Naturally, you will occasionally make errors when you draw your pictures. Or, conversely, you may create something that you want to apply everywhere in your picture In either case, iFIX's editing functionality lets you quickly update how objects look in your picture.
A simple way to edit objects is to use the Edit Toolbar:
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Click this button... |
Which can also be accessed in Ribbon view... |
To... |
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From the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Cut. |
Cut an object. |
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From the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy. |
Copy an object. |
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From the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste. |
Paste an object. |
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From the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Undo. |
Undo an actions performed on an object. |
By default, the buttons in the above table appear in the Toolbox when you create or open a picture. If you have the Toolbox enabled, simply click the button on the Toolbox that corresponds to the editing function you want. These functions, as well as the other available editing functions, are detailed in the following sections.
Cutting Objects
When you cut an object, you remove the object from the picture and place it into the Clipboard. Once an object is in the Clipboard, it can be retrieved by pasting it back into the picture.
To cut an object, in Classic view, click the Cut button on the Edit toolbar. In Ribbon view, on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Cut. If the Toolbox is enabled, click the button on the Toolbox.
Deleting Objects
Unlike cutting an object, deleting an object permanently removes it from the picture, unless you undo the operation. To delete an object, select the object and press Delete. Or, select Delete from the object's pop-up menu.
Copying and Pasting Objects
iFIX lets you copy objects in two ways: by placing a duplicate copy of the object into the clipboard for pasting into your picture, or by duplicating the object. To copy an object, use one of the following methods:
- Select Copy from the object's pop-up menu.
- Select the object and click the Copy button on the Edit toolbar (Classic view).
- Select Copy from the Clipboard group on the Home tab (Ribbon view).
To paste the object use one of the following methods:
- Select Paste from the picture pop-up menu.
- Click the button on the Toolbox, if the Toolbox is enabled.
- Click Paste on the Edit toolbar (Classic view).
- Click Paste from the Clipboard group on the Home tab (Ribbon view).
Duplicating an object is the easier method of copying and pasting, as it combines the copy-and-paste action into one step by avoiding copying the object to the clipboard. To duplicate an object, select the object you want to copy and select:
- Duplicate from the object's pop-up menu, or
- Duplicate from the Editing group on the Home tab (Ribbon view).
A second object with identical properties of the original appears slightly offset from the original. In the following figure, the oval to the lower right is a duplicate of the original.
Duplicating an Object
You can copy any iFIX object using the copy or duplicate methods, including bitmaps and OCXs.
Undoing Actions
iFIX has a number of actions that cannot be undone. If a particular task cannot be undone, the Undo command in the Edit menu is unavailable after you complete the action. For example, if you try to undo moving a chart, the command is unavailable. Typically, actions involving Standard Charts and Historical Data Links cannot be undone.
Undoing Repeated Positioning and Sizing Operations with a Single Undo Command
This feature allows you to revert back repeated positioning and sizing operations in single Undo command. It works only for repeated left/right/up/down arrow keys that do the same operation.
When enabled, only one undo operation is registered for repeated arrow key operations. Since this behavior is not required by all users, it is disabled by default to allow users to choose when they want to activate it.
To activate this feature, in the FixUserPreferences.ini file, in the [PicturePreferences] section, set the "SingleUndoOperationForRepeatedArrowKey" parameter to 1. The FixUserPreferences.ini file is found in the iFIX\Local folder. If this parameter is not already listed, you can add it to the bottom of the [PicturePreferences] section of this file.
For example, here is the setting enabled:
[PicturePreferences]
Width=100.000000
Height=75.000000
BackgroundColor=16777215
...
SingleUndoOperationForRepeatedArrowKey=1
To disable this behavior, set "SingleUndoOperationForRepeatedArrowKey" to 0. For example:
SingleUndoOperationForRepeatedArrowKey=0
IMPORTANT: The iFIX WorkSpace must be restarted for any changes to the "SingleUndoOperationForRepeatedArrowKey" parameter to take effect.
