- Configuration Hints & Tips Page -

Moving objects
Objects can be moved by selecting and dragging them with the mouse. However, they can also be moved by using the four arrow keys. To use these keys select a number of objects. Then by pressing the arrow keys the objects will move in the selected direction. This is a very easy and accurate way to effectively nudge the objects into new positions.

Selecting Objects
The < and > keys can be used to walk through the object list. What this means is that by pressing either of these buttons you will select one object at a time moving forwards or backwards through all the drawn objects.

Hold the Control Key down to keep hold of the currently selected object, i.e. whilst clicking or double-clicking the mouse. This stops the objects behind the desired object being selected. (Not necessary since v1.74)

Drawing and Resizing
Hold the Control Key down when moving line end points to rotate them in 15° increments.
Hold the Control Key down when resizing or drawing rectangles, buttons and text objects etc, to make them default to squares.
Hold the Control Key down when resizing or drawing ellipses to make them default to circles.
Hold the Shift key down when drawing rectangles, buttons objects etc to make them drawn from centre.
Hold the Shift key down when drawing ellipses to make them drawn from centre.

Less is More
As is the law of nature the more you do the longer it takes. The same is true when creating Data Manager drawings. What this means is the more objects you place on a drawing the longer the drawing will take to load and update. So it helps to be a little efficient in this department.

• If you need to draw two or more lines and, for example, the second line starts from where the first finishes, use a polyline instead. Why use 2 objects where 1 will do ?

  

• If you need to draw a scale, like that found on a thermometer, don't use individual lines, again use a polyline. Even if you wanted individual lines it is better to do this and then draw a single line the colour of the background to hide the joins. Mathematically this mean the following. Lets say your temperature scale is from 0° to 100° in 5° steps this would mean drawing 21 objects, but if a polyline is used + another line to hide the joins only 2 objects are required. Therefore, 21 - 2 = 19 less objects per scale. Quite a good saving I'd say.

  I've shown the line that hides the joins in red for clarity.

  

• Say you need to draw a table and it needs 4 rows and 6 columns. You could draw it by drawing 24 rectangles, one for each cell. You could draw it by drawing 6 rectangles, one for each column or you could draw it by drawing 4 rectangles, one for each row. An even better way is to draw it with 1 rectangles and 1 polyline. Although this method is not efficient if you require your rows or columns to be different colours.

  

• Don't try to put to much on any one drawing. It can make them overly complicated and difficult for the end user to understand. Remember, less is more, keep them clear and concise.

• Always check the screen resolution the system is to run on and design your drawings to match.

• If you a going to use slider or track bars on your drawings, try not to put to many objects on the same drawing. This will increase their response time and they will give you better feedback.

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