DRAW Main Menu |
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One of the most important productivity enhancements in the ARRIS++
package was the merging of the standard DRAW and
ARCHITECT main menus into one integrated whole as can be
seen in the image to the left.
All of the common GEOMETRY and NOTATION functions are grouped at the top of the menu with the Architect-specific routines located at the bottom. In addition to not having to flip back and forth between the old DRAW and ARCHITECT menus, having these two modules merged allows an additional application main menu such a DETAILS, 3D or SITE to also be active! All of this adds up to tremendous productivity gains while drawing. |
Special Features:
- All of the revised main menus share identical GEOMETRY and
NOTATION sections. This makes it possible to predict where
a function is located without having to make a visual search each
time a different module is loaded.
- Additional space has been provided within the NOTATION
section to allow additional toolkits to be added to ARRIS as they
become available.
- All of the Architect module's parametric routines (e.g.,
TOILETS, URINALS, SINKS and ELEVATORS)
have been moved from a secondary pop-up menu to prime location
on the DRAW menu.
- The current ARCHITECT CATALOG name is constantly displayed
on the DRAW menu near the parametric routines which rely
on that setting. If, for some reason, the name is ever missing,
right-clicking on the box will cause the current catalog name to
be immediately redisplayed.
A new button to access the POINTS toolkit has been added to each of the main menus.
A new button to access the ARRIS++ TOOLS menu has been added to each of the main menus.
A new button labeled USR APP has been added to each of the main menus. This provides a means for individuals or firms to link in their own custom application menus to the ARRIS system. To activate this, go to the ARRIS++ OPTIONS menu and specify a custom menu to be associated with the left and/or right-click for the USER APPLICATION button. For example, you might create a new overwrite menu named MY_TOOLS that you assign as the left-click action for the USR APP button. You could also make your own custom flyout menu named MY_TOOLSFLY which could be accessed using a right-click.
As another example, there may be an existing menu in another module that you often wish to access without having to first load that module's main menu. Let's say you normally have DETAILS loaded as your second module but frequently want to access the RENDER and LIGHTS overwrite menus from the 3D module. You could assign the R_RENDER and R_LTOVER1 menus to the USR APP button and then these menus would be instantly available regardless of which main menu was currently being displayed.
Note that the menus you assign to this button must be self-initializing. This means that they must be designed to automatically load any required status menu or perform any other initialization task when they are loaded.
