Chapter 10. The Menu Bar

The menu bar is for accessing functionalities provided in the pulldown menus. It is located just below the GrafEq window title bar, and is always present. The menu bar can contain the following elements:

File menu,
Edit menu,
Graph menu,
Relation menu, and
Custom Ticks menu.

Hint: File and Edit menus are always present; but

Graph menu is present only when there is one or more active graphs;
Relation menu is present only when an algebraic window or structural window is foremost; and
Custom Ticks menu is present only when a custom ticks window is foremost.

File Menu

The File menu is divided into six groups: “opening and creating”, “configuring”, “closing and saving”, “printing”, “selecting”, and “terminating”. Figure 10.1 following is the file menu:

Figure 10.1: The File menu

Opening and creating
- New Graph creates a new graph, and brings up a new algebraic window for the new graph’s first relation. The new graph will be assigned a new title, using a new sequence number.
- Open... lets you open a saved graph from disk. Preference files may also be opened, although a few preferences (such as interface language) only apply at startup.
Configuring
- Preferences brings up the preferences window, which is for setting up the GrafEq environment for current and/or future sessions. Many elaborate controls are accessible from the File Preferences menu; for details, refer to the Preferences chapter.
- Register... lets you register your copy of GrafEq. This menu option is not present in physically licensed copies of GrafEq.
Closing and saving
- Close Graph closes all windows associated with the foremost graph.
- Close Window closes the foremost window.
- Save Graph stores the current graph or view to disk. GrafEq supports three file formats, as explained following:
  - Full Graph - all information, of the chosen graph, including relations, views, pages, ticks, and the current plotting state is saved. A full graph can later be opened in the exact same state as when it was saved. Partially plotted graphs can be refined from where it was left off. Full graphs can use a significant amount of disk space.
  - Skeleton Graph - all information, of the chosen graph, excluding the current plotting state, but including relations, views, pages, and ticks of the foremost graph is saved. When a skeleton graph is re-opened, graph plotting will start over, because the skeleton file format does not save the plotting state. Skeleton graphs use very little disk space.
  - Simple View - only the chosen graph view is saved. With Windows, it is saved using the WMF format. With a Macintosh computer, it is saved using the PICT format. Simple view files can only be re-opened in GrafEq as a picture. However, the may also be opened, and modified, in painting and drawing programs.
- Save Preferences saves the current preferences.
- Save Graph As... lets you save a graph or view to a new file. Other than letting you choose a new name and location for the file, Save As... is identical to Save.
- Save Preferences As... lets you save the preferences to a new file. GrafEq looks for a preference file named “GrafEq Preferences” at startup, which is the default name used for saved preferences.
Printing
- Page Setup... opens the operating system’s standard page setup window. Options may include the paper size, paper source and orientation, printign resolution, and the number of copies to be printed.
- Print... opens the operating system’s standard print window. The print window is used for sending a page to an available printer. The print window may also include some options that influence the printnig process.
Hint: GrafEq supports printing via the creation of pages which can be invoked by selecting New Page from the Graph menu. For details, refer to the Page Window chapter.
Selecting
Selection controls provide access to all open graphs. Each is listed using its current title. Selecting a graph causes it to becomes the current graph, and bring its first algebraic relation window to the front.
Terminating
- Halt Graphing stops graph plotting in all open views.
- Quit closes the current GrafEq session.

Edit Menu

The Edit menu is for accessing Cut, Copy and Paste operators, as explained following:

Cut removes the selected content from its current location, and keeps a copy on the clipboard.
Copy copies of the selected content to the clipboard.
Paste inserts the clipboard’s contents into the current position. If some content is selected (and there is no current position), the selection is replaced with the clipboard’s contents.

Editing is typically used on algebraic relations and general text within GrafEq. GrafEq’s formatted relations and plotted graph views can also be copied and pasted to wordprocessor, drawing, and other application programs. However, editing options are not available in the following situations:

When the view window is foremost:
- the Cut and Paste operators are greyed out (unavailable), because the view window does not allow changes to it; the view window displays graph views and the plotting process.
- the Copy operation is supported, because the contents of the view region can be copied, and then pasted to other applications.
When the page window is foremost, the entire Edit menu is greyed out (unavailable), editing in the page window is provided via the page buddy floating window.
When the structural relation window is foremost, the entire Edit menu is greyed out (unavailable), because the structural window does not allow changes to it; the structural window displays the tree structure of its associated relations.

Tip:

A few more tips when pasting GrafEq entities with the editing controls to wordprocessor, or other application programs are listed as follows:

To fine-tune alignment when pasting to a wordprocessor, try the word processor’s superscript of subscript effects.
To achieve best results when printing a document containing a GrafEq graph, try changing options within the Page Setup or Print of the program used.
It is possible to first paste a GrafEq entity into a drawing program, to use its more powerful drawing features, and then copy the new picture from the drawing program to the destination application. (GrafEq does supports basic drawing effects.)

Graph Menu

The Graph menu is for creating, and displaying, graph elements.

Creating elements

Creation controls are for creating new relations, views, custom ticks, and pages.

New Relation creates an algebraic relation window for entering a new relation.
New View... opens the create view dialog box, from which a graph view can be created.
New Custom Ticks creates a custom ticks window for specifying a new set of custom ticks.
New Page creates a page window for preparing a page for printing.

Displaying elements

Display controls provide access to all open relations, views, custom ticks, and pages; each listed with its respective title. The window for the selected item becomes the foremost window.

Relation Menu

The Relation menu is for toggling the display of the algebraic relation window, the structural relation window, and the easy buttons floating window. While the display options for the algebraic and structural windows are associated with the active relation only, the option for the easy button floating window is global and applies to the current GrafEq session.

Custom Ticks Menu

The Custom Ticks menu is for toggling the display of the easy buttons floating window. The display option for the easy button floating window is global and applies to the current GrafEq session.

Hint:

The display option for the easy button floating window is equivalent to, and synchronized with the one available from the relation menu. Change in one of them will be reflected in the other.

Navigation Options

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