Environment - General Tools
Master Tool Settings
Use customer-specific settings
Settings can be assigned to specific customers (see Master Tool Settings), so when using a tool you can display either customer settings or all (global) settings
Auto-verify on open
Switch this option on to automatically check that any items, such as Symbols and Templates, that are referenced by the Master Tool Settings actually exist.
Prevent deletion of MTS with dependents
This option would normally be switched on, meaning that you can't delete a Master Tool Setting that is referred to by another setting. If you switch the option off then you will be able to delete such a setting.
Prevent deletion of symbols and templates with dependent MTS
Similarly, you would not normally want to delete a symbol or a template that is referred to by a Master Tool Setting. Switch this option off to allow that to happen.
Track MTS name changes
If you rename a Master Tool Setting then Impact will normally go through the rest of the Master Tool Settings to see if there are any that refer to it and update them so that they now refer to the new name. Switch this option off to prevent that happening.
Track symbol and template name changes
Similarly, if you rename a symbol or a template that is referred to by a Master Tool Setting, then Impact will update that setting. Switch this option off to prevent that happening.
Tools
Auto-selection tool
Some tools will automatically run a selection tool if you do not have entities already selected. This specifies which tool to use in these circumstances. From the drop-down list choose one of the following:
- Select Window
- Select Box
- Select Line
- Select and Drag
Warn user when tool requires selected entities
Switch this option on to generate a message when auto-selection occurs.
Middle button tool
If you have a three-button mouse, and if the middle button is not already programmed in Windows, you can use it to start a specific tool - choose a tool from the list.
Send mouse click to tool when started
If enabled, as well as starting the middle-button tool a click is made. (For example, instead of starting Enquire - Distance - Entity and then picking an entity, you could configure these settings so that you just middle-click on an entity to show the result - one click instead of two.)
Default tool
This is the tool that automatically starts when no other tool is running. From the drop-down list select one of the following:
- Select and Drag
- Select Window
- Select Box
- Select Line
- Pan and Zoom
Disable start of default tool when no other tools running
Switch this option off if you don't want a default tool to start when no other tool is running.
Scroll wheel behaviour
If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel you can configure it to pan and zoom as follows:
- Pan (with ctrl to zoom, shift to pan horizontally, alt for speed)
- Pan (with ctrl to zoom, alt to pan horizontally, shift for speed)
- Pan (with alt to zoom, ctrl to pan horizontally, shift for speed)
- Zoom (with ctrl to pan, alt to pan horizontally, shift for speed)
- None
Current palette to persist across layers
Switch this option on to persist the current palette when you change layers. Otherwise the current palette will be remembered from when that layer was previously current.
Transform tools persist their values
When this option is switched on the Transform tools will persist their edit-bar values. Otherwise they will be reset to their defaults each time the tools are run (such as scale = 1, rotation = 0, mirror = false etc.)
Diemaking tools check Outside-face/Inside-face settings
When starting a diemaking tool Impact can check that the viewed orientation matches the actual orientation. Switching this option on allows you to switch either of these orientations so that they do match. (NB. The terminology in this prompt can vary.)
Diemaking tools symbol insertion preserves sub-symbols
This option refers to the situation where a diemaking tool (such as the Stripper Creator) inserts a symbol which contains another symbol into the drawing. If the option is switched on then the containing symbol will be converted to a block and the symbol it contains will remain as a symbol (similar to the Block - Insert symbol tool, As block with symbol mode). With the option switched off, the contained symbol will be exploded whilst the containing symbol remains as a symbol.
Tool Edit Bar
Pressing <Enter> in the edit bar
From the drop-down list choose where the focus goes when you press the Enter key in an Edit Bar field. (This can be important if you use key presses to navigate quickly).
- Remains in the control - focus stays where it was
- Moves to the next control - focus moves along, the same as if you pressed Tab
- Moves focus to the current canvas - focus moves back to the main drawing area. (This is useful if you want to use hotkeys, for example, to change your snap mode.)
Keyboard focus to edit bar when tool starts
This option determines whether focus begins on the Edit Bar or in the main drawing area.
Show email in dialogue before sending
Use this option if emails that are normally sent automatically in the background by Impact are being blocked by your mail client.
Script
Use this option to specify a time-out period for scripts that may take a long time to execute. If you do not specify a time-out then scripts that cause infinite loops will cause Impact to freeze.
Time-out after specified period
Switch this option on to enable this feature.
Number of seconds until scripts time-out
Enter the required value.