The Main Window

Sheet Lightning is an MDI (Multi Document Interface) application. This means that any number of 'child' windows can be opened within the main window at one time. Sheet Lightning has a number of different types of child windows. Each type of child window installs its own menus and toolbar button into the main window when it becomes the active window, providing the commands unique to the type of child. Each time a child becomes active the menus and toolbars are switched. The following types of child window exist within the application.

At start up the program has a single special child window known at the Transcript window . The Transcript is used for displaying textual output in response to various commands. The Transcript window may alternatively exist as a free floating window that opens up on request or in response particular commands that use it. It is used for all forms of textual information output, such as reporting the details of a design, or reporting the results of a measurement.

A CAD design window holds a 3D design with full CAD tools and design capability via its toolbars and menu commands. Parts can be created with 3D position and shape, or manipulated and deleted using the CAD tools available. Design files are opened from the File menu or from the File tab of the toolbar. The background of a CAD design window is normally colored black.

A parametric window holds a Sheet Lightning design but no 3D CAD design tools are provided. The design acts as template and is manipulated simply by typing dimension values into the property editor. Parametric designs can be opened from the File menu or the File tab of the toolbar. Designs can be converted from a CAD format to a parametric format, or vise versa, at any time (not in the Lite version). See - Creating Parametric Designs . The background color of a parametric design window is normally a deep blue.

Pattern layout child windows hold unfolded 2D flat pattern results of CAD or parametric design unfolding. These views are generated from the unfold commands in the Action menu . The patterns layout windows are dependent on their source designs windows so when the design window from which they were generated closes, so does the pattern window (after confirmation). The background color of a pattern layout window is normally black. The layout window has its own CAD tools for arranging the patterns in the window. It also normally shows the layout spread over a number of printer pages. These can be turned of or adjusted from the 'Layout' tab of the options window.

The 'View' tab of the options window provides an alternative to generating new child windows for pattern layouts. If the 'Multi Page View' option and the 'Add Tabbed Pages' option are both checked then the generated views are added as a new tab within the main design child window. Many layouts can be added within the same child window.

Immediately above the child window area is the command dialog panel. As commands are executed the command dialog panel is used to display the controls and dialog relevant to the command. The command dialog provides a means of receiving user input into the dialog box without the dialog obscuring the view.

With many commands the dialog and the design view tools work together, complementing each other or offering alternative forms of input. For example in the case of parametric designs the command dialog provides an alternative to the property editor input, therefore the property editor need not even be visible to edit parameters.

The command dialog sometimes enlarges to accommodate two lines of dialog, rather than just a single line. If the 'flicker' caused by the dialog panel resizing is a problem the dialog panel can be permanently enlarged by dragging the splitter bar just below the panel downwards.

At the base of the main view is the status bar. This displays the hint for any selected menu items or button, and even more importantly, when the mouse is over the design area it displays the current CAD command state. For example the opening command state of a design view is 'object selection mode' and the status bar shows 'Select Objects' indicating the kind of action expected in the view. During CAD commands which require input the status bar gives an indication of what kind of input is expected whenever the mouse hovers over the design area.