Basic Editing Tutorial

Understanding basic editing procedures can help improve efficiency and speed up the
design process. This tutorial walks you through techniques for selecting, deleting, and
trimming objects, as you create.

Setting up Your Workspace

From the Help menu, open the drawing file associated with this tutorial.
Before starting this tutorial, prepare your workspace by dragging off the toolsets you’ll
use. From the Main Tool Palette, drag off the Trim toolset and place it along the top of
the workspace.

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To select objects
1. Selecting objects is easy in ViaCAD. Simply click on an object to select it. On the
workspace, position your cursor on the right-most circle, of the circles connected with
an arc, and click. Its properties are populated in the Data Entry fields.
2. Click to select the arc.
3. Click on the left circle to select it. The cursor appears as an arrow when in Selection
mode. If an arrow is not displayed, click the Selection tool.
4. Click the workspace to deselect the circle.
5. While in selection mode, the Prompt Window shows that you can press the SHIFT
key to toggle between selected and deselected; so you can extend the selection set.

6. Select the circle on the right.

7. Press and hold SHIFT and click the circle on the left to add it to the selection set.

8. Select the arc connecting the two circles.

9. With the SHIFT key down, click the right circle and the arc to deselect them and
remove them from the selection set.
10. Now re-select the right circle.
11. Click on the workspace to deselect everything.
12. While in Selection mode, position your cursor to the top left of circles and arc, so
your cursor is completely outside all of the shapes.
13. Press the mouse button and drag, from left to right, to create a pick window, or
selection window. Drag completely over the left circle and release your mouse button
to select it.

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 The selection window selects everything that is totally within the boundaries of the
window.
14. Drag a pick window around the circle on the right.
15. Deselect the circle.
16. Drag a pick window around part of the bottom object. Notice only points and
segments inside the selection window are selected.
17. Now position your cursor at the top right of the two smaller circles near the bottom
right of the workspace.

18. Click and drag a selection window, from right to left, around the top circle and a
small part of the bottom circle.

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19. Click outside the selection to deselect everything.
20. Drag a selection window around all of the lower objects.
21. Right-click the workspace to access a menu with the option to Select All and
Deselect. You can also select by entity type.

Ctrl-click the workspace to access a menu with the option to Select All and
Deselect. You can also select by entity type.

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22. From the Select All submenu, choose All Objects.
You can also Select All by double-clicking the Selection. Remember, you won’t
always see everything in the drawing. If you Select All and delete, you may delete
objects outside your current view.
23. Click on the workspace to deselect all.

Undo an action
1. Select and delete the left circle near the top of the workspace.
2. Select and delete the right circle.
3. Undo is available. From the Edit menu, choose UNDO Delete. The right circle
reappears.
4. From the Edit menu, choose UNDO Delete. The left circle reappears. Notice when
you choose Undo, it brings objects back, or undoes the actions in reverse order, the
last one first.
5. Drag a selection window, from left to right, around both circles and press DELETE.
If you select both and delete them, only one Undo is required to bring them both
back.
6. From the Edit menu, choose UNDO Delete. The circles reappear.

To trim corners and edges

1. From the View menu, choose User View, then choose Trim Corner, from the
submenu. The Trim to Corner and Edge view appears. Trimming allows you to take
objects that intersect and edit them, using one as a reference against the other.
2. From the Trim toolset, click the Corner Trim tool. Using the Corner Trim
tool, we’re taking two objects that either intersect or could intersect and
picking portions on the side of the intersection you want to keep.
3. On the workspace, begin working on the top set of graphics. Position your cursor on
the left portion of the horizontal line and click to set the first point.

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4. Drag down to the right, and position your cursor on the vertical line and click to set
the point. By choosing these segments, you’re picking the portions on the side of the
intersection you wish you keep.

5. Move to the graphic on the right.

6. Click the bottom left arc to set the first point, a portion you want to keep.
7. Drag your cursor to the bottom right arc and click to set the point. The portions along
which you clicked remain to form a corner, the other portions are trimmed.

8. Move to the first graphic on the left.

9. Position your cursor on the left portion of the arc and click to set the first point.
10. Drag to the bottom portion of the nearest vertical line and click to set the point. The
arc is trimmed all the way back to form a corner with that line.

11. From the Trim toolset, click the Trim tool. The Prompt Window says to select
the portion you want to delete.
12. Move to the bottom set of graphics and select the horizontal line of the center graphic.
13. Position your cursor on the bottom section of the vertical line, and click to delete.

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14. Move to the graphic on the right.
15. Position your cursor on the left arc and click. A warning dialog appears, saying it will
delete the whole object because it’s trying to trim it to the line that is already selected.
16. Click No.
17. Press and hold SHIFT, then click the shorter arc. By pressing SHIFT, you can extend
the boundary edge to which you are trimming.
18. Click the top portion of the shorter arc and it trims that section of the arc, to the point
of intersection.

19. Move to the first graphic on the left.

20. Press and hold SHIFT, then select the arc as the reference edge.
21. Starting under the arc, click alternating segments to trim them from the arc.

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To break segments at intersections
1. From the View menu, choose User View, then Break Trim from the submenu. The
Trim to break view appears. The next trimming tool, called Segment to Curve, allows
you to select a reference edge, or curve, and then trim to it.
2. Select the circle.
3. From the Trim toolset, click the Segment to Curve tool.
4. Position your cursor on the left side of the arc and click.
5. Click the Selection tool, then select the arc segment on the left.
6. Drag the arc segment away from the circle. The arc will be broken where it intersects
with the selected circle.

7. Move to the center graphic and select the horizontal line.

8. Click the Segment to Curve tool.
9. Click to select the two vertical lines that intersect with the horizontal line.
10. Click the Selection tool, then drag a selection window, from right to left, over a
portion of the two vertical lines to select them both and drag them away from the
horizontal line.

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11. Move to the graphic on the right.
12. Select the line angled downward to the right.
13. Click the Segment to Curve tool and select the intersecting line.
14. Click the Selection tool.
15. Drag the bottom portion of the intersecting line away to break it at the intersection.

To trim boundary lines into an enclosure

1. From the View menu, choose User View, then Region Trim from the submenu. The
Region Trim view appears. This is an amazing tool that will trim based on an entire
enclosed boundary.
2. Click the Region Trim tool. The Region Trim tool trims by boundary.
3. Position your cursor in the center of the object on the left.

4. Click to enclose the boundaries. The Region Trim tool looks for the closest enclosed
boundary and trims all of the corners found on that boundary.

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5. Press CTRL-Z to undo the region trim.

Press Command-Z to undo the region trim.

6. Position your cursor outside both objects and click. The Region Trim tool finds both
of those enclosed boundaries and trims them both.

7. Undo the region trim.

8. Position your cursor inside the boundary on the right and click. It finds both the outer
and inner regions.

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9. Undo the region trim.
10. Position your cursor inside the smaller boundary and click to trim only the smaller
boundary.

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