SuperEdit is performance-optimized for viewing large raster and vector documents. For each open document, it keeps a full view of this document. This feature allows executing the Zoom-Extents command very fast. In some situations, however, the use of full view cache can somewhat decrease the quality of document display. In this case, you can issue the Regenerate command that forces full-resolution redraw without using the stored view. By setting the UseFullViewCache parameter in the supered.ini file to 0 (see Appendix for description of the supered.ini file), you can disable storing and using the full view cache.
Use this option if you want SuperEdit to create a new composite document (TCD) for the single image file being open. SuperEdit displays the TCD Contents window with structure of just created TCD document.
Use this option if you don’t want SuperEdit to create a new composite document (TCD) for the single image file being open. It is the way to return to the situation before you used the Switch to TCD Mode option. SuperEdit switches off displaying the TCD Contents window.
The Add Subdocument command adds a new subdocument to the current composite document. It launches a dialog box for selection of a drawing file to be added. The command is the menu version of Add... button on Composite Document dialog.
The Remove Subdocument command removes links to currently highlighted subdocuments from the composite document. It does not delete the drawings’ files, of course. The command is the menu version of Delete button on Composite Document dialog.
The New Vector command creates and adds an empty TVD drawing as the new subdocument to the current composite document. Notice the difference between this command and Add Subdocument command that can add only an existing drawing.
It is possible to a add a new vector drawing based on a prototype file (another vector drawing). The prototype file name is specified in Options - Configuration - Open dialog. You can use a browse button to find the wanted file (the chosen file name and location appears in an edit box). It is possible to choose with a check-box whether or not to use the prototype drawing. The prototype is used only if the check-box is set and the prototype-path is not empty.
Views manager, closely integrated with the TCD document, provides the means for fast previewing and defining named zoom views that are stored in the document (or in TCV files for single-file documents) for future reference. For each view, the user may add additional remarks in the description field. Because the process of regeneration takes some time, storing prepared image bitmap in the TCD document may accelerate the viewing.
When SuperEdit works in Single Image Mode , i.e. file operations are performed on a single image without TCD file, definitions of views are stored in a “ImageName.TCV” file. This additional file is automatically created by the Save command and used by SuperEdit if found in the image’s directory.
Full view , representing the entire document, is created and stored by SuperEdit automatically. Additionally the user may define named views .Both types of views may be selected as default to be shown on open.
The Views command opens a dialog that displays the list of named views and offers the choice of views-related operations. Views may be selected by clicking their names. Double clicking on the name of the view on the list is equivalent to pressing the Show button for this view. The default view is shown at the bottom of the dialog. Views-related operations are executed in response to pressing respective buttons. The Views dialog remains on the screen until the Close button is pressed.
The following command buttons are offered in the Views dialog:
New - define a new named view with View Parameters dialog. You can give a name to the currently displayed part of document. World coordinates of the current zoom window will be stored as the view definition.
Modify - modify the parameters or name of the selected view with View Parameters dialog. You may give a new name (it must be unique) for an existing view. You may also change this view definition by typing world coordinates into appropriate boxes.
Delete - delete the selected view(s). After deleting, the list of views is updated accordingly.
Show - show the selected view. After pressing this button, the view is shown in the SuperEdit drawing window. Pressing this button is equivalent to double clicking on the view’s name on the list.
Mark - define the selected view as default one.
Only one default view is assigned to each TCD document. This view may be selected for showing when the document is initially opened.
The Select command on the Document menu and on Main toolbar toggles (switches back and forth) SuperEdit and it Drawing window between the normal and selecting state.
In the normal state, pressing the left mouse button and dragging in the Drawing window is used as a shortcut to start the Zoom Window command.
In the selecting state, the interpretation of the window entered by pressing and dragging the mouse is different. This interpretation depends on two factors: the state of the Shift key during the window input and the direction of mouse dragging (from left to right or from right to left). If the mouse was dragged from left to right, only those drawings, which lie completely inside the entered window are selected (or deselected). If the mouse was dragged from right to left, drawings with extents intersecting the entered window are selected (or deselected). If the Shift key was released during mouse action, relevant drawings are selected and remaining drawings are deselected. If the Shift key was pressed, the selection state of relevant drawings is changed (selected are deselected and deselected are selected).
