_________________________ Virtual Reality Studio Part 5 _________________________ THE USER INTERFACE FILE SELECTOR ------------- The File Selector will appear when SAVE DATA, LOAD DATA, LOAD OBJECT or LOAD BORDER is selected from the FILE menu at the top of the VIEW window. The first files in the current directory will be displayed. The arrows on the right of the file selector will scroll up or down through the files in the current directory if there are more files than can be shown in the space available. In general, the File Selector can be considered a menu tool that allow you to move around your disk drives and hard drive, so you may load and save data in the areas of the disks you choose. Some simple things to remember: * You can point to any drive at the top of the File Selector box (A:, B:, C:, etc.) to retrieve or save data to your drive. * Clicking on the "previous directory" box - the rectangular box the left of the file window - will take you back to the previous directory (the directory above the current directory). * The PATH name at the bottom of the File Selector window shows the current directory that you are in. * It is recommended that you save files in the proper locations. For example, it is best to save DATA and OBJECT files in the DATA directory, border information in the BORDER directory, etc. Select the required file by clicking on the filename with the mouse button and the selected filename will appear to the right of the FILE heading. Alternately you can click to the right of the FILE heading (bottom area of menu) and type in the file name using the keyboard, pressing ENTER when satisfied. To load or save the selected file click on OK. Just above the FILE name is the PATH which shows which drive is currently being used, along with the current position within directories. To change the path, click on the rectangular box in the upper left of the menu. Floppy users can save to a formatted floppy disc if the current disc is full. ALERT BOXES ----------- During environment creation there will be instances where something you have attempted to do will be either not possible or irrevocable. In these instances an ALERT BOX will appear with information about the function requested. If the function is not possible the alert box will simply inform you of this and then wait for confirmation before canceling the function. If the function is irrevocable, i.e. CLEAR ALL, the alert box will give you the chance to reconsider the action and continue with or stop the function. ALERT BOXES are also used to inform you that an otherwise invisible function has executed correctly. In this case the alert box will simply require input from you to confirm the message has been received. DIALOG BOXES ------------ There are various parts of the environment creation which will require input from you to set parameters relating to the current function. These parameters will usually be set within a DIALOG BOX DIALOG BOXES are simply windows which will open at a set place (usually the center of the screen). These are similar to ALERT BOXES but with the added ability of user interaction. Interaction takes place in one of two ways, buttons or text/numerical input. Buttons can be one of three types. TOGGLE buttons which toggle between selected and unselected when activated. RADIO buttons which are part of a group of at least two buttons, when one radio button in a group is selected all other members of the group are unselected. FUNCTION buttons which do a specific task directly if. OK or CANCEL. Text boxes may be edited by first clicking over the text to be edited and if the text may be edited it will become inversed and a cursor will be displayed at the first character. You may then type your text in using the normal functions. DEL deletes a character under the cursor, BACKSPACE deletes the character before the cursor and other keys enter the desired character over the current content of the cursor position. Some text lines will restrict you to either NUMERICAL or ALPHA character only, to end editing of a particular text item, simply press the RETURN key whereupon the text will return to normal print and any restrictions on numerical values will be applied, ie. if you were to type in the number 9000 for an object position, as the maximum area coordinate is 8192, it will automatically be restricted to 8192 on pressing RETURN. Note that while editing a text or numerical item it is impossible to edit the DIALOG BOX or edit any other fields until you have finished editing the current text item by pressing RETURN. TEXT EDITING ------------ Text editing is used to change commands and usually takes place in the lower half of the screen directly below the VIEW window after selecting any of the icons which bring up the text editing window. The text editing window will come up if you are editing either conditions or animations. An inverse square will indicate your current cursor position. This position may be changed by either the keyboard or the control icons TEXT EDITING CONTROLS --------------------- Arrow Key Action ------------ ------------------------------ [Left Arrow] Move cursor left one character [Right Arrow] Move cursor right one character [Up Arrow] Move cursor up one line [Down Arrow] Move cursor down one line [PgUp] Move cursor up one page [PgUp] Move cursor down one page [Enter] Insert a line Edit Keys Action ----------- -------------------------------------- [Backspace] Delete the character before the cursor [Del] Delete the character under the cursor [Home] Move cursor to start of text [End] Move cursor to end of text [Esc] Cancel edit [Shift + Enter] Accept edit [F1] to [F10] Insert some of the more common functions Then select the TICK icon to enter your text into memory or the CROSS icon to cancel. *** END ***