Drawing in the Simulator

To add shapes you can select the appropriate shape from the shape buttons on the left side of the editor. It is possible to add lines, rectangles, ovals and text objects in this way. The button column also contains tools for selection of elements and filling objects with colows. Below is a brief description of what each button from top to bottom does.

  1. Add line - To add a line click on this button. Then move the mouse to the location where the line's starting point should be. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse cursor to the ending point of the line. Finally release the mouse button.
  2. Add rectangle - To add a rectangle click on this button. Then specify two opposite edges for the rectangle by pressing and holding the left mouse button in the draw area and dragging the mouse.
  3. Add oval - Click on this button to draw an oval. Ovals are drawn in a similar way as lines and rectangles.
  4. Add text - Click on this button to insert a text object into the model. Then click on the point which should be the upper left corner of the created object. A dialog window will appear where you can specify the added text.
  5. Select elements - To select multiple objects first click on this button. Then drag a box around a group of objects in the editor. Now you can move the whole set of objects by dragging one of them.
  6. Fill shape - This button is for filling shapes with colours. To fill a shape click on the Fill shape button in the button panel. A dialog window will appear where you can choose the colour. Finally click on the empty space inside a shape in the editor to fill it with the selected colour. Note that only rectangles and ovals contain empty space and can be filled.
  7. Undo - click on this button to undo the previously made change in the simulation model. You can undo the ten lateset modifications. The keyboard shortcut is CTRL-Z.
  8. Redo - clicking on this button redoes the latest undone change. All undone changes can be redone unless other modifications have been made. The keyboard shortcut is CTRL-Y.
The tool bar buttons The edit menu

All of the above mentioned actions except the Fill shape action can be found also in the Edit menu where they work the same way except that you first click on the appropriate menu item instead of the button in the button panel.

Manipulating elements in the draw area

After drawing an elements such as a rectangle, oval or line you can still edit its properties:

Elements can also be manipulated by editing their properties in the Properties window.

Removing elements

Elements can be removed by selecting them and then clicking on the Remove button in the Properties window or the Delete key on the keyboard. A dialog will appear where you can confirm or cancel the deletion command.

Note that elements cannot be edited when the Animator is open. Once the Animator window is closed the controls for manipulating the simulation model become enabled and the Properties window can be opened again.