a corner of the area you wish to lasso select. A rectangular "rubberband" will attach itself to your mouse pointer. "Stretch" the rubberband by dragging the mouse, until it encloses all the objects you wish to select, then release the mouse button. ALL POINTS of an object must be COMPLETELY ENCLOSED by the box to become selected. Select the RX tool to run an ARexx macro assigned to this tool by your ProVector.pvrx configuration REXX macro. : Press this key to cancel the current action. end.