Special Keys in SDS2 Programs

Special keys :

Also see :

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\n (new line) can be used to create a line break in a non-standard field bolt label. See Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Nonstandard Field Bolts on Erection View Details > " Label format ."

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, is the comma key on your keyboard.

If you are on, for instance, the Column Edit window and have changed the " End elevation " under " Top end settings ," pressing the comma key will move you to the " End elevation " field under " Bottom End Settings ." This feature is also available on the Beam Edit , Vertical Brace Edit and Horizontal Brace Edit windows. Pressing the , key is a useful shortcut since users frequently like to change the elevation on both ends of a member in tandem.

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Alt

Accelerator keys: Holding down the Alt key and pressing any letter on your keyboard that matches an underlined letter on one of the labels on a Modeling or the Drawing Editor menu bar opens the menu which that label identifies. Once a menu is open, the accelerator key associated with any command on that menu invokes the tool associated with that command.

Alt cannot be used to define a keyboard shortcut . This prevents conflicts from occurring when Alt is used for accelerator keys on menus.

Like Ctrl and Shift , the Alt key is sometimes used to modify the functionality of a command mode. For instance, pressing it while certain mouse bindings are active will show additional (previously hidden) mouse bindings .

Alt + F4 does the same thing as clicking on the "x" in the upper, right corner of a window -- it closes the window.

Unicode Latin 1 characters 0160 to 0255 can be used in SDS2 programs. Character codes 01 to 0126 are available on your keyboard without your having to enter the character code. To get a Latin 1 character, with [num lock] on, hold down the Alt key and type in the character code, or cut and paste from the Character Map that can be launched from your operating system's Accessories menu.

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Arrow keys may be used for traversal from cell to cell on tables or to move from character to character within a text entry field or a menu. For keyboard shortcuts , these are referred to as Up , Down , Left and Right .

The Up key moves the cursor to the left of a character within a cell. On a window with tabs, it selects the tab that is to the left of the currently selected tab.

The Down key moves the cursor to the right of a character within a cell. On a window with tabs, it selects the tab that is to the right of the currently selected tab.

The Up key moves the cursor from the cell it is in to the cell above on a table. On a window that is not a table, ↑ does the same thing as Shift + Tab if User and Site Options > General > " The up and down arrrow keys " is set to ' Move among controls '. If ' Select within comboboxes ' is the setting, Up selects items on a selection menu for a one-choice-among-many field.

The Down key moves the cursor from the cell it is in to the cell below on a table. On a window that is not a table, Down does the same thing as Tab if User and Site Options > General > " The up and down arrrow keys " is set to ' Move among controls '. If ' Select within comboboxes ' is selected, Down selects items on a selection menu for a one-choice-among-many field.

↑ / ↓ / ← / → keys can also be used to scroll up/down or among (left/right) drop-down menus in the Drawing Editor or Modeling .

See text entry widgets for additional uses of arrow keys.

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@

For second point location that is used, for example, to locate a member or a line, the character @ can be used to type in an angle that is measured from a 0° line (horizontal across the screen ) through the first point that was located. The second point will be located on the typed-in angle. The angle and/or distance you enter will be displayed in the status line .

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Backspace

In a text entry field , pressing the Backspace key deletes the character (letter, number) to the left of the cursor .

If text is selected (highlighted) in an entry field, Backspace deletes that text.

Backspace

The distance and/or angle constraint for second-point location can be erased from the status line , thus removing the constraint, by pressing Backspace as many times as needed to erase all of the characters shown in the status line.

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Ctrl

When User and Site Options > General > " Classic selection lists " is not checked: On selection dialogs that allow multiple items to be selected, holding down the Ctrl key lets you click items to add them to the selection or remove them from the selection -- even if those items are not next to each other.

Holding down the Ctrl key while certain mouse bindings are active gets you additional (previously hidden) mouse bindings .

Ctrl + middleclick snaps to the surface (in Modeling ) that you click on.

Ctrl + a in a multi-select dialog selects all items -- just like the " Select All " button. It can also be used to select all text within a text block (e.g., " Label text "). Ctrl + k clears the selection.

Within an edit window or from one edit window to another, you can Ctrl + x to "cut" (or Ctrl + c to "copy") text from one entry field so that it can later be "pasted" into another entry field (using Ctrl + v ).

Ctrl -drag a member's piecemark or section size or left elevation or right elevation or camber or ABM page-line to rotate it around its origin on an erection view in the Drawing Editor . This also works for a label .

Ctrl + Shift -drag does the same as Ctrl -drag, but at 45 degree increments.

Ctrl + Shift brings up Actual - Horz - Vert mouse bindings immediately after invoking Objects > Dimensions > Add .

The Ctrl key is also used as a modifier key for many of the keyboard shortcuts .

When you are editing a string of characters within a text entry field, various text entry widgets may be activated using Ctrl . For instance, Ctrl + e moves the insertion bar to the end of the string of characters.

On windows with tabs, you can hold down the Ctrl key and left- middle- or right-click to tear off a tab.

In the Drawing Editor , holding down the Ctrl key before you grab a dimension line lets you move the dimension line freely (otherwise it snaps to Drag and Drop Configuration points ). You can accomplish the same result by grabbing the dimension label before dragging.

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Delete is a key that appears on expanded keyboards.

If text is selected (highlighted) in an entry field, Delete erases that text. If no text is selected, Delete erases the character to the right of the cursor.

