This topic explains the screen layout of the system.
An example of the screen layout is pictured below. As virtually everything in the screen layout is configurable, you can tailor the layout to meet your particular needs. Note that the available menus change depending on the currently active view (plan, long section, cross section), and also depending on the task selected via the task menu. Below, the currently active view is in a long section view (bottom). The various parts of the screen layout are labelled and described.
Title Bar
The title bar is located at the top of the window. It informs the user that the system has been activated, displays which task is currently being used, and also displays the name of the data base which is currently open. In the above graphic, the task currently being used is the Profiles task and the currently open data base is called "Section Example".
Menu Bar
The menu bar is located below the title bar and displays the currently available menus. The available menus change depending on which type of view and which task is currently active. No matter which task is currently active, the following menus are always present:
Task
Block
Display
Window
Help
Selecting a menu displays a list of its available commands for selection. Alternatively, selecting a menu which ends with an exclamation mark, such as Block!, will run that command.
Task Menu
The task menu is used to activate a different task. For example, to select the Plan View Computations task, first click in the plan view, then select Task and then select Computations from the Task menu. Note that none of the tasks apart from plan view Utilities may be activated until a data base is created or opened using the Utilities/File/New or the Utilities/File/Open commands.
Toolbars
Nearly all commands can be used as tools, which can be placed in Toolbars.
Toolbars can be Generic (available in all views), or they may be created specifically for use in plan, long section or cross section views.
Toolbars can also be docked to an edge of the SEE graphics window (top, bottom, left, right), or they may be floating. Once a command is added to a toolbar, it is available to run from any LISCAD task in the appropriate view.
The picture above shows an example of a Generic Toolbar docked to the left-hand side, and also an example of a Floating Long Section Toolbar. Other toolbars could be used if desired.
Note that code lists can also be added to a tool bar to allow fast selection of point, line and polygon codes for setting the required attributes. If the attributes currently set do not match the code table attributes of the currently selected codes, the code is shown in red as a warning.
Refer to the following Help Topic for detailed information:
Status Bar
The content of the Status Bar is configurable and can be set independently for each type of view (plan, long section, cross section). This ensures that you can always see the appropriate status information.
The Status Bar is turned on or off using the Configure/Prompt Line command, and it appears at the right hand end of the prompt line, at the bottom of the SEE graphics window.
The Status Bar is typically used for showing the status of various configuration settings (such as distance units), as well as the cursor position in the currently active window.
Refer to the following Help Topics for detailed information:
Prompt Line
The Prompt Line is used by the system to display appropriate prompts when using the various commands. It is positioned at the bottom of the graphics window, and can be toggled on or off via the Utilities/Configure/Prompt Line command.
Graphics Window
The graphics window is used to display all or part of the currently open data base. The objects and attributes displayed, as well as the portion of the project displayed, depends on the type of views (plan, long section, cross section), and the selections made in the Display commands.
There may be any number of views of the project created and viewed simultaneously or separately. Each view may be one of the following type:
- Plan view for displaying planimetric view of the project.
- Long Section view for displaying profiles of the project.
- Cross Section view for displaying sections along profiles.
Refer to the following Help Topics for detailed information: