ARRIS++ Enhanced Menus Package: Desktop Menu

DESKTOP Menu:

ARRIS++ DESKTOP Menu. (Click for a larger image in a pop-up window)

This section discusses changes and enhancements to the DESKTOP menu that runs across the top of the ARRIS screen.

General Enhancements:

The sigmac :cj_mn_dtclr was created to clear the highlighting from all of the boxes on the DESKTOP menu.
Fixed a number of glitches that existed when left and right-clicking was performed which left various menu boxes improperly highlighted.

Save:

A small box was added under the SAVE button to keep the user informed as to when the database has been modified and needs to be saved. The indicator is neutral (as seen on the left) when the active sheet or drawing is unchanged since being loaded or last saved. It becomes highlighted (as seen on the right) when modifications have been made.

Save Database Indicator: Off

Save Database Indicator: On

Note that the indicator will not be updated while a command is running. Therefore, there may be a short delay between the time a database change is made and the indicator responds. If there is ever any doubt regarding the indicator's status, press the <ESC> key to synchronize the ARRIS system.
The right-click command for the SAVE button was changed from :mn_qsave to :save;='y'. The reason for this is that the standard ARRIS "quick save" function fails to save all necessary changes and is considered to be confusing and dangerous. The new command performs a full save of the database without prompting for confirmation. If the previous functionality is desired, the original function may be reassigned to the button as a custom right-click command.

Project Management:

The ARRIS project management system places the Select by File and Select by Project mode buttons on the FILE pull-down menu. This is inconvenient if this mode needs to be changed frequently.

A small button was added to the left of the name box to provide direct access to this feature. This button displays a `P' when Select by Project mode is active and shows the current Project and Project Page information to the right.

Select by Project mode

Clicking on this button immediately toggles the display to `F' or Select by File mode and shows the Project Path and Sheet or Drawing information to the right.

Select by File mode

Toggling back and forth using this button provides a convenient way to check the corresponding information that is not normally displayed.

Tips:

When you start ARRIS, if you find that it doesn't automatically set the mode you want as the default, add one of the following command to your :ustart sigmac:

Sets Select By File mode :mn_projmode;='database'

Sets Select By Project mode :mn_projmode;='project'

Or, if you use a text-based ustart.tx initialization file, add one of these commands:

Sets Select By File mode @#@CMD:mn_projmode;#str;database;0

Sets Select By Project mode @#@CMD;:mn_projmode;#str;project;0

If you are a project administrator and have responsibility for managing the project lists in your office, consider assigning the following two custom right-click commands to the information display boxes to provide quick access to the following tools:

Loads the PROJECT LIST MANAGER menu :mn_projlist;='init'

Loads the PROJ. PAGE LIST MANAGER menu :mn_pagelist;='init'

Recent Documents:

Use of the RECENT DOCUMENTS menu can be very convenient when switching back and forth between multiple drawings within a single project or when working on more than one project at a time. Instead of having to navigate the project or drawing selection menus, the sheet or drawing that you were recently working on is quickly available directly from the DESKTOP menu.
One of the more annoying changes in ARRIS 2001 was the placement of the RECENT DOCUMENTS (e.,g., the old Most Recently Used list) on a sub-menu which was accessed through a button near the bottom of the FILE pull-down menu. A small "down arrow" icon has been added to the DESKTOP menu which provides immediate access to this valuable information in the more useful location.

RECENT DOCUMENTS Menu in PROJECT mode
ARRIS maintains separate RECENT DOCUMENTS lists for PROJECT and FILE modes. New buttons were added to allow each of these lists to be easily displayed.

RECENT DOCUMENTS Menu in FILE mode
The RECENT DOCUMENTS menu was enhanced by Sigma Design to present additional information, including descriptions, for the listed drawings. However, this information was presented in a confusing manner that made it difficult to scan the list for the desired entry. The menu has been redesigned to organize the material in an easy-to-read format.
The one serious remaining problem with the RECENT DOCUMENTS menu is that there is no direct user-control over the document list. As you work with ARRIS the list automatically updated and the entries on the list constantly change position, making it difficult to predict what you will find on the menu and where it will be located. Two new tools have been provided to deal with these limitations, making the use of recent documents a much more useful and enjoyable experience.
Chad Estes' Favorite Documents
Chad W. Estes (chad@beicker.com) was the first to tackle this project, resulting in his favorite documents tool which he has been gracious enough to donate for inclusion in ARRIS++. The code and menus have been modified slightly from his original contribution to make this program look and operate in a manner that is similar to the other recent document tools, but the general design and feature set are entirely his creation.

Chad Estes' FAVORITE DOCUMENTS Menu

Chad's FAVORITE DOCUMENTS differs from the standard ARRIS recent documents in that entries only appear on this list when explicitly added and can be relied on being there until they are explicitly removed. As can be seen in the image above, each entry is displayed with the drawing or sheet description, the full path and the date and time when the document was last saved.
Here is a summary of the major features of this menu:
- Selecting the LOADING MODE box toggles between READ-ONLY, LOCK BY SHEET and LOCK BY VPORT modes.
- Clicking on the DESCRIPTION, PATH or LAST SAVED buttons will sort the all of the list entries in ascending order based upon the data in that column. Right-clicking on these column heading will sort the entries in descending order.
- Clicking on any empty line (lines 8, 9 or 10 above) will cause the current document shown on the DESKTOP menu (i.e., project #0005 - Site Plan) to be automatically added to the end of the favorites list. The program takes care to avoid adding duplicate entries.
- Clicking on any line containing an entry will cause that document to be loaded into the current ARRIS session.
- Right-clicking on any line containing an entry will start up a new ARRIS session with the specified document loaded.
- Clicking on one of the CLR buttons deletes the entry on that line. Remember that there must be at least one empty line available in order to add a new document to the list.
- Clicking on the RECENT DOCS button toggles the menu to recent documents mode as seen below.
- The favorite documents data is maintained in the file: usr:config.dir/cj_cefavs.tx
Chad Estes' RECENT DOCUMENTS Menu

Chad's RECENT DOCUMENTS menu is similar to the standard ARRIS version in that it presents an automatic list of the most recently loaded documents. (But only documents loaded in FILE, not PROJECT mode.) The main features of this menu are:
- Selecting the LOADING MODE box toggles between READ-ONLY, LOCK BY SHEET and LOCK BY VPORT modes.
- Clicking on any line containing an entry will cause that document to be loaded into the current ARRIS session.
- Right-clicking on any line containing an entry will start up a new ARRIS session with the specified document loaded.
- Clicking on one of the CLR buttons deletes the entry on that line.
- Clicking on the FAVORITES buttons toggles the menu back to favorite documents mode previously discussed.
Some differences between the RECENT DOCUMENTS and FAVORITE DOCUMENTS menus are:
- Clicking on the column headers will not sort the entries. The order of this list is strictly determined by the date and time that the documents were last accessed.
- Clicking on an empty line will not add the current document to the list. Documents are added automatically by ARRIS when any drawing or sheet is loaded in FILE mode.
ARRIS++ User Documents
The design for an improved recent documents tool had been sketched out and placed on the ARRIS++ to-do list quite some time ago. Chad's efforts (discussed above) inspired the effort to finish development, resulting in the new USER DOCUMENTS menu.

ARRIS++ USER DOCUMENTS Menu

This tool has a similar goal to Chad's favorite documents menu, but offers a different user interface design. The menu is divided into an upper section with a single CUR (current) and five PREV (previous) lines which act as an abbreviated recent documents list, and a lower section with twelve (1-12) lines displaying documents explicitly placed there by the user, which remain in their specified location until deleted or moved.
Here is a summary of the major features of this menu:
- Double-clicking on any list item (first click highlights the item; second click activates it) will cause that document to be loaded into the current ARRIS session.
- Right-clicking on any previously selected (highlighted) list item will start up a new ARRIS session with the specified document loaded.
- The default database may be loaded at any time by selecting the LOAD noname.db button.
- At the bottom of the menu, selecting the LOADING MODE box toggles between READ-ONLY, LOCK BY SHEET and LOCK BY VPORT modes.
- At the bottom of the menu, clicking on the SELECT BY box toggles between PROJECT and FILE modes. A separate list of documents is maintained for each mode.
- Clicking on the ADD button allows a document from the upper section of the menu to be selected and placed anywhere on the user documents list (lines 1-12).
- Clicking on the DELETE button allows any item from the lower user documents list to be removed.
- Clicking on the MOVE button allows any item on the lower user documents list to be relocated to another position.
- Right-clicking on the ADD, DELETE or MOVE buttons initiate continuous command mode. This is indicated in the box at the bottom of the menu which highlights and displays REPEAT in place of SINGLE. While in this mode the selected command may be repeated as many times as necessary without having to constantly reselect the command button.
- An ADD, DELETE or MOVE operation may be canceled at any time simply by clicking again on the active button.
- For maximum flexibility, a list item to be added or moved may be chosen either before or after the ADD or MOVE button is selected.
- When adding or moving an entry on the user documents list, if the target location is empty, the document will be placed on that line. On the other hand, if another document currently resides in that location, then ARRIS will prompt:
  Selecting CANCEL cancels the operation altogether. If REPLACE is selected, the new document overwrites the existing one. However, if INSERT is selected, then all items will be shifted down to make room for the new document. If there are no empty lines below, then a final prompt appears:
  Selecting CANCEL cancels the operation while CONTINUE will proceed with the insertion and item #12 will be removed from the list.
- Whenever a change is made to user documents list, the SAVE button label will change to yellow to indicate that these modifications have not yet been saved. Click on the SAVE button to make the current configuration permanent by writing it to disk.
- Whenever the EXIT button or the menu title is selected, if there are unsaved changes, then ARRIS will present a confirmation prompt asking whether these modifications should be saved or abandoned.
- Right-clicking on the titlebar executes the initialization command associated with this menu. Be aware that if any unsaved modifications have been made, they will be silently lost as the current configuration from disk will be reread.
- The user documents data is maintained in the file: usr:config.dir/cj_dbuser.tx
Customizing Recent Documents for Personal Use
With so many possible choices for accessing recent documents, the only problem remaining is figuring out how to use these new tools. There is already an ikon on the DESKTOP menu (the small down-arrow) which was being used to display the standard ARRIS RECENT DOCUMENTS menu and it seemed natural to continue to use this button for the same purpose regardless of which of the tools was preferred.
This problem has been solved through the new ARRIS++ Options feature discussed below. Using this tool, it is possible to assign any of the following options as the left and/or right-click command for this button. The available choices are:
- ARRIS STANDARD RECENT DOCUMENTS MENU
- ARRIS++ USER DOCUMENTS MENU
- CHAD ESTES' FAVORITE DOCUMENTS MENU
- CHAD ESTES' RECENT DOCUMENTS MENU
- CUSTOM
If no specific options are selected, then a left-click on the button will continue to display the original ARRIS RECENT DOCUMENTS menu and a right-click will display the ARRIS++ USER DOCUMENTS menu.
A CUSTOM option is offered to provide support for a custom document selection tool. See the ARRIS++ Options section in the manual for additional information.

Viewport:

The VIEWPORT LAYOUT menu was recreated to conform to the new ARRIS 8.0 appearance and layout.

VIEWPORT LAYOUT Menu
Viewport Toggle:
The new :cj_vp_togl sigmac is a replacement for the :mn_vpflip command which is used to move into viewports and back to sheet space. This new command offers the following additional features:
1. Eliminates the annoying confirmation prompt to verify that the selected viewport is the one to enter and instead simply enters the viewport immediately. This works fine so long as the point selected does not occur where one viewport overlap another.
2. When necessary, this sigmac performs an automatic save of the sheet when entering a viewport and performs a save of the model layers when returning to the sheet. The save operation occurs only if the DB has been modified. This eliminates the prompt to save the DB, making navigation much easier and quicker.
3. When entering a viewport, the temporary viewport outline can be automatically displayed.
It is suggest that this command be assigned as a right-click command to the box on the DESKTOP menu that displays the name of the viewport (in blue) or "Sheet" (in red).

Viewport/Sheet Title

Once this assignment is made, right-clicking on this box provides all of the above features. To move to the other space without saving any changes, simply left-click on this box for the normal function and prompts.
Viewport Selection Prompt Confirmation:
Various commands which operate on viewports such a Query, Pan, Erase, Rotate, etc. prompt for confirmation when a target viewport is first selected. An entry on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu offers control over these prompts. The option defaults to YES which preserves the standard ARRIS prompts. However, if this is set to NO, then these prompts are suppressed and the commands will execute immediately when the viewport is selected.
Automatically Rotate Viewport Workplane:
In standard ARRIS, when entering a viewport with a rotated view, the workplane and cursor typically remain oriented with the database and are consequently not aligned with the current screen view. A new feature has been added so that when entering a rotated viewport, it is possible for ARRIS++ to automatically set the workplane and cursor to match that view. Since this may not be desirable for some users, an entry on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu allows this feature to be turned on or off.
Viewport Button Sheet Space Command:
It is now possible to customize the right-click function of the VIEWPORT button on the DESKTOP menu by setting the desired command on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu. This command will then be executed when working in sheet space. If no explicit command is given, then this defaults to panning the selected viewport using the command: :mn_vport;='pan'
Viewport Button Vport Space Command:
The right-click functionality of the VIEWPORT button on the DESKTOP menu can differ depending on whether you are in sheet or viewport space. Another option on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu allows a separate command to be defined which is then executed while working in a viewport. If no explicit command is given, then this defaults to redefining the view of the current viewport using the fixed size method with the command: :mn_vpreset;='view';:mn_vpcut;='bx';:mn_vpcut;='ex'
Viewport Outline:
When working in a full-screen viewport, it is difficult to know where the boundaries are so that work does not extend outside the viewport and get clipped when viewed from sheet space. A new feature has been added that allows a temporary, green, rectangular box to be displayed at the viewport extents, providing the visual feedback required to work within viewports with greater confidence.

Temporary Viewport Outline
On the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu there is an entry for VIEWPORT BORDER LINES DISPLAY which controls when these viewport outlines should be automatically generated. The three options are:
- NEVER
- MENU CONTROLS ONLY
- ALL COMMANDS & CONTROLS
If NEVER is selected, then ARRIS will never automatically display these lines. If MENU CONTROLS ONLY is selected, then any time that the screen is panned or zoomed using the window arrows, slider or zoom buttons, the viewport border lines will be automatically displayed. If ALL COMMANDS & CONTROLS is selected, then any menu control or system command that updates the screen will automatically cause the viewport outline to be displayed.
It is recommended that the ALL COMMANDS & CONTROLS option be used as this ensures that the viewport outline will be visible most often, giving the greatest benefit.
For most users this is all that is required to use this tool. The following discussion is somewhat more technical and discusses various sigmac commands that can be executed, called from within other custom sigmacs, or used in conjunction with customized right-click commands to achieve more detailed control over viewport outlines.
The :cj_vp_rview command:
When working in a full-screen viewport, the :cj_vp_rview sigmac performs the function, similar to RESTORE VIEW command available from the viewport pull-down menu, of zooming out to the extents of the current viewport area and then drawing a temporary green rectangle at the location of the viewport boundary. However, the new command provides an additional prompt:
Selecting restore causes the command to operate as described above, while selecting show will display the temporary viewport border lines (assuming they are visible on the screen) without changing the current view. This can be seen in the following examples:

Temporary Viewport Outline - Clipped

This is very useful when zoomed in on a specific region and performing drawing tasks such as placing dimensions or notes, where it is important to know that the new information will not extend beyond the viewport's border.
The :cj_vp_qview command:
The :cj_vp_rview command will issue an error message if it is attempted to be run while not within a viewport. Because of this, an alternate quiet version of the command named :cj_vp_qview was developed which suppresses the error message. This version of the command is suitable for use in combination with other display, pan or zoom functions as will be described below.
If the optional cj_mnopt.sm sigmac library is loaded, the mnemonic commands :vpr and :vps have been provided to quickly execute the command in restore or show modes respectively.

Automating the use of the :cj_vp_rview command:

To get the temporary viewport outline to be constantly displayed as the screen is panned, zoomed or redrawn, use the ALL COMMANDS & CONTROLS option discussed above. However, if that option is not in effect, any command can still be made to automatically display the viewport outline by attaching the cj_vp_qview;='s' command to it. For example, let's say we have a mouse motion command that redraws the screen (:dpe) and another one that zooms in (:mn_zmidg). If we change these command strings to:


				:dpe;:cj_vp_qview;='s' 
				


				:mn_zmidg;:cj_vp_qview;='s'

then when working in a viewport, every time the mouse is used to redraw or zoom, the viewport boundary lines will be automatically redisplayed (assuming of course, that they are visible within the screen area). By using the quiet version of the command, these same mouse motions will continue to work when outside of a viewport without displaying any annoying messages.

By combining the :cj_vp_qview;='s' command with all of the zoom, pan or display commands being used, the viewport outline will always be displayed, significantly improving drawing productivity while working with viewports. The :cj_vp_qview;='s' may be appended to any of the following existing sigmac commands:

COMMAND DESCRIPTION

:da Display all

:dpe Redraw screen

:dper Redraw retained

:mn_czmdg 2-point zoom

:mn_view;='plan' Plan view

:mn_vwdrag Move view with mouse drag

:mn_zmidg Zoom in

:mn_zmodg Zoom out

:unz;:dpe Unzoom

:zmi Zoom in

:zmo Zoom out

:zmr;:dpe Zoom last

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
:da	Display all
:dpe	Redraw screen
:dper	Redraw retained
:mn_czmdg	2-point zoom
:mn_view;='plan'	Plan view
:mn_vwdrag	Move view with mouse drag
:mn_zmidg	Zoom in
:mn_zmodg	Zoom out
:unz;:dpe	Unzoom
:zmi	Zoom in
:zmo	Zoom out
:zmr;:dpe	Zoom last

In addition to these commands, you can also modify the commands for the panning arrows, scrollbars and zoom button for the main graphic screen as follows so that right-clicking on these controls will also cause the viewport outline to be displayed.

DESCRIPTION NEW COMMAND STRING

Up Arrow :mn_sldarr;='u';:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Down Arrow :mn_sldarr;='d';:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Left Arrow :mn_sldarr;='l';:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Right Arrow :mn_sldarr;='r';:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Horizontal Slidebar :mn_sldbar;='MNFULLS';1;=1;:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Vertical Slidebar :mn_sldbar;='MNFULLS';1;=2;:cj_vp_qview;='s'

Zoom Out :mn_sldcrn;=2;:cj_vp_qview;='s'

DESCRIPTION	NEW COMMAND STRING
Up Arrow	:mn_sldarr;='u';:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Down Arrow	:mn_sldarr;='d';:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Left Arrow	:mn_sldarr;='l';:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Right Arrow	:mn_sldarr;='r';:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Horizontal Slidebar	:mn_sldbar;='MNFULLS';1;=1;:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Vertical Slidebar	:mn_sldbar;='MNFULLS';1;=2;:cj_vp_qview;='s'
Zoom Out	:mn_sldcrn;=2;:cj_vp_qview;='s'

There are certain existing sigmacs that require intermediate point input and because of this, are not able to have the :cj_vp_qview;='s' command successfully appended to them. To address this limitation, the following new commands were developed and may be substituted in place of the original commands. These replacement sigmacs operate identically to the originals except that they display the viewport outline after performing their operation.

ORIGINAL SIGMAC REPLACEMENT SIGMAC DESCRIPTION

:mn_areazoom :cj_vp_areazm Zoom to the specified screen region

:czw :cj_vp_czw 2-point windowed zoom

:mn_pan2 :cj_vp_pan2 2-point panning

:mn_winda :cj_vp_winda Display all windows

:mn_windpe :cj_vp_windpe Display all windows

:mn_zoomw :cj_vp_zoomw 2-point windowed zoom

ORIGINAL SIGMAC	REPLACEMENT SIGMAC	DESCRIPTION
:mn_areazoom	:cj_vp_areazm	Zoom to the specified screen region
:czw	:cj_vp_czw	2-point windowed zoom
:mn_pan2	:cj_vp_pan2	2-point panning
:mn_winda	:cj_vp_winda	Display all windows
:mn_windpe	:cj_vp_windpe	Display all windows
:mn_zoomw	:cj_vp_zoomw	2-point windowed zoom

Again, just a final reminder that all of the work discussed above regarding command modifications can be avoided if the ALL COMMANDS & CONTROLS option is selected on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu.

The global variable icj_vp_rvskip:
Therer are times when it is undesirable to display the viewport border outline in a window. In these cases, the global integer variable icj_vp_rvskip can be set to #true immediately before calling the display update command (e.g., :da, :dpe, :dper, etc.). This will insure that the viewport border lines are not shown for that command. The variable is automatically set to #false after each call, so there is no need to reset it.

Layer:

In ARRIS 2001, the old LAYER button was replaced by a wide LAYER label. The layer name and number were then combined into a single field, making them difficult to read. The LAYER button has been restored to the DESKTOP menu and separate fields were created for the layer name and number.

Layer Button, Name and Number
Loading Layers:
When loading an existing layer into the current drawing, additional information is now displayed on the message line. When navigating to a new directory (i.e., folder) the folder description will be shown. Also, when an existing layer is selected from the list, the layer name, description and entity count will be displayed to help in making the proper selection.

Display Information for Layer Being Loaded

Layer Mode Color Display:

A new :cj_lc_col sigmac was created to provide control over the layer mode color display function found on the LAYERS menu.

Layer Mode Color Display

Support for up to ten different layer mode color sets has been provided to aid in different drawing tasks, and commands are available to make it easy to select any one of these color sets as well as turn the layer mode color display on or off. If the optional sigmac library is loaded, then there are a number of convenience mnemonic sigmacs that make using these features particularly easy.

First, let's discuss the optional external data text file which is used to define up to ten different layer mode color sets. This file is named cj_laycol.tx and is located in the user's config.dir directory. The format of each line in the file is as follows:

Type;Setno;Color;Desc

where


				Type   is the layer mode and is one of
							EDIT, SRCH or DISP

				Setno  is the color set number from 0
							to 9

				Color  is the actual color number from
							0 to 255

				Desc   is an optional description of
							the entry

Note that comment lines begin with a # and that all lines must have at least three semicolons to delineate the fields. Specifying the color number 0 tells ARRIS to display layers using that mode in their native database colors. The work layer is always displayed in its native database colors.

