The BricsCAD Application Window

The color theme

The COLORTHEME system variable controls the color theme of the BricsCAD application window.

COLORTHEME = 0: Dark color theme:

 

COLORTHEME = 1: Light color theme:

 

Setting the color theme

Do one of the following:

• Type colortheme in the command line and choose 1 for ON or 0 for OFF.
• Right-click on a toolbar or ribbon panel and select Dark Interface in the context menu.

 

Understanding the BricsCAD application window

Place the cursor over the ribbon then use the scroll wheel to select a tab.

 

Components of the BricsCAD application window:

1. Menu Bar
2. Toolbar (docked)
3. Document tabs
4. Drawing windows
5. Drawing viewports
6. Window tabs
7. UCS icon
8. Look From widget
9. Prompt Menu
10. Toolbar (floating)
11. Panel tabs
12. Properties panel (see Dockable Panels)
13. Commandline
14. Suggestion list
15. Status Bar
16. Ribbon

 

Displaying the ribbon

Do one of the following:

• Execute the Ribbon command.
• Right-click an empty space in the Layout or Drawing tab area and select Ribbon in the context menu.

 

Hiding the ribbon

Do one of the following:

• Execute the RibbonClose command.
• Right click an empty space in the Layout or Drawing tab area and choose Ribbon in the context menu.

Setting the Ribbon tool size

The size of the tool buttons in the Ribbon is controlled through the RIBBONTOOLSIZE system variable. You can choose between small, large or extra-large buttons.

 

Working with document tabs

Document tabs allow you to:

• Easily switch between all open drawings.
• Drag and drop the tabs to change their order.

Click the X at the right-hand side of tab to close it.

Right click on a document tab to display a context menu:

Item	Description
Close	Closes the current drawing (Close command).
Close Left Tabs	Closes the drawings at the left of the current tab.
Close All But This	Closes all drawings except the current one.
Close All	Closes all drawings (WCloseAll command).
Open	Displays the Open Drawing dialog (Open command).
New	Displays the Create New Drawing dialog (New command).
Save	Saves the current drawing (Save command).
Save All	Saves all open drawings (SaveAll command).
Save As	Launches the SaveAs command.
Position	Lets you select the position of the document tabs.
Duplicate Tab	Saves a copy of the current drawing in a new tab, while keeping the original drawing open. Displays the Save As dialog.
Restore Last Session	Opens the drawings that were open in the previous BricsCAD session.
Open Folder	Opens the folder of the current drawing.
Cascade	Cascades the windows of the current drawings (WCascade command).
Tile Horizontally	Tiles the windows of the current drawings horizontally (WhTile command).
Tile Vertically	Tiles the windows of the current drawings vertically (WvTile command).

The display and location of document tabs is controlled through a system variable and user preferences. In the Settings dialog box, go to Program Options > Display > Document tabs .

• SHOWDOCTABS: controls the display of document tabs.
  (Default = ON)
• DocTabPosition : controls the location of the document tabs: top, bottom, left or right.
  (Default = Top)
• SaveOnDocSwitch: automatically save the drawing when clicking another document tab.
  (Default = OFF)

 

Opening or closing the command line

Do one of the following:

• Launch the COMMANDLINE command.
• Use the Shift+F2 keyboard shortcut.
• Choose Command Bar in the View Menu.
• Move the cursor over a docked toolbar, the ribbon or a panel icon, then right-click and choose Panels > Commandline in the context menu.
• Double click the the far left side of the Status Bar.

The Command line closes if it was open and vice versa.

 

Setting the command line state

The command line can either be docked or floating.

By default, the command line is docked at the bottom of the BricsCAD application window:

Click the Close (x) button to close the command line.

Move the cursor over the dotted left hand side, then press and hold the left mouse button to make the command line floating:

When the command line is floating, set the value of the CmdLineUseNewFrame user preference to 1 to minimize the command line to a single line. When executing a command a number of prompt lines display temporarily and transparently in the graphic screen:

When you move the command line mini-frame near the bottom of the graphic screen, it will stick there.