It is also possible to select and deselect component drawings just clicking with a mouse on the document area. The state of Control and Shift keys is important. If the Control key was pressed, all drawings clicked on are selected, but if the Control key was released, only one of drawings clicked on is selected. While choosing drawing(s) to be selected, first the viewports are taken into account, but if there is no viewport at the mouse click point, full drawing extents areas are taken. Exactly as while selecting with window (described in the above paragraph), pressing the Shift key indicates, that the selection state of relevant drawings is to be changed (selected are deselected and deselected are selected). If the Shift key was released during the mouse click, relevant drawings are selected and remaining drawings are deselected.
For each component drawing, its visible area, called viewport, is defined. Initially (after adding the drawing to the composite document) it is set to full drawing extents. A viewport can be resized by selecting relevant drawing and dragging small black rectangles (called trackers) that appear in the corners and in the middles of edges of the selected drawing’s viewport. A viewport can be moved by selecting the relevant drawing and dragging its viewport window. The Reset Viewport command in the Document menu and the OTM Reset Viewport option resets the viewports of currently selected documents to their initial sizes (full extents of each respective drawing).
The Properties command launches the Composite Document dialog. This dialog groups together commands for composite document management on the subdocument level.
All command buttons located on the right side of the Subdocuments list apply to one ore more subdocument files that are highlighted . Using these commands, it is possible to:
change properties of individual images (like their position or color);
enable/disable displaying of images;
select and unselect images for editing;
change the order in which they overlap each other;
add/delete images to/from the composite document;
change linking path to image files;
save changes made to subdocuments;
save subdocuments under new names;
copy subdocuments to new files;
use absolute or relative path of subdocument file.
The Common Extents of the current composite documentare displayed below the Subdocuments list, together with two additional controls that let you do the following:
change the Units of the composite document (composite document extents are expressed in these units),
close the Composite Document dialog and apply the changes to the graphical screen.
The Composite Document dialog box displays a list of subdocuments that are linked to the current composite document. You can highlight the entries on this list in order to choose subdocuments for further actions.
The Composite Document dialog box lists path names to subdocuments’ files, that are preceded by four status columns. The first column contains plus sign ( + ), if the corresponding subdocument is enabled (visible) or minus sign ( - ), if the subdocument is disabled (invisible). The second column may be empty or it may contain either the N/A text, if the subdocument’s file can not be found, or the R/O text, if the subdocument is open in the read-only mode. The third column contains the S character, if the corresponding subdocument is in the selected state. The names of selected subdocuments are displayed in red color in the list box. The fourth column contains the F character for a foreground TVD subdocument that is currently edited. Additionally, a foreground subdocument’s file name is displayed in gray color on the list. There can be only one foreground subdocument in each Composite Document .
For each subdocument, its visible area, called viewport , is defined. Initially, right after adding an image to the composite document, the image’s viewport is set to its full extents. Viewport extents can be changed using the Select / Edit Viewports command. The Reset Viewport command sets the viewports of currently selected images to their initial size (full extents of each respective image).
SuperEdit ’s raster editing commands ( Move, Clear, etc.) operate only on subdocuments that are selected . Subdocuments may be selected using either the Select and Unselect buttons in the Composite Document dialog, or clicking their names on TCD Contents window.
Most of Composite Document dialog buttons are available as options on the Composite Document Menu ( CDM ) that is displayed in TCD Contents window.
The following paragraphs describe commands (buttons) available in the Composite Document dialog.
The Properties... command is active only when exactly one subdocument is highlighted on the Subdocuments list. This command launches the Raster Image Properties dialog or Vector Drawing Properties dialog, depending on the current subdocument type. Using the dialog, you may inspect and set various properties and parameters of the highlighted subdocument.
The Vector Drawing Properties dialog has been described earlier.
The Raster Image Properties dialog can have two, three or four tabbed pages. The pages titled Parameters and Info is always present. The Pages tab is present only when the current raster image has multiple pages. The Colors tab is present only when at least one image page is monochrome, so that it may have a presentation color assigned.
The Parameters tab presents the following parameters that, except for the Extents , have been read from the image file header, its attributes file (TAF), or defined by the user using this dialog:
Effective Image Extents - calculated according to other parameters set for this raster image ;
Scale - the nominal scale ;
Resolution X x Y - the nominal horizontal and vertical resolutions of the bitmap in dots per inch ;
Insertion Point - the insertion point coordinates, i.e. world coordinates of the bottom left corner of the image ;
Units - units for the Insertion Point and Extents presentation ;
Change orientation - buttons to rotate the view of the image left, right, by 180 degrees or perform vertical or horizontal mirroring of the view;
Image Description - optional description text .
On the Colors tab, you can select a presentation color for monochrome raster image.