Here is the contents of a sample ${GRUSR}/config.dir/cj_laycol.tx file:


				#;;;ARRIS++ LAYER COLOR PARAMETERS FILE: VERSION 01

				#;;;------------------------------------------------

				EDIT;0;00;Color Set 0: Edit    Color

				SRCH;0;30;Color Set 0: Search  Color

				DISP;0;31;Color Set 0: Display Color

				#;;;------------------------------------------------

				EDIT;1;00;Color Set 1: Edit    Color

				SRCH;1;02;Color Set 1: Search  Color

				DISP;1;02;Color Set 1: Display Color

				#;;;------------------------------------------------

If no data file exists or if all ten color sets are not defined, then they will default to the colors 0/30/31 for EDIT/SRCH/DISP.

The following mnemonic commands quickly allow the layer mode colors to be adjusted for the task at hand:

:cl :cj_lc_col;='toggle' layer Toggle the layer mode color display on/off

:cl# :cj_lc_col;='#' layer Set the layer mode colors to the specified color set where # is a single digit: 0 through 9

:clinit :cj_lc_col;='init' layer Reinitialize the layer colors after changes to the data file

:cloff :cj_lc_col;='off' layer Turn off the layer mode color display

:clon :cj_lc_col;='on' layer Turn on the layer mode color display

New Mnemonic Commands:
- The :rou command automatically reloads all read-only layers in the current drawing or viewport (the same thing as selecting the R/O UPDATE button from the LAYERS menu) followed by an automatic update to the screen to display any changes. This is particularly useful if you are working on two ARRIS drawing at the same time (say a floor plan and a reflected ceiling plan) which share some layers and wish to see the changes made in one drawing reflected in the other.
- The :rlm command restores the layer modes to their default state for the current viewport. This is the same thing as selecting Restore Layer Modes from the VIEWPORT pull-down menu.

Undo:

The :uu mnemonic convenience command was added to the optional sigmac library and is available if that library has been loaded. This command performs a single-step undo and is equivalent to clicking on the UNDO button. The name was chosen to be quick and easy to type.

Query:

The QUERY pull-down menu has been reimplemented and expanded.

QUERY Menu

The ON-LINE DOCUMENTATION section of this menu has been modified to offer new buttons that provide access to the following documents:
- ARRIS: The ARRIS Bookshelf. This provides access to all of the on-line documentation for the ARRIS products distributed by Sigma Design.
- ARRISplus: The ARRISplus Users Manual by Expert InfoCAD Corporation. (Note that the optional ARRISplus module must be installed and authorized in order to access this documentation.)
- ARRIS++: The ARRIS++ users manual by CJSA LLC.
- MENUS: The ARRIS Menus: User Interface Programming Manual by CJSA LLC. This documentation is a comprehensive reference guide for the construction and use of menus under the ARRIS system.
The ARRIS and ARRISplus documentation is provided in PDF format and is read using the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The ARRIS++ and MENUS documentation is in HTML format and is read using a standard web browser. On MS Windows platforms, the user's default browser will be used. On UNIX platforms, netscape is the default browser. However, this may be changed by setting and exporting the GRBROWSER environment variable to another program capable of displaying HTML content. For example, to use the Opera browser, in the .cshrc file add a line similar to:
Right-clicking on the ARRIS, ARRIS++ or ARRISplus documentation buttons will cause the current version of that product to be displayed on the message line.
Query Distance:

Query DISTANCE Menu
The query DISTANCE command and menu have been enhanced. The revised command and menu offers the following new features:
- A new entry for AREA (X*Y) has been added to the menu. This displays the rectangular area defined by the two input points as projected onto the X-Y plane. In other words, any Z-axis component is ignored for the purpose of this calculation. If the two input points happen to fall along wither the X or the Y-axis, then there is no rectangular area to calculate and the message <NO RECTANGULAR AREA> will be displayed to indicate this fact.
- A new entry for CURRENT RUNNING TOTAL DISTANCE has been added to the menu. Each time the distance command (:mn_dist) is run, this total starts out at zero and accumulates the sum of all subsequent distance measurements made during the measurement session.
- A new entry for HISTORICAL RUNNING TOTAL DISTANCE has been added to the menu. This line displays the sum of all distance measurements made since the ARRIS session began or since the last time the historical total was cleared. This allows a total distance sum to be calculated without having to keep the measurement command constantly running.
- Two new [C] buttons have been added which reset either the current or the historical totals to zero when selected. Right-clicking on either button will reset both the current and historical values to zero in one step.
- The command now honors the user's XYF and DSR settings. This change makes it possible to make more precise measurements along a particular axis and allows keyboard values to be properly entered and accumulated in the running totals.
- A complete set of on-line help has been added so that users can quickly review what type of information is being displayed in each field.
- The labels for ANGLE A and ANGLE B have been augmented to indicate that the first is a measurement in the X-Y plane while the second is measured in the X-Z plane.
- The DISTANCE menu is now a standard pop-up which may be repositioned on the screen (by right-clicking on the [X] icon) if it is currently placed in an inconvenient location.
- Clicking on the titlebar will dismiss the menu from the screen without interrupting the running distance command. Clicking on the [X] icon will dismiss the menu and terminate the running command.
- All of the data boxes on the menu are used for display only and have no function when selected. However, the menu has been redesigned so that user's may assign custom right-click commands to these boxes if desired.
Note:
- Right-clicking on the DIST button on the QUERY pull-down menu will reset both the CURRENT and the HISTORICAL running total distance values to zero before launching the command.

