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Here you see the main window of C.a.R. The big area displays the construction.
The view can be moved with the
arrow keys, and enlarged with +/-. Moreover, you can use the zoom tool to change the view.
Above the construction you find the icon bar. The icons display tool tips, if the mouse remains above them for more than two seconds. The icon display may also be concentrated into a single bar. The lower bar contains the construction tools. The upper bar contains default settings, and settings for the display.
Below the construction, there is a status line, which displays important text information. In the non-visual mode, this line is replaced by an input line.
The menu contains further options, like loading and saving of files.
To configure the icon bar, start the dialog with the corresponding menu entry. You can select and deselect any icon. Moreover, you can choose to display the tools in a single row. Then the icon bar will only show the most urgent tools.
The icon bar can be set to appear under the construction.
Deselected icons can still be used by the keyboard and the menu, unless the program is in school mode. Also in applets, only the icons visible to the user can be used.
There is a restricted icon bar. It is saved and loaded with constructions. You can use it to restrict icons for users of your constructions. After you have enabled the restricted icon bar, edit this icon bar. Switch back to your normal icon bar with the same menu switch.
In this mode, the user can only use those items, which are present in the icon bar. This also applies to switching between visual and non-visual mode, un-hiding hidden objects and macros.
This mode is set by a simple switch for the next program start. To prevent users to change the mode, use either oft he following procedures.
The left mouse button is used to create construction objects according to the currently active tool. In the picture above, the point tool is selected. In the status line, the user is told that a point can be set. C.a.R. will indicate the selectable objects when the mouse is moved over the construction. Moreover, the mouse pointer changes accordingly.
Many tools expect that the user chooses more than one object. E.g., one can generate a line by choosing two points. In this case, the first point is highlighted in red, while the tools is waiting for the second point.
Unfinished construction steps will be indicated when the last mouse click is expected to finish the step. This preview feature can be turned off in the settings dialog. Moreover, you will see previews of intersections and points bound to objects.
If a selection is not uniquely determined, the program will display a list of possible objects. One can take an object from this list by double clicking on it, or by selecting it and pressing of the button, or with the keyboard. Points will be black, lines red, angles (and other objects) green and circles blue. Types can be easier recognized, if the long name convention is active. The short names will only start with a different letter. The selection dialog can be disabled. The program will then select the closest of the objects automatically.
An important feature is, that a point will be automatically created, if the program expects the user to select a point, and the user clicks on free space. Moreover, intersections will be created, if the user clicks on an intersection, and points will be bound to objects. One can enable options to ask the user before creating intersections and bound points. If the preview feature is active, then the automatic point selection and creation will not display any selection dialog. The user can enforce a selection dialog by pressing the control key while clicking.
If the Shift key is pressed, when a circle, a segment or an angle is constructed, the program will assume that object is to be fixed and will display the object dialog. Then the user can enter a value to fix the object, or simply close the dialog and fix the current value. It is probably better to use the tool for fixed circles and angles instead.
The right mouse button moves drags objects and labels of objects (alternatively to the move tool), and it opens the settings dialog for objects. If a label is right-clicked but not moved, it jumps to its default position.
A click with the right mouse button on an empty spot opens a menu for macro selection. In the special settings, this can be configured to require a double click.
With the ctrl-key plus the shift-key, an object can be hidden without using the hide tool. Circles and lines will first become partial, then hidden. The ctrl-key alone opens the dialog to set conditional properties.
All tools have shortcuts. You can find the shortcuts in the menu, or in the tooltips that open, when the mouse remains over a tool icon for some time.
C.a.R. replaces the system file dialog by default. This file dialog is more convenient for finding old directories and files. The operation of this dialog should need no explanation. With an option in the settings dialog, you can also use the normal file dialog.
The various file types include constructions, assignments and macros. All these files use XML and look very much alike. Note, that you can choose to include your macros in the constructions files or not.
C.a.R. can display a picture behind the current construction. This picture
can be a construction state or a picture loaded from a file.
To fix or release a
construction state, use the photo button.
A picture from a file can be tiled, centered or stretched to fit the construction window. There is an option to resize the window to the size of the loaded picture.
If the picture fits the window size exactly, a link will be saved along with the HTML export. The applet size will be the picture size in this case. You must publish the picture in the applet directory.