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Polygon 1.14 (05-Feb-97)
Name: ArtWorks Polygon module
Purpose: Handling regular polygon and star objects in ArtWorks
Author: Martin Würthner
Requires: RISC OS 3.1 or higher, ArtWorks 1.138 or higher
Status: ShareWare (see [7] below for *new* registering details!!!)
0) Preface
----------
Depending on whether you are upgrading from an earlier version of the module
or whether you are a new user, you will be interested in different things.
Make sure that in any case you read section [7] which contains the details
for registering.
If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Polygon, read section 5.1 for
a list of new features and changes.
Otherwise just go on reading:
Welcome to the first non-commercial ArtWorks plug-in module!
------------------------------------------------------------
This module provides a tool which allows you to create regular n-sided
polygons and stars. At any time, you can simply change the position, the
radius or the number of sides of any polygon object. By a single mouse-click
you can also turn a polygon into a star and vice versa. This tool was inspired
by CorelXARA's¹ QuickShape tool.
This module is ShareWare. You may copy it freely and give it away to anyone
free of charge (see [7] below for a more detailed Copyright notice). However,
if after a trial period of two weeks, you decide to keep it, you must register
by sending £10 to me.
** New ** When registering, you will also receive an exciting new ArtWorks
module, Intersect, which is reserved for registered users of
Polygon exclusively.
Quick feature list of Polygon:
* creation of regular n-sided polygons and stars (n in [3..49])
* numeric and interactive editing facilities for polygons and stars: change
radius, number of sides, angle etc. at any time, turn polygons into stars
and vice versa
* full integration with existing ArtWorks features (fill types, transformation
tools, Make shapes, perspective, envelope etc.), i.e. polygon objects behave
exactly like other ArtWorks shapes (ellipses, rectangles, rounded
rectangles)
* full support of ArtWorks undo system and EPS export and import
Do not miss my other ArtWorks modules:
Translate (FreeWare)
Intersect (available only to registered users of Polygon)
ShowXY (FreeWare)
MadnessT (FreeWare)
1) Installation
---------------
Copy the !Polygon application inside the !ArtWorks.Auto directory. (Shift
double-click on !ArtWorks to open it, then double-click on the 'Auto' folder.
Then drag the !Polygon application to the Filer window showing
<something>.!ArtWorks.Auto in its title bar). This will cause ArtWorks to
load the module automatically next time it is started.
If you are not using the 'Quick start' feature of ArtWorks, then this is it
already. Otherwise (this is recognized by the fact the ArtWorks only displays
one icon 'Quick start' when starting up) you have to go on:
If the 'Quick start' option is selected in the ArtWorks choices window you
have to perform the following steps in order for ArtWorks to recognize the
new module:
* Load ArtWorks
* Open the ArtWorks choices window (icon bar menu 'Choices...', then click on
the ArtWorks icon in the ArtWorks global choices window)
* Deselect 'Quick start' and click on 'Save'
* Quit ArtWorks
* Reload ArtWorks - while loading ArtWorks shows every module it loads, this
should now include the Polygon module. If ArtWorks displays an error message
like "Due to lack of memory one or more modules could not be loaded ..."
something has gone wrong and you should check whether you have correctly
installed the module.
* Open the ArtWorks choices window again
* Select 'Quick start' and click on 'Save'
If you ever should want to deinstall the module, remove the !Polygon
directory from the !ArtWorks.Auto directory. Then, if you are using
the 'Quick start' option, you must repeat the same steps above.
2) The Polygon module
---------------------
The Polygon module displays an additional tool, the Polygon tool,
in the ArtWorks tool box. The tool's icon is a hexagon.
2.1) Creating polygons and stars
While the Polygon tool is selected, the info bar displays the field 'Sides',
'CentreX', 'CentreY' and an option button 'Stellated'. At the moment, the
most important field is 'Sides'. In this field, you can specify the number
of sides (=number of corners) the polygon is supposed to have. The fields
'CentreX', 'CentreY' and 'Radius' are empty and can only be used to edit
existing polygon objects.
To create a polygon, simply click inside the document and drag the pointer
away from the position of the click. The click position will become the
centre of the polygon. By dragging further away from the centre, you can
increase the radius of the polygon.
Note that the mouse pointer also determines the position of one of the
corners of the polygon so that you can effectively rotate the polygon while
dragging. If you hold down Ctrl while dragging, the angle of the polygon is
constrained to the current constraint angle (which can be set in the
ArtWorks choices dialogue box).
As soon as you release the mouse buttons, the polygon object is created and
will be rendered as a filled shape.
2.2) Editing polygons and stars
Objects created by the Polygon tool are not simply path objects but belong to
a specific object type "polygon" (similar to the way rectangle, rounded
rectangle or ellipse objects are different from path objects). This means
that you can apply attributes to them (fill colour, line colour, line width,
graduated or radial fill etc.), but you cannot edit single corner points. To
do so, you have to convert the polygon to a path object by choosing "Make
shapes" from the "Lines/Shapes" menu or by pressing Ctrl-N.
The benefit of having a special polygon object is that you can edit the
properties of polygons after they have are created, e.g. you can simply select
the polygon and change its number of sides by selecting the Polygon tool and
entering a new value in the 'Sides' field and pressing Return (or clicking on
the up/down arrows). You can also change its radius or the position of its
centre by entering new values in the corresponding fields. This is very
similar to the way e.g. the ellipse tool works. Also, you can always turn a
polygon into a star and vice versa by selecting or deselecting the 'Stellated'
option button. Of course, when you save a file containing polygons they can
still be edited when you reload the file later.
2.3) Editing using the polygon handles
A selected polygon object has got a handle at each corner point. If the
object is stellated, each outer corner (i.e. the corners of the corresponding
polygon) and each inner corner has got a handle. By dragging these, you can
edit the polygon. Dragging the polygon corner handles (or the other corners
of a star) allows you to scale and rotate the object quickly. Note that this
rotates about the real centre of the polygon unlike the ArtWorks rotation tool
that cannot know what the real centre of the object is.
If you hold down Ctrl while dragging one of the outer corner handles of a
polygon, the polygon's angle is preserved while dragging (i.e. you change its
radius only). Similarly, if you hold down Shift, the polygon's radius is
preserved (i.e. it is only rotated). As these operations preserve the
polygon's centre, they are to be preferred to using the standard scaling or
rotation tools ArtWorks provides.
Using the inner corner handles of a stellated polygon you can change the
inner radius of the star on its own. This is in contrast to dragging the outer
corners of a star which changes both the outer and the inner radius (scaling
the inner radius proportionally). However, if you drag the inner corners, only
the inner radius is changed and the outer radius stays the same.
With Polygon 1.10 or higher you can drag the inner handles of stars to any
position, not only towards the centre or away from it, so you can twist the
star. If you want to preserve the degree of twisting and edit the inner radius
only, hold down Ctrl while dragging the inner handle of the star. By holding
down Shift while dragging, you can force the radius to remain th