Edit:

The pull-down EDIT and EDIT SHORT menus have been redesigned to allow the addition of new functions.

EDIT Pull-Down Menu

EDIT SHORT Pull-Down Menu

The following changes and enhancements have been made:
- On the EDIT menu the layout of the ENTITY FILTER section has been reorganized into a more logical format and expanded to include additional buttons for attributes and zones which can now be edited just like the other entity types.
- The EDIT ACTION section of both EDIT menus has been redesigned for increased clarity and ease of use.
- A [C] button has been added to allow the SCALE and the ROTATION to be immediately reset to 1 and 0 respectively. Each of these values may be reset individually by right-clicking on the corresponding box.
- SCALE, ROTATION and ROTATION DIRECTION buttons have been added to the menu to support the MOVE SCL/ROT function in a manner similar to the corresponding operations on the COPY menus.
- The SCALE prompt now provides the same options to mirror about the X, Y or X & Y-axes previously offered for repeated item scale. See RI Scale Prompt for additional information.
- The MOVE SCL/ROT command now uses the SCALE and ROTATION values indicated on the menu. For backwards compatibility with earlier version of ARRIS, the default right-click command associated with this button ignores the values on the menu and instead prompts for the scale and rotation during the command's operation. In addition, the prompts for this right-click command also offer a POINTS option which allow the scale and rotation to be determined graphically. When prompted for the scale factor, selecting POINTS allows a new point to be specified relative to the original reference point, defining a reference line. Next, a second point relative to the new location is specified, defining a target line. The selected entities will be scaled based upon the ratio of the length of these two line. When prompted for the rotation, selecting the POINTS option again will cause the entities to also be rotated relative to the angle between the two lines.
- For seasoned ARRIS users that wish to use the old method of first selecting the entities and then being prompted for the scale and rotation values, this method has been reinstated as a right-click on the MOVE SCL/ROT button. This command ignores the scale and rotation shown on the menu and will use whatever values are entered at the prompts. Note that this command also offers a POINTS option (as discussed above) for both scale and rotation.
- The three original entity-specific editing actions have been relocated to the bottom of the menu.

Special Entity Filters:

A small box was added under the EDIT button to keep the user informed as to the current status of any Special Entity Filters in use on the EDIT or COPY menus. The special filters include the PEN and COL settings as well as special properties which vary depending upon the current entity setting.

The indicator is neutral (as seen on the left) when all of the special entity filters are cleared (i.e., off). It becomes highlighted (as seen on the right) when any special filter is active for the current entity type.

Special Entity Filter Indicator: Off

Special Entity Filter Indicator: On

Left-clicking on this box will display the EDIT pull-down menu. Right-clicking will clear all special entity filters which is identical to selecting the [C] button on the EDIT or COPY menus.

Programmer Tip:

A new sigmac, :cj_ed_light, has been created which sets this indicator light based upon the current editing criteria. This command may be used if necessary to update the indicator. Note that this is unnecessary if a call is instead made to either :mn_edslct or :mn_edstrt.

Scale Factor
The scale factor prompt for the EDIT and COPY menus has been enhanced.

Copy/Move Scale Prompt
- Options for 0.0833, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 10.0 and 12.0 have been added. Note that 0.0833 will set scaling to 1/12th which, along with 12.0, can be useful for converting objects in an imperial database.
- The new POINTS option has been added to this command which allows the scale to be determined graphically as the ratio between a Baseline Length (specified by two points) and a Newline Length (specified by two additional points).
  This option has been enhanced over the standard command to insure that the current reference point is always properly reset regardless of how the command is exited. Previously, there were many ways to terminate the command that would leave the reference point set incorrectly.
  The original command would leave pop-up menus displayed on the screen, making it impossible to graphically set the scale. This problem has been fixed. When the POINTS option is selected, any pop-up menu is immediately removed from the screen. Once the new scale has been determined, the original menu is automatically redisplayed.
- Mirroring options have been added. As the prompt indicates, these options may be selected from the keyboard by entering either 'mx', 'my' or 'mb'. ('mxy' may also be entered in place of 'mb'). For simple mirroring, start with a scale value of 1. If another scale value is first selected, then the mirroring operation will preserve the specified scale(s) and will adjust them to mirror about the indicated axes.
Rotation Factor
The rotation factor prompt for the EDIT and COPY menus has been enhanced.

Copy/Move Rotation Prompt
- New options for 0, 30, 45, 60, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, 300, 315 and 330 have been added to make selection of these typical values easier.
Diagnose and Repair
A new DIAGNOSE & REPAIR button has been added to the EDIT menus. If the optional ARRISplus module is installed, then the following feature is available:

Button: Active

Button: Inactive

ARRIS uses markers within the drawing database to tag and encapsulate complex entities such as patterns, paragraph text and zones. Occasionally, these complex markers become corrupted which results in a number of strange behaviors such as entities disappearing or patterns being drawn wildly across the screen or unrelated entities such as lines and curves being selected as though they were part of a text paragraph!
Within the database, ARRIS encodes all data using unique integer opcodes. These opcodes should always occur in matched pairs, but programming errors can occasionally cause them to become corrupted leading to all sorts of problems.
The DIAGNOSE & REPAIR tool is designed to identify and correct these problems where possible. The button will only appear active when either the PATTERN, TEXT or ZONE entity type is selected. The command also works with ANY, in which case it will operate on opcodes, patterns, paragraph text and zones together.
Once the desired entity type has been selected, click on the DIAGNOSE & REPAIR button and the command will prompt to select one of the following actions:
- DIAGNOSE: This generates a diagnostic report analyzing the selected entities on the specified database layer. The results are displayed in a pop-up menu where any entity defects found will be listed. Use the REPAIR function to make corrections.
- REPAIR: This initiates a repair session for the selected entities on the specified database layer. Once the repairs have been made, the results are displayed and another prompt asks to confirm acceptance of the modifications. Answering no at this point will revert the layer's contents back to its original state.
- UNGROUP: Occasionally a layer will become so corrupted that it cannot be successfully repaired. The ungroup function can be used as a tool of last resort in attempting to fix the problems by reducing the selected complex entities on the specified database layer down to very simple geometric elements which can be used to manually reconstruct the drawing. Once the ungroup operation completes, the results are displayed and another prompt asks to confirm acceptance of the modifications. Answering no at this point will revert the layer's contents back to its original state.
A confirmation prompt will always be displayed to verify the selected operation prior to starting. Refer to the ARRISplus documentation for additional information on how to fully utilize this tool.

