The QUAD

The QUAD

The QUAD is an AI-driven command system accessible during the process of drawing and interacting with products in model space in Toolbox BSB. The QUAD menu contains customizable sets of frequently used commands when interacting with an entity. 

QUAD Structure

By default, when you select or hover over an entity, the QUAD detects the type of entity and displays a curated list of commands that work on that specific entity or set of entities. When no entity is detected, you can use the QUAD to create entities, insert blocks, attach underlays, or open the Settings and Drawing Explorer dialog boxes. 

 
The QUAD’s interface can be divided into two major sections, both of which host appropriate commands for easy usage without requiring the opening or navigation of ribbons:
  1. Frequently Used Commands: The top section of the QUAD contains a small strip of frequently used commands. The QUAD intuitively notes which commands are used often when working with different entities and thus displays those commands first when one such entity is being hovered over or selected. 
  2. QUAD Tabs: The lower section of the QUAD is comprised of multiple collapsible tabs that contain every significant command that can be used to make changes to the entity. This section is capable of being manually customized to contain specific commands or custom tabs. 

QUAD Displays

To toggle the QUAD’s display, click the “QUAD” button on the bottom status bar of the workspace. Deselecting the button will prevent the QUAD menu from being displayed under any circumstance. Selecting the arrow on the button will allow you to change the specific conditions or triggers for the QUAD menu display.

QUAD Settings

When working with the QUAD, the menu can be customized to fit your workflow by selecting the “Customize QUAD Items” in from the Status Bar button. 

Within the QUAD Settings interface, multiple different variables for controlling different aspects of the QUAD are available for modification. 
  1. QUAD Display: This variable determines the triggers for the QUAD displaying.
    1. [1] = When the cursor is over an entity. The entity under the cursor highlights.
    2. [2] = When entities are selected.
    3. [4] = When right-clicking while no entities are selected and there is no entity under the cursor.
    4. [8] = Suppress the QUAD when hovering over entities that are not in the current selection set.
    5. Negative: Switches the QUAD off.
  2. QUAD default command launch: This variable enables launching the default QUAD command without requiring the clicking of their mouse.
    1. [0] = The user must right-click on their mouse.
    2. [1] = The default command is launched by right clicking on an entity.
  3. QUAD pop-up corner: Controls the pop-up position of the QUAD relative to the cursor position (Upper right, Middle right or Lower right).
  4. QUAD Width: Defines the number of commands in a row (Default of 6.)
  5. QUAD Most Recent Items: Defines the number of the most recent items (entities/operations) that are displayed in the menu.
  6. QUAD Icon Size: Sets the size of the buttons in the menu.
    1. [0] = Small buttons (16 x 16 pixels).
    2. [1] = Large buttons (32 x 32 pixels).
    3. [2] = Extra-large buttons (64 x 64 pixels).
  7. QUAD Icon Space: Defines the space around the QUAD buttons: narrow, normal or large.
  8. QUAD Show Delay: Sets the time interval, in milliseconds, between the highlighting of the entity and the QUAD display.
  9. QUAD hide delay: Sets the time interval, in milliseconds, to keep the QUAD visible after the cursor is outside the QUAD hide margin limit.
  10. QUAD hide margin: Sets the distance, in pixels, where the cursor can move away from the QUAD and keep it visible. If the cursor moves outside this limit, the QUAD is hidden.
  11. QUAD go transparent: Defines whether the QUAD becomes transparent when the mouse moves outside the QUAD, but within the QUAD hide margin.
  12. QUAD expand delay: Sets the time interval, in milliseconds, to expand the QUAD after mouse-enter.
  13. QUAD expand tab delay: Sets the time interval, in milliseconds, to expand a group tab after mouse-enter.
  14. QUAD tab flags: Sets some display properties of the QUAD tabs.
    1. [1] =  Fixed with tabs: the tabs will be displayed with the same width as the buttons above them
    2. [2] =  Center tab labels: the labels of the tabs will be displayed center aligned
    3. [4] = Tab borders: the tabs will display a border between them
    4. [8] = Double tab height: the tabs will have two rows, allowing for the display of longer labels
    5. [16] = Show 3D Solid mass properties: displays the mass properties for 3d Solid entities.
  15. Property units: Displays the units for entity properties.
    1. [1] = length properties
    2. [2] = area properties
    3. [4] = volume properties
    4. [16] = dynamic dimensions
    5. [32] = mass properties
  16. Rollover tips: Specifies whether entity properties display in the QUAD while hovering. See the ROLLOVERTIPS system variable.
  17. Rollover opacity: Specifies the degree of opacity when the QUAD is in rollover state. Values between 10 (very transparent) and 100 (fully opaque) are accepted.
  18. Rollover selection set: Controls the content of Rollover tips when multiple entities are selected.
  19. Rollover parameters: Shows block parameters in the rollover tips.
  20. Selection preview display: Controls in which cases objects are highlighted when the pick box cursor hovers over them.
    1. [1] = when no commands are active
    2. [2] = when a command prompts for entity selection
    3. Note: When the SELECTIONPREVIEW system variable is Off:
      1. The Display the QUAD when the cursor hovers over an entity option of the QUADDISPLAY system variable is ignored and the QUAD is not displayed.
      2. The ROLLOVERTIPS system variable is ignored and entity properties are not displayed (the QUAD is not displayed).
      3. The SELECTIONCYCLING system variable is ignored and no badge or selection dialog box is displayed (the QUAD is not displayed).
  21. Shortcut menus: Controls the status of the DEFAULT, EDIT and COMMAND shortcut menus. The value is stored as a bit code using the sum of the values of all selected options.
    1. [1] = enable Default shortcut menus.
    2. [2] = enable Edit mode shortcut menus.
    3. [4] = enable Command mode shortcut menus (available whenever commands are active).
    4. [8] = enable Command mode shortcut menus only when command options are currently available from the command line.
    5. [16] = enable display of a shortcut menu when the right button on the pointing device is held down longer.
    6. [32] = repeat command with a short right-click when entities are selected, and QUAD is not shown.
  22. Shortcut menu duration: Specifies how long the right button on a pointing device must be pressed to display a shortcut menu.
  23. Tooltips: Toggles the display of tooltips for buttons, tabs and menus.
  24. Tooltip delay: Sets the delay time, in milliseconds, to display tooltips. If the value is negative, no tooltips display.