The behavior of the new command line mini-frame is controlled through a series of variables:

• CmdLineUseNewFrame : controls whether the new frame is used when the command line is floating.
• CLIPROMPTLINES: controls the number of prompt lines in the command history. A value of zero
  disables this feature.
• CmdLineFadingLogFadeDelay: sets the display time of the prompt lines before they start fading.
• CmdLineFadingLogTransparence: sets the transparency of the command history lines.

 

NOTES

You can modify the height of the docked command line by dragging its top or bottom edge, depending on its docking position (bottom or top). You can change the size of a floating command line by dragging one of its edges. You can browse the command history with the up arrow and down arrow keys of the keyboard. When the command line is closed, command options and keyboard entries display in the status bar. Press the F2 function key to toggle the Command History window.

 

Launching a command in the command line

If the Enable flag of the AUTOCOMPLETEMODE system variable is set, command entries are completed automatically as you type.
All commands and/or system variables and/or user preferences that contain the current character string display in the Suggestion list:


Do one of the following:

• Press Enter to choose the highlighted command.
• Use the down or up arrow key to choose a command, then press Enter.
• Click a command in the list.
• Complete the command name, then press Enter.

To choose a command option, click the option in the prompt or type the capitalized letter then press Enter.

Autocomplete options are:

 

Setting the command line properties

1. Open the Settings window.
2. Go to Program Options > User Preferences > Command Line.

 

Opening or closing the status bar

Do one of the following:

• Choose Status Bar in the View Menu.
• Press the Shift + F3 keyboard shortcut.

The Status Bar closes if it was open and vice versa.

 

Working with the status bar

1. Status field:

• Displays the status of the software.
• When the cursor is in a menu or on a toolbar, it gives a brief description of the tool or menu item under the cursor.
• When the command window is closed, it displays the command prompts, tool options and keyboard entry.
• Double click the status field to open or close the Commandline.

2. Field List button:

Click the arrow button ( ) to display a list of available Status Bar fields. Click an item in the list to toggle the display of the corresponding field in the Status Bar:

Cursor coordinate values: displays the coordinates of the current cursor position (depending on the setting of the COORDS variable).

1. Click to cycle the Coordinate setting. The sequence is Geopgraphic , Relative , Absolute, Off.
2. Right-click and choose an option in the context menu.
   

Current Layer: displays the name of the current layer.

1. Click to open the Layer Explorer.
2. Right-click to select the current layer in the context menu.
3. Right-click and choose Properties in the context menu to open the Drawing Explorer - Layers.

Current Color: displays the current color.

1. Click to open the Select Color dialog window.
2. Right-click to select one of the basic colors.
   
3. Right click and choose Select Color... to select a color.

Current Linetype: displays the name of the current linetype.

1. Click to open the Linetype Explorer .
2. Right-click to select the current linetype.
3. Right-click and choose Properties in the context menu to open the Drawing Explorer - Linetypes.

Current Text Style: displays the name of the current text style.

1. Click to open the Styles Explorer .
2. Right-click to select the current text style.
3. Right-click and choose Properties in the context menu to open the Drawing Explorer - Text Styles.

Current Dimension Style: displays the name of the current dimension style

1. Click to open the Dimensions Settings dialog window.
2. Right-click to select the current dimension style.
3. Right-click and choose Properties in the context menu to open the Drawing Explorer - Dimension Styles.

Current Work Space: indicates the current workspace.

1. Click to set the value of the WSCURRENT system variable in the commandline.
2. Right-click and choose the current workspace.
   
3. Choose Customize in the context menu to open the Customize - Workspaces dialog box.

Snap: toggles the SNAPMODE system variable.

1. Click to toggle Snap On () / Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Snap and Grid settings.
   

Grid: toggles the GRIDMODE system variable.

1. Click to toggle the display of the Grid On () / Off () in the current viewport.
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Snap and Grid settings.
   

Ortho: toggles the ORTHOMODE system variable. Turning on Orthogonal mode automatically disables Polar Tracking.

1. Click to toggle Orthogonal mode On () /Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Orthomode setting.
   

Polar: toggles the Polar Tracking option of the AUTOSNAP system variable.

1. Click to toggle Polar Tracking On () / Off ().
   Turning Polar Tracking on automatically disables Orthogonal mode .

2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Polar Tracking settings.
   

Esnap: toggles the Turn of all snaps option of the OSMODE system variable.

