Transform Toolbar - Drawings

The Transform toolbar makes changes throughout the entire drawing using the specified operators. Transform operators can create new objects, delete objects, change objects (for example, splitting them) and select objects using various algorithms such as the location of a shortest path. The transform toolbar is also used to make spatial selections using commands such as Select Touching or Select Contained within that work between sets of objects.

images/tbar_transdraw.png

Target box Operator box Parameter box

The Transform toolbar consists of three boxes, from left to right: a target box, the operator box, and a parameter box.

Target box
Also known as the scope box. The objects that will be affected, altered or which will control the operation. Choices in the target box will be [All Objects], [Selection] or the names of any saved selections that have been saved in the Selections pane . The illustration above shows that the operator will be applied to all objects in the drawing.
Operator box
The function to be applied. The operator box is context sensitive and will show only those operations that make sense for drawings. The example shows we will add border buffer zones.
Parameter box
The value to be used. Depending on the operator, this may be another object set or a value entered by the user. Many operators, such as Boundaries do not require a parameter. The parameter box will not be enabled for such operators. In the example above we use 10000 for the size of the border buffer zones, the size being specified in the native units of the drawing.

We use dark blue, black, and violet bold face fonts in this topic to distinguish the three boxes to make examples and explanation more clear. In real life Manifold uses the same black font color in all three Transform toolbar boxes.

Using the Transform toolbar

  1. Click on the map layer or drawing that contains the target objects.

  2. Make a selection if the operation is to be applied just to the selection and choose [Selection] in the target box. Alternately, choose the name of a previously saved selection.

  3. Choose the desired operator in the operator box.

  4. Choose or specify a value in the parameter box, if this operation requires it.

  5. Press Apply.

  6. Some operators create new objects. Any new objects created will be created in the active drawing/layer and will now be the Selection. Move the Selection to a new layer/drawing if you wish to keep these objects organized separately from the original objects in the drawing (almost always a good idea).

Target box

images/tbar_transdraw_obj.png

The left-most box specifies the target objects. These are the objects that will be affected, altered or which will control the operation. The example above shows that there is no selection present, so the Transform toolbar will apply the Transform function to all of the objects in the drawing.

images/tbar_transdraw_sel.png

If we make a selection, the target box would switch to [Selection] to show that whatever operation we apply with the Transform toolbar will act only on those objects that are part of the current selection. We could also choose the name of a saved selection.

Operator box

images/tbar_transdraw_opr.png

Choose a function from the long list of operators available in the operator box. The example shows Boundaries, which will create lines along the periphery of each area. The Transform Operators - Drawings topic lists operators available for use with drawings.

Parameter box

images/tbar_transdraw_par.png

Many operators do not require any parameters. For these functions the parameter box will be disabled. Other functions will require specification of an additional parameter. This may be another object set (such as [All Objects], [Selection] or the names of saved selections, all of which can be chosen from the pull down list), or it could be a parameter that is entered by the user. To enter a parameter, click into the parameter box, enter the value using the keyboard and then press Enter.

Examples

[All Objects] Boundaries - Creates boundary lines on the periphery of all areas (if any) in the drawing.

[Selection] Boundaries - Creates boundary lines on the periphery of all areas (if any) that are in the current selection in the drawing.

[Selection] Union Islands - Take all the areas in the saved selection called "Islands" and combine them into one object with each object in the current selection. This operator is normally used with only one object in the current selection, for example, to combine some offshore islands together with a mainland area to form a single area object.

The selection pane is very important when working with the transform toolbar . Saved selections can appear in either the target box or the parameter box. See the Selection topic details on using the selection pane.

See Also

Transform Operators - Drawings for a detailed list of operators available.

Transfer Rules for information on controlling how database table information is transferred to new objects that are created by transform operators. For example, when creating centroids the transfer rules within the drawing's table specify which fields should be transferred to the centroids.

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