Warnings:
- Before attempting any repair operation, always be sure to save the database and make a back-up copy of the work which can be used to restore the drawing should something unexpected happen.
Notes:
- Right-clicking on the DIAGNOSE & REPAIR button will execute a generalized version of the command that is completely independent of the currently selected entity type. Because of this, the right-click command will work even if the button is currently greyed out.
  
  The first prompt will ask for the desired action. Select either DIAGNOSE, REPAIR or UNGROUP. The second prompt asks for the type of entity on which to perform the indicated action. Select either OPCODES, PATTERNS, TEXT, ZONE or ALL. The command will then be executed with the same confirmations described above.
- The DIAGNOSE, REPAIR and UNGROUP functions are also located on the pop-up TOOLS menus for patterns, text and zones. For additional information, refer to the links in the See Also section below.
See Also:

Copy:

Layer Retain:
- A small box was added under the COPY button to keep the user informed as to the current state of the Layer Retain mode. The indicator is neutral (as seen on the left) when layer retain is off. It becomes highlighted (as seen on the right) when layer retain mode is turned on.
  
  Layer Retain Indicator: Off
  
  Layer Retain Indicator: On
  
  Clicking on this box will immediately toggle layer retain to the other mode.
  A new sigmac, :cj_md_lrdisp, has been created which displays a message indicating the current state of the layer retain mode. This command may be used in conjunction with certain copy and edit commands if an additional visual reminder is desired. For example, if a COPY ALL IN button were added to the toolbar, this might execute the following commands which would conclude by indicating the current state of layer retain:
  Tips:
  - If the size of the screen makes it difficult to accurately click on this small box, one solution would be to assign the command :mn_flip;#ucpret as a custom right-click command to the COPY button. This would allow right-clicking on that larger button to toggle the layer retain mode.

Color:

Colormaps:

In ARRIS 2001 the menu color scheme was changed. To aid in restoring the original menu colors (as seen on all of the images in this documentation), a number of custom colormaps are provided. The first, named user1.cm, retains the original ARRIS drawing colors seen in the following image.

Color Map: user1.cm

The second colormap is named user2.cm and provides a somewhat more attractive set of drawing colors. The solid color band remains unchanged while the shadable colors offer a more more natural selection within a pastel range.¹

Color Map: user2.cm

In ARRIS 8.1 the ARRIS colormap was significantly extended to support 256 directly addressable drawing colors. Four new custom colormaps have been provided to support this expanded range.
The user11.cm colormap supports the ARRIS++ menu color scheme, but otherwise it is identical to the new ARRIS SYSTEM colormap.

Colormap: user11.cm

The user12.cm colormap supports the standard ARRIS++ menu colors and retains the original 32 solid colors (0-31) and the 16 pastels (33, 35, 37, ..., 63) found in the ARRIS++ user2.cm colormap discussed above. New pastel colors have been added to the even numbered slots from 32 through 62 while colors 64 through 255 are identical to the ARRIS SYSTEM colormap.

Colormap: user12.cm

The new user13.cm colormap supports the ARRIS++ menu and revised pastel colors from the user2.cm colormap. However, colors in slot 64 and up retain the same format and color distribution as was found on older versions of ARRIS prior to the introduction of high resolution colormaps. This colormap may be of use for various functions and backwards compatibility. (For example, in the display of a 3D model rendered with the older user2.cm colormap.)

Colormap: user13.cm

A new colormap named user14.cm was added which is a cross between user12.cm and user13.cm. The even color slots between 32 and 62 have the new pastel colors taken from user12.cm while the remainder of the colormap from slot 64 and up have the colors found on earlier versions of ARRIS and as seen in colormap user13.cm.

Colormap: user14.cm

All custom colormaps in ARRIS++ have an additional colormap with rev appended to the name. (i.e., user1rev.cm, user2rev.cm, ... user14rev.cm). Each of these colormaps is identical to its counterpart with the exception that colors 0 (black) and 1 (white) have been swapped, resulting in a white screen with dark lines.
All of these colormaps set the highlight color to a fluorescent red that is much more visible on the screen then the default highlight color.
Loading Colormaps:

All of the colormap files discussed above may be found in the ${ARRIS}/ap/cjsa.vn/cjmenus.ap/lib directory. To make one of these colormaps the default, copy the appropriate file into the ${GRUSR} directory and rename it user.cm. The next time ARRIS is started these colors will be automatically loaded.