1. Click to toggle Entity Snaps On () / Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Entity Snaps settings.
   

Strack: toggles the Entity Snap Tracking option of the AUTOSNAP system variable.

1. Click to toggle Snap Tracking On () / Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Snap Tracking settings.
   

Lineweight (LWT): toggles the LWDISPLAY system variable.

1. Click to toggle the display of Line Weights On () or Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Lineweights settings.
   

Paper/Model: allows you to choose between model space and paper space.

• When working in Model Space, the field reads: Tile (= Model space with tiled viewports).
  Click to switch to the most recently opened paper space layout.
  Right click to choose a paper space layout:
  

• When working in a layout, the field reads:
  M:Layout: Model space with floating viewports
  or
  P:Layout: Paper space
  Click to toggle between paper space and model space with floating viewports.
  Right-click and choose:
  

• Paper Space: Switch to paper space.
• Model Space: Switch to model space with floating viewports.
• Model: Switch to model space with tiled viewports.
• Layout: Switch to the selected paper space layout.

Annotation Scale: displays the value of the CANNOSCALE (= current annotation scale) system variable. Right-click and:

1. Select an annotation scale in the list.
2. Choose Custom to launch the ScaleListEdit command.
3. Check the Hide Xef scales option to list annotation scales of the current drawing only.

Autoscale: Click to toggle the ANNOAUTOSCALE system variable.

Tablet: Initializes the use of a drawing tablet.

Viewport Lock (VPLOCK): displays the Display Lock status of the current viewport or the selected viewport(s). Click the VPLOCK field to toggle the Display Lock property. The VPLOCK field only displays when one or more paper space viewports are selected or when a viewport is active (Model space with floating viewports).

Dynamic UCS (DUCS)

1. Click to toggle the UCSDETECT system variable On ( ) or Off ( ).
2. Right-click to select the supported entity types:
   

Dynamic Input (DYN): Toggles the Switch all off temporarily option of the DYNMODE system variable.

1. Click to toggle the display of Dynamic Dimensions On () or Off ().
2. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Dynamic Dimensions settings.
   

Quad: toggles the Switch off option of the QUADDISPLAY system variable.

1. Click to toggle the display of the Quad On () or Off ().
2. Right-click and choose an option in the context menu.
3. Right-click and choose Settings to edit the Quad settings.
   

Rollover tips (RT): toggles the ROLLOVERTIPS system variable.

1. Click to toggle the display of rollover tips.
2. Right-click to select the display options for rollover tips: On hovering entities or No rollover tips .
   

Hotkey Assistant (HKA): toggles the HOTKEYASSISTANT system variable. When switched ON, an assistant widget at the bottom of the screen reveals options available by pressing the Ctrl key.

• Click to toggle the display of the HKA widget on/off.
• Right-click to display a context menu:
  
• Click On or Off to set the display of the the HKA widget.
• Click Configure to display the Hotkey Assistant Configuration dialog.
  Select the commands for which you want the the HKA widget to display when HOTKEYASSISTANT = ON.
  

Lock User Interface (LOCKUI): allows you to lock the location and size of toolbars and dockable panels. Press Ctrl to override.
Click the LOCKUI field to toggle the lock. Press Ctrl to override.
Which user interface elements are affected is controlled through the LOCKUI system variable.

GIS Coordinate System: displays the name of the current GIS coordinate system.

 

Displaying or hiding scroll bars

To toggle scroll bars on/off:

1. (option) Hold down the Shift key and press the F4 function key.
2. (option) Choose Scroll Bars in the View menu.
   
3. (option) Type scrollbar in the command bar and do one of the following:
   • type off in the command bar or choose Off in the context menu.
   • type on in the command bar or choose On in the context menu.
   • type T in the command bar or choose Toggle in the context menu.
     

NOTE	Use the -ToolPanel command to show, hide or toggle the display of the various tool panels.

 

Hiding or showing a selection of user interface elements

The CleanScreenOn and CleanScreenOff commands allow you to hide or show a selection of user interface elements simultaneously.

The user interface elements that are affected by these commands is defined by the CLEANSCREENOPTIONS system variable.

The Ctrl+0 keyboard shortcut toggles the display of user interface elements. On AZERTY-keyboards:

• Do not use the numeric keypad.
• Do not press the Shift-key when hitting the number key.