The values of image parameters are saved in the image file, if the image format allows for it. An additional attribute file, with the same name as the image file name but with TAF extension, stores all parameters in ASCII format (see Appendix for description of the TAF file format). The additional file is located in the same disk directory as the image file. The additional attribute file is necessary, because not every parameter can be saved in the original image file. Parameters saved in the original image file override those saved in its additional attribute file. The creation and reading of attribute files can be controlled using the BRAOpenOptions parameter in the supered.ini file (see Appendix for description of the supered.ini file).
The parameter values are read from the image file and possibly from its attribute file. All of them can be changed, except for the Effective Image Extents that are calculated from other parameters. When any parameter has been changed, the image is considered changed, and SuperEdit asks the user for saving changes in a file, when it is about to be closed.
The Enable command turns visible all subdocuments that are highlighted on the Subdocuments list. The visibility may be also affected by the drawing’s position on the Subdocuments list (see the Subdocuments order section below).
The Disable command turns invisible all subdocuments that are highlighted on the Subdocuments list.
The Select command changes to selected the state of all highlighted subdocuments on the Subdocuments list. The S character appears before the name of each selected subdocument, which is additionally displayed, in a different color. This method of selecting is alternative to the cursor pointing method described in the Select / Edit Viewports command section below.
The Unselect command clears the selected state of all highlighted subdocuments on the Subdocuments list. The S character before the name of each selected subdocument disappears and the color of its line is changed to the standard one. This method of making unselected is alternative to the cursor pointing method described in the Select / Edit Viewports command section below.
Thefollowing four commands (buttons) allow to control the order in which the subdocuments overlap one another, when the composite document is displayed or printed. Each of them moves the highlighted subdocument entries on the composite document’s Subdocuments list.
The Bring to front command moves the highlighted subdocuments to the front end of the Subdocuments list i.e. makes them cover the other drawings.
The Bring forward command moves the highlighted subdocuments one step in the front direction on the Subdocuments list; i.e. makes them cover the drawing that immediately preceded them. Issuing the Bring forward command sufficient number of times is equivalent to issuing the Bring to front command one time.
The Send backward command moves the highlighted subdocuments one step in the back direction on the Subdocuments list, i.e. puts them under the drawing which immediately followed them. Issuing the Send backward command sufficient number of times is equivalent to issuing the Send to back command one time.
The Add... command adds a new subdocument to the current composite document. It launches a dialog box for selection of a drawing file to be added.
The Delete command removes links to currently highlighted subdocuments from the composite document. Of course, it does not delete the drawings’ files.
The Change Link... command is used to define a new path to the subdocument that is highlighted on the Subdocuments list. It is especially useful when the previous files location is not valid (indicated by N/A on the Subdocuments list), e.g. after moving it to another directory. The Change Link... command can be issued only when exactly one subdocument is highlighted on the Subdocuments list.
The Save command is active only when exactly one subdocument is highlighted on the Subdocuments list and if there are any unsaved changes made to its contents or parameters. This command saves the changes to the highlighted drawing file and/or to its associated attribute file. It operates only on the highlighted subdocument and does not save changes made to other subdocuments or to the whole composite document that should be saved using the Save command (or the Save button on the Main toolbar).
The Save As... command is active only when exactly one subdocument is highlighted on the Subdocuments list. It copies the highlighted drawing file (with its associated attributes file (TAF), if one exists) to the location specified by the user in the Save As... dialog box. The highlighted source subdocument file is left unchanged while all editing changes made to it are saved in the newly created copy. The Save As... command updates the current link from the composite document to the highlighted drawing, so that it contains the path to the newly created copy.
The Copy To... command is active only when exactly one subdocument is highlighted on the Subdocuments list. It copies the highlighted drawing file (with its associated attributes file (TAF), if one exists) to the location specified by the user in the Copy To... dialog box. The highlighted source subdocument is left unchanged while all editing changes made to it are saved in the newly created copy. The Copy To... command leaves the current composite document unchanged, i.e. linked to the original drawing file.
Use the Absolute command to display and store absolute path to subdocument file for all selected subdocuments on the Subdocuments list. The option is enabled only if all subdocument files are placed in the same directory as the composite document file, or in its subdirectories. In other case the paths displayed and stored are always absolute.
Use the Relative command to display and store relative path to subdocument file (with regard to composite document file) for all selected subdocuments on the Subdocuments list. The option is enabled only if all subdocument files are placed in the same directory as the composite document file, or in its subdirectories. In other case the paths displayed and stored are always absolute.
You may want to use relative paths for subdocuments when you want to move the composite document file with its subdocument files to another directory, drive or computer, or to use it in net environment.