In Modeling , Delete is functionally equivalent to Edit > Delete on a set of preselected items and is an alternative to Erase Members , Erase Material , Erase Holes , Erase Bolts , Erase Welds , Delete View and various other tools, but does not give the change options that some of those tools provide. You can, for example, select an item in the Model Tree then press Delete to erase that item. As shown in the following video, you may want to use a selection filter in order to select exactly the items you want before using Delete .

VIDEO The selection filter is set to ' Model Dimensions '. An area box is drawn to select dimensions. The Delete key is pressed to delete the dimensions.

In the Drawing Editor , Delete does the same thing as choosing Edit > Delete with items preselected and is an alternative to the Xxx Erase tools, but does not provide the built-in filtering by object type that those tools provide. You can also use Delete to hide members on erection view drawings.

YouTube video: Hiding a member on an evu using the Delete key sets that drawing's detailing method to "  Manual ."

In Modeling , selecting member ends and pressing Delete opens a confirmation dialog (Yes/No) that lets you delete the pin information associated with those ends.

Are you sure you want to delete this/these items?

3 Member Pins.

     

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End is a key that appears on expanded keyboards.

End moves the cursor to the right of all characters in a text entry field.

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Enter is the Return key on some keyboards.

When the Select Item(s) in-tool selection mode is active, Enter can be used to log in your selections and continue to the next step of that operation.

Select Item(s) bindings

( Enter can be used instead of right-click ( Menu ) then choosing " OK " on the menu.)

On most entry windows, you can press Enter on your keyboard instead of pressing the " OK " button at the bottom of that window.

For " Label text " and other fields that allow multiple lines of text, when the cursor is in the text-entry area, Enter creates a line break.

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Esc

VIDEO A mouse button binding reporter is discussed in relation to Select Items mode. Since the Esc button is bound to Mode Return , it can be used to bring you back to Select Items mode.

Pressing Esc cancels an operation. It is an alternative to choosing " Cancel " on the context menu or, for many operations, doing a right-click ( Return ).

While moving or stretching selected items in Select Items mode, you can hit the Esc key to cancel. The selected items will revert to their original location.

While doing a Pan or Rotate , you can hit the Esc key to cancel the operation and revert the display.

On a warning window (which does not have a " Cancel " button), Esc closes the window. On other windows, the Esc key is bound to the " Cancel " button and does the same thing as the button. For example, if you press the Esc key on the Beam Edit window, you will close that window without applying any changes made to it.

For a Change Marks operation, Esc is bound to the " Abort All " button.

The Esc key is also bound to Mode Return .

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Function keys

F2 opens the Member Type Selection window. The long way to open that same window is to choose Model > Member > Add > Prompt for Member Type

F3 then selecting a member opens the Material Type Selection window.

F5 does a Process and Create Solids .

F8 deletes all characters in an entry field that are to the right of the cursor.

F10 inserts "W" to the left of the cursor.

F11 inserts "PL" to the left of the cursor.

F12 inserts "L" to the left of the cursor.

Alt + F4 does the same thing as clicking on the "x" on a window -- it closes the window.

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Home is a key that appears on expanded keyboards.

Home moves the cursor to the left of all characters in an entry field.

Shift + Home selects all characters from the left of the cursor to the beginning of the line.

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Keys on the numerical keypad

With Num Lock on, number keys such as 1 , 2 or etc. insert the associated number to the left of the cursor.

With Num Lock on or off:
+ inserts a space.
* inserts x.

With Num Lock on, you can hold down the Alt key, then type the appropriate number to get Unicode Latin 1 characters 0160 to 0255. An alternative way to get these special characters is to cut and paste from the Character Map that can be launched from your operating system's Accessories menu.

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Page Up & Page Down are keys that appear on expanded keyboards.

Page Up deletes all characters in an entry field.

Page Down deletes all characters in an entry field that are to the right of the cursor .

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Shift

VIDEO Shift and Shift + Ctrl for moving and rotating erection view labels is discussed and demonstrated. The capabilities also apply to regular labels.

When User and Site Options > General > " Classic selection lists " is not checked: On selection dialogs that allows multiple items to be selected, holding down the Shift key lets you select a group of items that are next to each other. Or hold down the left mouse button and drag.

Holding down the Shift key while certain mouse bindings are active gets you additional (previously hidden) mouse bindings .

Tab + Shift moves focus back one widget on an entry window.

Ctrl -click in Select Items mode can be used to select more than one item at a time.

In Select Items mode, Shift -drag moves a dimension label.

Shift -drag the middle of a pointer in Select Items mode to change its " Pointer curve " to ' Straight ' or ' Clockwise ' or ' Counter-clockwise '.

Shift + Home selects all characters from the left of the cursor to the beginning of the line.

Ctrl + Shift -drag a member's piecemark or section size or left elevation or right elevation or camber or ABM page-line to rotate it around its origin at 45 degree increments on an erection view in the Drawing Editor .

Ctrl -drag works in a similar way to Ctrl + Shift -drag, but the rotation is unconstrained.

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Spacebar

For keyboard shortcuts , the pressing of the space bar is referred to as Spacebar .

Pressing the Spacebar when a check box has focus toggles the box from unchecked to checked (or vice-versa). User and Site Options > General >

When. User and Site Options > General > " Classic selection lists " is checked, you can press the Spacebar to make the last-clicked item on a selection list become the only item that is selected.

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Tab

Tab moves focus from one widget to the next on an entry window.

When you press Tab after making an entry to a field on a window, that entry is validated. If validation finds the entry to be invalid, you may get a warning and/or be prevented from going on to the next option on the window.

Tab + Shift moves focus back one widget on an entry window.

Tab indents four spaces for entering code to the " Selection Code " area on the Advanced Selection window.

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