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jDraft has been designed from ground up to be used with a mouse. Most actions can be performed with a single mouse button and if/when the second mouse button is required (on Mac OS) it can be effected by holding the CTRL key down while clicking. The mouse should be regarded as the primary input device for jDraft.
However, a large number of keyboard shortcuts have been introduced to enable power users to enhance their productivity by taking advantage of the free hand.
Most, but not all, shortcuts can be configured in the Shortcuts -dialogue, 15.1, which you bring up with the Settings/Shortcuts... -menu command. Table 15.2.14 lists the shortcuts and shows their default key bindings.
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To configure a shortcut, click on the shortcut key name on the Shortcuts -dialogue to bring up the shortcut capture dialogue, figure 15.2, and hit the key you want to use for that action.
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Shortcuts that activate one of the Snap -tools, work in two modes. A short press is equivalent to clicking the associated Snap -button. Holding down the key will temporarily activate the Snap mode, but only as long as the key is held down, after which the original Snap mode is resumed.
Double clicking a toolbar button will bring up the associated parameters dialog, if any.
Double clicking a group will ’enter’ that group making it the current group and enabling working inside the group so that all changes and additions affect that group.
Double clicking ’nothing’ exits all groups.
Double clicking a Text Block brings up the text editor.
Hitting the ESC key once resets the current tool. This is most useful with the spline / polyline drawing tools as a way of terminating the the current polyline. Pressing ESC once is equivalent to clicking the tool button once.
Hitting the ESC key twice rapidly toggles between the Select -command and whatever drawing command is in effect.
Pressing the TAB -key repeatedly will cycle through all the possible pick combinations. Use this to sort out a situation where the application picks the wrong shape(s).
Holding the ALT -key down while starting a drag creates a copy of the selected shapes.
Holding down the SHIFT -key forces the point being entered to be on the same horizontal or vertical line as the Last Point.
Clicking a handle will initiate a stretch operation. Holding the CTRL key down while clicking on the handle will initiate a move operation with that handle as the reference starting position.
Dragging a Shape from its outline with the Grid -snap tool selected will move the selected shapes an integral number of grid units, thus maintaining their relative ’lock’ position to the grid.
Pressing the cursor control keys will ’nudge’ the selected shapes by one grid unit in the direction of the arrow. Up/down and left/right are interpreted as in a left handed coordinate system aligned with the active grid.
Pressing the Space -key will toggle the first option in the Options -toolbar.
Pressing the key displayed in Capitals infront of a numeric entry field is equivalent to clicking in that entry field to move the keyboard focus to that window.
The M key activates the Move command.
The R key activates the Rotate command.
The Z toggles between the current drawing command and the zoom command.
Table 15.1: Keyboard Shortcuts |
Figure 15.1: Shortcuts -dialog
Figure 15.2: Change Shortcut -dialog