EDITING OBJECTS
Existing lines, objects, or text may be copied, moved, deleted,
scaled, rotated, styles changed, fill changed, color changed,
and text changed. Either one line, object, or text may be edited
at a time, or several objects may be edited as a group.
To select existing objects for editing:
1. Make sure that no drawing or other CAD operation is
currently selected. To confirm this, click the right mouse
button to cancel any pending operation.
2. Move the mouse to the starting corner of the object or area
to be selected and press the left mouse button.
3. Hold the left mouse button in and move the mouse to
identify a selection area. A dotted rectangle is displayed as
the mouse is moved, indicating the selection area.
4. Release the mouse button. All object(s) which have at least
one corner or end point (any point of a polygon or polyline)
within the indicated area are selected for editing.
The selected object(s) are bounded by four small rectangles at
each corner, with a dotted rectangle at the center.
After selecting the object(s), select the desired editing action
from the Excalibur CAD Edit menu, the keyboard function
keys, or the edit buttons at the bottom of the screen. To cancel
the selection, press the right mouse button or the Esc key.
Move
The move function is done without using the Edit menu,
function keys, or buttons. After selecting an object, move the
mouse to the center (small dotted rectangle) of the selected
object. When the mouse is near the center, a “four arrow”
cursor is displayed. When this cursor is displayed, press the
left mouse button and drag the object to the desired location.
Release the left mouse button to complete the moving action.
Rotate
After selecting an object, select the “Rotate” edit function.
Place the mouse cursor on one of the corner rectangles and
press the left mouse button. The opposite corner is the rotation
anchor point. Hold the mouse button and drag the corner point
to rotate the object to the desired angle. Release the left mouse
button to complete the rotating action.
The angle of rotation is displayed in the right informational
window at the bottom of the screen (see page 3-11).
Text objects, bitmap drawings, and ellipses can not be rotated.
Arcs may be rotated, but due to the nature of elliptical arcs, the
results may not be exactly as expected.
Scale
The scaling function is done without using the Edit menu,
function keys, or buttons. After selecting an object, place the
mouse on one of the corner rectangles and press the left mouse
button. (Any corner rectangle may be used to scale the object.)
Hold the mouse button and drag the corner rectangle to resize
the object as desired. Release the left mouse button to
complete the scaling action.
To maintain the aspect ratio while scaling the object, hold the
left keyboard Control key down during the scaling.
The X and Y scaling factors are shown in the right information
window at the bottom of the screen (see page 3-11).
Text objects cannot be scaled in this way. To scale text, see
“Editing Text”, page 3-13.
Bitmap objects cannot be rescaled in Excalibur CAD. These
must be rescaled via a paint/bitmap program.
Copy
After selecting an object, select the “Copy” edit function. A
copy of the selected object is then created on top this object.
Move the mouse to the center of the object, as noted for
moving objects. When the “four arrow” cursor appears, press
the left mouse button and drag the copy of the object to the
desired position. Release the left mouse button to complete the
copying action.
Object to Front, Object to Back
When a new object is drawn, it is stacked on top of all other
objects in the display. The stacking order is initially
determined by the order in which objects are created.
To change the stacking order of an object, select the object to
change, then select the “Object to Front” or “Object to Back”
edit function. The view of the selected object is then changed
relative to other overlapping objects.
Object to Front - The selected object is moved to the top of
the stack of overlapping objects. This fully displays that
object in the image, on top of any overlapping objects.
Object to Back - The selected object is moved to the bottom
of the stack of overlapping objects. This displays that
object behind all other objects in the image.
Any object, except icons and groups of objects, may be
restacked on the map image.
EXCALIBUR CAD
3-12