Microvellum Commands in the QUAD


Toolbox BSB’s QUAD comes with a ribbon of Microvellum commands built-in, including 2D tools, modifying MV products, annotation, and more. However, you can add your own set of Microvellum commands to the QUAD to best reflect your specific workflow and most frequently used commands manually, in the event the QUAD doesn’t associate them to one of the existing tabs. This is possible by opening the QUAD Customization options. To open the customization settings, click the arrow of the QUAD button, then click 'Customize Quad Items'. 

With the Customization menu open, you should see the MV CUSTOMIZATIONS category in the right column, with the 4 MV command tabs beneath it. To add your command, right-click on one the tab you would like the command to appear in, then select the “Append Tool” option. Enter the title (the name/alias of the command), the command itself (the full name of it with no spaces), and the icon you would like to associate with the command in the QUAD. When selecting an image, set it to “bitmap” to allow for the manual selection of the image. When selecting the image for your command, it is recommended to use an icon that is appropriate for the theme you intend to use with your BSB software (view this article for more information). 

Once the Microvellum Command has been created, drag and drop the command from the right column of the interface to the left column under the same tab as you appended it into. Select the MV command in the left column, then click on the bottom QUAD Button setting in the lower half of the interface, Entity Filter.  
The Entity Filter variable allows you to define the specific entities that cause the command to appear in the QUAD menu. Broadly speaking, Microvellum products and drawings are categorized as either 2D polylines (elevations and section drawings) or 3D objects (products and solid models).

Click on the button on the right end of this filter, open the Edit QUAD Button Filter, then select either “Add Entity Type(s)” or “Add Filter”. Selecting “Add Entity Type(s)” will allow you to select the various types of entities which, when selected in drawing space, will result in your MV commands appearing in the QUAD menu. Alternatively, selecting “Add Filter” will allow for the creation of a custom filter, or the selection of presets such as No Selection (commands will appear when no entity is selected), Any Object (commands will appear when any single object is selected), or Any Objects (commands will appear when multiple objects are selected). By default, all Microvellum QUAD commands in the Microvellum workspace are set to Any Objects to ensure the tabs are always visible in the QUAD. 

With the entity trigger set up, and the commands created in the BricsCAD QUAD tools, your favorite Microvellum commands will be on hand in an easily accessible location. 

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