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Drawing Objects

• Fullscreen Mode
• The Grid
• Grid Shortcuts

Use the tools in the Object Palette to draw objects. The Object Palette is a vertical toolbar on the left-hand side of the Jamba window. If you position the cursor over a button and wait a moment, Jamba displays a tip that tells you which object the tool draws.

When you begin drawing keep in mind that you don't have to draw the object in precise dimensions or position because you can always resize, move, or even delete it. (Some objects that are never visible at runtime, such as the Audio object, are always the same size regardless of how you draw them.) The maximum size of objects is defined by the dimensions of your work area. Be aware that drawing objects is just the first step in making the objects appear and perform as you want. For example, once you draw a Text object you still need to enter text in it and once you draw a button you still need to change its label so that it says OK, Cancel, etc. to meet the needs of your application. You can create objects that are independent of the other objects on the page or you can create objects that overlap or completely hide other objects. For information on bringing obscured objects into and out of view while creating your page, see "Moving Objects" later in this chapter.

To draw an object:

1. In the Object Palette, click on the button that represents the object you want to draw.

When you select a tool the cursor changes to a cross-hair.

2. Position the cursor in the layout area at the point where you want the upper left corner of the object to appear.

3. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag diagonally down to the right until the cursor reaches the location for the lower right corner of the object.

Note that some objects (such as Audio objects) that are never visible at runtime, are always of a fixed size no matter how large you try to draw them.

4. Release the mouse button.

The object is drawn.

To draw another object, select another tool from the palette.

Hint: To draw many objects of the same type, press the Ctrl key while you select a tool button. The tool remains selected after you finish drawing the object. To deselect it, click on either another object button or the selection tool button in the object palette.

Fullscreen Mode

You may find it useful at times to work in fullscreen mode which temporarily removes the Jamba menus and toolbars from view. By maximizing the Page Layout Editor and turning on Fullscreen mode, you can see as much of the current page as possible. (You could also use this mode while viewing the Project window.) Note that you can still use the keyboard to access menu commands in Fullscreen mode. For example, pressing Alt + F displays the File menu. To return to the regular view of the Jamba windows, click on the floating Fullscreen button.

The Grid

By default, when you draw objects they are conforming to an grid in the work area. The grid makes it easy for you to align objects such as a vertical column of on-screen buttons. You can make the grid visible or invisible. You can also change the dimensions of the grid cells or simply disable the grid altogether. Use the Grid dialog box to change the grid options.

To change grid options:

1. Choose Grid Settings... from the Layout menu.

The Grid Options dialog box appears.

2. As necessary, make changes to the grid options.

Width - By default grid cells are 10 pixels wide. Type new numbers to reset the width.

Height - By default grid cells are 10 pixels high. Type new numbers to reset the width.

Snap To Grid - By default the grid is active. To disable it, turn off this option.

Show Grid - By default the grid is visible. It is represented by evenly space dots on the background of the work area. To make the grid invisible, turn off this option.

3. Choose OK to close the Grid dialog box.

Grid Shortcuts

Use the Show/Hide Grid button in the Page Layout toolbar to quickly make the grid visible or not visible. Similarly, you can use the Snap To Grid button to activate or deactivate the grid.

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