The ViaCAD User Interface Tutorial

The ViaCAD user interface is made up of the workspace where your drawing is created,
the Main Tool Palette, and the Menu bar.

Mac and PC User Interfaces

There are a of couple operational differences between the Mac and PC user interfaces.
From the Help menu, open the drawing file associated with this tutorial.

On the File menu…

A menu item appears differently. On the PC user interface you’ll see Print Layout, while
on the Mac user interface you’ll see Page Layout.

PC File Menu Mac File Menu

Making a quick copy…

To copy selections using a PC, press CTRL-C, while copying with a Mac uses
Command-C.

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Dragging copies is easy using both Macs and PCs…
To copy a selection using a PC, press and hold CTRL, then drag away a copy. Using a
Mac, press and hold the Option key, then drag away a copy.

To choose menu items

1. Position your cursor on Edit, on the menu bar, and click. A drop-down appears.

2. Move your cursor over the other menu items to display their contents. In some cases,
cascading menus will be available.
3. Position your cursor on Group and the cascading menu is displayed.
Notice some of the options are grayed out, or unavailable. This may be because an
object must be selected first, or a command may need to be active.

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To use 2D and 3D Tool Palettes
1. To switch between 2D-only mode, and 2D and 3D mode, click the title bar of the
Main Tool Palette. Click the 3D button to display the 2D and 3D tools.

2. Click the 2D button, at the top of the Main Tool Palette, to return to the 2D tools.
3. Click 3D again, to switch back to the 3D Tool Palette.
4. Press and hold your mouse button on the Solid Primitive tools to display the toolset.

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5. Press and hold your mouse button on the Surface Utilities tools to display the toolset.
6. Position your cursor on the Line tools, and press and hold your mouse button to
display the toolset.
7. Drag through the Line tools to tear the toolset off from the Main Tool Palette.
8. Release to place it on the workspace.
9. Click the button in the top left corner to close the toolsets.

10. Position your cursor on the Circle tools. The little arrow at the bottom right corner
shows that there is a pop-out toolset with additional tools.
11. Hold your mouse button down to display the additional tools.
12. Drag your cursor over the tools. Notice, if you hold your cursor on a tool, a tool tip
appears helping you to choose the correct tool.

Graphic dots help you determine which of the tool creation methods is the correct
one.
13. Drag the Circle tools onto the workspace.
14. Drag through the Polygon tools to tear the toolset from the Main Tool Palette and
release it onto the workspace.
15. Click the Rectangle Polygon tool.
16. Position your cursor in the top left corner of the user interface and click to display the
sub-tool palette.

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17. Drag to the Major Axis Polygon tool and release your mouse button to
choose the tool.
NOTE: As you’re working with different tools, watch the Prompt Window for tips as to
what the next step will be.

18. On the workspace, click to set an endpoint for the polygon.

19. Drag and click to set the other endpoint along that edge.
20. Drag to one side or the other to extend the polygon to the size you want.

21. Delete the polygon.

To work with 2D and 3D tools, coordinates, and views

1. Click 2D, on the Main Tool Palette. Notice only a sub-set of the tools is available.
The tools are only for 2D drawing and editing. On the Data Entry Window, you’ll see
no reference to Z coordinates, only X and Y.
2. Click the View menu. Notice there’s no reference to views having to do with 3D.
3. Click the Single Line tool.
4. Draw a horizontal line on the workspace.
5. Close the open toolsets.
6. Click 3D, on the Main Tool Palette. Notice a selection of 3D drawing and editing
tools appears on the tool palette. On the Data Entry Window, the Z coordinate text
field is displayed, as well.
7. Click the View menu. The 3D views are available.
8. Click the workspace to deselect the line.
9. Click the WorkPlane menu. WorkPlane options are displayed.

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To control 2D and 3D views
1. From the Help menu, choose Tutorials, then choose The User Interface from the
submenu.
2. From the User Interface submenu, choose Model. The Model To Sheet dialog box
appears, giving options to flatten your 3D drawing.

3. From the Scale drop-down menu, choose Best Fit. We’ll choose Best Fit because we
don’t know what size the drawing is. Click OK. This takes a three dimensional
drawing and flattens it to a page, and gives you different views.

4. From File, choose Close. The warning dialog is displayed.

5. Click No, to not save changes.
6. On the Main Tool Palette, click 3D.
7. From the Help menu, choose Tutorials, then choose The User Interface.

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8. From the User Interface, choose Model. This time, the Z coordinates are all available;
all of the viewing is available for 3D, including the navigation tools.

9. From the Main Tool Palette, choose the Dynamic Rotate tool.
10. Click and drag on the workspace to rotate around the design.
11. Click the Single Line tool. Notice the Z coordinates are now available on the Data
Entry window.
12. Click the WorkPlane menu.
13. Move the View menu and choose Trimetric. You can zoom in and out, and navigate
as needed.

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To use the Inspector
1. On the Data Entry Window, click the “i" button to open the Inspector.

The Inspector provides access to properties for pens, fills, text, and dimensions. It
also allows you to enable or disable the Gripper and set its options.
2. Click the buttons at the top of the Inspector to access the different properties.
3. Click the Pen button to display the Pen Properties. Notice, “(New)” is specified.
4. From the Color drop-down menu, choose a blue color.
5. Click the Line tool and draw a single line. The line is drawn based on the default
values displayed on the Inspector. This means that all “new” entities that are drawn
will use these properties.
6. Click on the workspace to deselect the line.
7. Click to re-select the line.
8. From the Color drop-down, choose the magenta color.

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9. Deselect the line and notice the color is updated.
10. With nothing selected, change the color again. This makes the color the default and it
will be applied to subsequently drawn lines.
11. Draw a new line and deselect it. The line is drawn using the newly selected color.

12. Close the Inspector.

To access PrecisionPoint, Snap tools, and the Concept Explorer

1. Click the PrecisionPoint button, just above the Inspector button. The PrecisionPoint
dialog box is displayed.

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 The PrecisionPoint dialog box gives you access to entering coordinates.
2. Close the dialog box.
From the Window menu, choose Snaps. The Snap tools are displayed. Here, you can
turn on and off individual Snap tools.

3. Close the dialog box.

4. From the Window menu, choose Concept Explorer. The Concept Explorer is
displayed.
5. Click the Layers tab.

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 You can also access Symbols and Features.

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