To facilitate the use of all colormaps, a new sigmac command name :cj_cm_load has been created. When executed, it prompts as follows:

:cj_cm_load Command Prompt
If a user.cm and/or user_rev.cm colormap file exist at either the ${GRUSR} or ${GRSTD} locations, they will be listed in addition to all of the standard ARRIS and ARRIS++ colormaps. Each name is tagged with either a (64) or a (256) to indicate whether it is an older 64-color, or newer, high-res, 256-color colormap.
Unlike the standard ARRIS commands which require manual intervention (a screen and menu redraw) to get the new colors displayed, this command will automatically update the graphic screen and the menus to immediately display the new color scheme.
If you often switch colormaps, it might be convenient to assign this as the custom right-click command for the COLOR button on the DESKTOP menu. It is then just a single click away.
A set of special commands has been created to allow these colormaps to be loaded at any time without having to first copy them to the ${GRUSR} directory. These commands are located on the TOOLBAR COMMAND ASSIGNMENT MENU under the group titled ARRIS++: COLORMAP and may be easily loaded onto the toolbar for use. For additional information on this procedure, see the section titled Toolbar Command Database.
Color Selection:

It is nice to have 256 colors to choose from in ARRIS 8.1, but it is very difficult to pick the desired color from the small color swatches on the default SELECT DESIRED COLOR pop-up menu (as seen above). And without numbers, there is no way of knowing exactly what color is being chosen until after it has already been selected. A new color selection menu has been introduced in ARRIS++ to address these problems.

ARRIS++ 256 Color Selection Menu: Example 1

ARRIS++ 256 Color Selection Menu: Example 2
A new option on the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu allows you to replace the standard color selection pop-up menu with the the menu seen in the examples above. This menu offers the following enhanced features:
- Larger color swatches make differences in adjacent colors easier to see and select
- All colors from 0 through 255 are clearly numbered
- If desired, the menu may be repositioned on the screen by right-clicking on the [X] icon
- If the menu's color display ever becomes garbled or lost, it can be refreshed by right-clicking on the title bar
- Unlike the original ARRIS color selection menu, dismissing this menu insures that the command prompting for the color number is properly terminated
Because this is option-driven, it is easy to switch back to the original ARRIS color selection menu should that ever be desired.
¹ This modified colormap is based upon, but is not identical to, one created by Jeff Rath and distributed on the ARRIS mailing list. Thanks Jeff.

Customization:

The CUSTOMIZATION pull-down menu has been reimplemented and expanded.

CUSTOMIZATION Menu

The Following enhancements have been made:
- A new ARRIS PLUS button was added to display the standard ARRISplus application overwrite menu, assuming that that optional module is installed on the system. This menu duplicates all of the ARRISplus features that have been integrated throughout ARRIS++ and its use is generally unnecessary.
  
  Right-clicking on this button displays the original ARRISplus application menu. This feature is provided just in case a revised version of ARRISplus is ever installed without the corresponding upgrade to ARRIS++. This will provide emergency access to new features.
- A new ARRIS++ was added to allow various ARRIS++ application options to be reviewed and set. This new feature is discussed below.
- A new button was added to allow the ARRIS initialization file(s) to be edited in a pop-up text editor window. On a MS Windows platform this command will edit the arris.ini file, while on a UNIX system the .cshrc and/or .login files are edited.
ARRIS++ Options
Selecting the ARRIS++ button displays the new ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu.

ARRIS++ OPTIONS Menu

This menu provides a graphical interface for selecting various options in the ARRIS++ application module. Currently, the following options are supported:
- LOAD ARRIS++ OPTIONAL SIGMAC LIBRARY:
- NOTE BUTTON LEFT-CLICK COMMAND:
- NOTE BUTTON RIGHT-CLICK COMMAND:
- RECENT DOCUMENTS LEFT-CLICK COMMAND:
- RECENT DOCUMENTS RIGHT-CLICK COMMAND:
- USR APP BUTTON LEFT-CLICK COMMAND:
- USR APP BUTTON RIGHT-CLICK COMMAND:
- VIEWPORT BORDER LINES DISPLAY:
- VIEWPORT SELECTION PROMPT CONFIRMATION:
- SET WORKPLANE TO MATCH A ROTATED VIEWPORT:
- DISPLAY TOOLBAR WITH ALTERNATING COLORS:
- USE ARRIS++ 256 COLOR SELECTION MENU:
- ALLOW MANUAL LEADER LINE DIMENSIONING:
- RESET NEW RI's SCALE TO 1 AND ROTATION TO 0:
In all cases, right-clicking on the option buttons will toggle in the reverse direction through the option lists.

Custom Menu Option:
RELOAD Button:
SAVE Button:
EXIT Button:

Sets Select By File mode	`:mn_projmode;='database'`
Sets Select By Project mode	`:mn_projmode;='project'`

Sets Select By File mode	`@#@CMD:mn_projmode;#str;database;0`
Sets Select By Project mode	`@#@CMD;:mn_projmode;#str;project;0`

Loads the PROJECT LIST MANAGER menu	`:mn_projlist;='init'`
Loads the PROJ. PAGE LIST MANAGER menu	`:mn_pagelist;='init'`

`:cl`	`:cj_lc_col;='toggle'`	layer	Toggle the layer mode color display on/off
`:cl#`	`:cj_lc_col;='#'`	layer	Set the layer mode colors to the specified color set where # is a single digit: 0 through 9
`:clinit`	`:cj_lc_col;='init'`	layer	Reinitialize the layer colors after changes to the data file
`:cloff`	`:cj_lc_col;='off'`	layer	Turn off the layer mode color display
`:clon`	`:cj_lc_col;='on'`	layer	Turn on the layer mode color display

DESKTOP Menu:

General Enhancements:

Save:

Project Management:

Tips:

Recent Documents:

Viewport:

Layer:

Undo:

Query:

Note:

Edit:

Programmer Tip:

Warnings:

Notes:

See Also:

Copy:

Tips:

Color:

Customization:

Custom Menu Option:

RELOAD Button:

SAVE Button:

EXIT Button:

See Also: