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MANUAL
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MAN_03
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1989-04-11
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Using the Menus
Before describing each individual
menu type, you must realize the general
interaction procedure with the
menus...
Anyone accustomed to using Degas or
Degas Elite will already understand the
principles since they are similar to
those used in Canvas. While on the Main
Menu screen (the screen which you are
presented with when you load in
Canvas), you may click on the right
button to alternate between the current
work screen and the main menu. The left
button performs an operation - on the
menus it selects a menu item whereas on
the work screen it performs the current
mode operation eg. Draw. On other menu
screens the right mouse button may have
other functions which are explained in
the Menu Selector Descriptions section
of this manual.
Menu Selector Descriptions
The ease of use of Canvas stems
from the menu system developed
specially for it. This system consists
of a number of menu selector types
described below:
Action Bars
These are simply boxes enclosing
some text. By clicking the mouse button
on them an action is performed. The
nature of the action is different for
each action bar.
Colour Selectors
The only Colour Selector Bar found
on Canvas is located at the bottom of
the Main Menu screen. It consists of
the current palette of 16 (lo-res), 4
(med-res) or 2 (hi-res) colours. Along
the top and bottom of the colours run
thin bars which contain the rotate
markers. You will see at some point
along each of them a marker. The top
one indicates the start rotate marker
and the one below shows the end rotate
marker. The end marker must always be
to the right of the start one, and you
are prevented from setting them in any
other fashion. The rotate markers serve
as a selector for a number of
functions. Obviously, they select which
colours are cycled by the rotate
function, but they also allow you to
select which colours are used by the
Rainbow options available to most of
the modes.
Icon Selectors
This Menu type consists of of block
of smaller options of which only one
can be selected at a time. The mode
selector on the Main Menu screen for
instance can only have one mode
selected at once. Icon Selectors may
vary considerably: they may have
different numbers of options in them
both horizontally and vertically; they
may contain simple text or icons
(pictures). You can see which of the
options has been selected since it is
'lit up', in otherwords, it has had a
marker placed over the top of it which
makes it easy to recognize. Some
selectors may have title bars - do not
confuse these with the actual options!
They are separated from them by two
horizontal lines close together right
across the top of the selector. Title
bars on other Menu types also occur and
are similar in appearance.
Infobars
These are probably the most
complicated Menu type since there are
so many ways of using them. In brief
they are a means of inputting a numeric
value, which is displayed in the centre
of the box. These are the methods of
editing that value:
1) Clicking on the '<' or '>' signs
causes the value to be brought to a
minimum ('<') or maximum ('>') value
possible for that particular infobar.
2) The arrow signs cause the value to
be increased or decreased by one.
3) By clicking on the centre of the
box where the value is displayed you
are able to type in a new value. Three
underscores will appear. Typing in the
desired value and pressing the <Return>
key causes the number to be changed and
returns you to mouse mode. While typing
in a number, the mouse is disabled.
Note that only numeric values can be
entered from 0 to 999.
4) On some Infobars you may find an
extra box with a large left-pointing
triangle on it. This shows that that
Infobar holds a value representing an
image. Since it is very difficult to
work out the number of an image, the
following method has been included: by
clicking on the triangle portion of the
Infobar, you will be able to select the
desired image from the appropriate work
screen. The image number is then
displayed on the infobar - no messing!
Multiple Icon Selectors
These are very similar to ordinary
Icon Selectors. The difference is that
more than one item may be selected at a
time ie. more than one may be 'lit'.
Plus/Minus Bars
These are all fairly obvious and
consist of some text in the centre with
a '-' on the left and a '+' on the
right. By clicking with the left mouse
button on the +/- signs you change the
value they represent by one. The right
mouse button changes the value by ten
each time. Note that the value is not
visibly changing anything on the P/M
Bar but is most probably altering
another menu type somewhere else on the
screen.
Shifters
Note that some Shifters may not
have the vertical arrows on them. By
clicking on the bars with the arrows
you are changing a value. The interior
displays exactly what you are changing
- it may be the size of someting or a
fill pattern for instance.
Special Selectors
It is not possible to explain all
the types of Special Selectors since
they are all designed specifically for
one menu item. Where a Special Selector
occurrs an explanataion will be given
in the Menu Item Descriptions section
of this manual.
Toggle Bars
Toggle bars may appear to be very
similar to Action bars. However, most
of them do not perform an event as soon
as you click on them. Instead they
'toggle' on and off. You can tell when
it is on since it is 'lit' up.