The Property Manager

The Property Manager displays the properties of the module currently selected in the Network Manager. A property is a setting or parameter used by the module to control its behavior. Each property is displayed in a list within the window with one property per line. Properties are split onto multiple tabs. Left-click on a module in the Network Manager to display its properties in the Property Manager.


The Gridder module is selected in the Network Manager. The selected module is highlighted in blue.	The properties of the selected module are displayed in the Property Manager.

Property Manager Tabs

The Property Manager displays module properties, which are settings or parameters used by a module to control its behavior. The window itself consists of several tabs with similar properties, on a single tab.

Title Bar

A title bar is displayed at the top of the window. It consists of the window name, the button, and the button. See the Working With Voxler Windows topic for more information about how to use these buttons.

Context-Sensitive Help

Click the button to obtain information about the module currently displayed in the Property Manager. The Voxler help window is displayed with the relevant help page.

Applying Module Property Changes with Auto Update and Update Now

The Auto Update check box and Update Now button below the title bar allow you to choose whether to update the Viewer window automatically or manually. The Auto Update check box is checked, by default. If a process takes a long time or you want to make a large number of changes to different modules that take a long time to redraw, then uncheck the Auto Update box. Make all changes to all modules. After all changes have been made, press the Update Now button to update the network manually. When the Auto Update box is checked, the module properties automatically update after you change an object. Uncheck the Auto Update box at the top of the Property Manager to disable this feature and make multiple changes without updating the Viewer window.

The button manually updates the network and any modified modules when Auto Update is unchecked. The Update Now button is enabled whenever there are pending changes to the network. Click the Update Now button to manually update the module properties in the Viewer window. Alternatively, choose the Network | Update Network command or press the F9 key on the keyboard to update the Viewer window with all changes.

Properties

The main component of the Property Manager is a list of properties used by the selected module, separated by tabs. This list has two columns: the left column contains the property name. The right column contains the controls used to change the property. Click on the property control in the right column to change the property's value. Drag the vertical line between the left and right column to adjust the column width. If a module's properties contain subsections, a or is located to the left of the name. Click on or to expand or collapse the list. For example, a Contours module contains three tabs: General, Cutting Plane, and Legend. The General tab contains three sections: Contours, Levels, and Rendering. Additional properties, such as the Level method, can be changed by clicking on the tab and opening these sections.

A short description of the selected property displays at the bottom of the window. If this area is not visible, click the Tools | Options command and check the box next to Show property help on the General page of the Options dialog.

Each property is displayed in a list within the window. Use the scroll wheel on the mouse to scroll through the list.

Expand and Collapse Features

Features with multiple options appear with a or to the left of the name. To expand a group, click on the icon, select the item and press the + key on the numeric keypad, press the right arrow key on the keyboard, or double-click the item. To collapse the group, click on the icon, press the - key on the numeric keypad; press the left arrow key; or double-click the item. For example, the expanded Rendering section in the above image contains four options: Line width (points), Colormap, Show border, Border width (points), and Border color.

Resize

To change the size of either column of the Property Manager, position the cursor over the center vertical line to change the cursor into a two-headed arrow . Drag the arrow left or right to resize the viewable area on either size of the line.

To resize the help area at the bottom of the Property Manager, position the cursor just above the help area and drag the cursor up or down to create more or less viewable help area.

Help

A simple help section is available at the bottom of the Property Manager for help on the selected property. The help area is turned on or off with the Tools | Options command. The horizontal dividing line at the top of this section can be dragged up or down. Click the button at the top of the Property Manager to display more detailed information in the online help file about the module currently displayed in the Property Manager.

Property Manager Controls

Voxler provides several different types of controls in the right column of the Property Manager that allow you to customize the behavior of a selected module. These controls include buttons, check boxes, drop down lists, edit boxes, sliders, and spin buttons. The focus is automatically set to the object when it is clicked or selected via the keyboard TAB or arrow keys. The focus is indicated by a dotted rectangle on the control or by a change in color. Some property list items only provide information. These items are disabled (grayed) to indicate they cannot be changed. Occasionally, some properties may not be valid due to other selections or data restrictions. These options are disabled as well.

The following controls are available:

Button	Click the button with the mouse or press the SPACEBAR when the button has the focus to perform the action indicated by the button text. Click the button to obtain more information about a property. The resulting action varies depending on the module, but can open a dialog for loading a file into an existing data input module, allow you to edit multi-line text, display a Colormap Editor or other actions.
Check Box	A check box toggles the state between one of two possible outcomes. Click the check box with the mouse or press the SPACEBAR when the box has the focus to change the state of the check box.
Color	The color control displays a sample and the name of the current color. If the color cannot be found in the predefined colors list, then the name takes the form "r, g, b" (the amounts of red, green, and blue, 0 to 255 each). To change the color, click the color to the right of the Color property to open the color palette.
Drop Down List	A drop down list of options displays when the corresponding property value is selected. To display the drop down list, click the value with the mouse or press the SPACEBAR when the control is selected. To select an item in the drop down list, click the item in the list or use the up or down arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the item and press ENTER. An unselected list item with a text value does not display a drop down arrow. A selected list item with a text value does display a drop down arrow. When a list item with a text value is selected, click the drop down arrow to display the list of options. Use the keyboard keys to perform the following actions: The F4, SPACEBAR, or up and down arrow keys activate a drop down list for the selected property value. The ESC key closes a drop down list. The up, down, left, and right arrow keys scroll through a drop down list. The HOME key moves focus to the first item in a list. The END key moves focus to the last item in a list. The PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN key moves up or down several items at a time in a drop down list. ENTER selects an item from a drop down list. Any letter on the keyboard can be used to select the first list entry starting with that letter. Press the letter again to move to the next item beginning with that letter.
Edit Boxes	Edit boxes allow the input of text or numeric values. Edit boxes are commonly linked to an associated slider or spin button (see below) when entering a number, or may include the button for multiline text or other functions. Drag the borders of the Multiline Text dialog to resize it. Press the ESC key to cancel your changes and restore the original text.
Slider	A slider appears to the right of a property that requires a numeric entry. Drag the slider left or right to decrease or increase the number. Click anywhere on the slider to immediately move the slider to that position. When the slider has the focus, the arrow, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, HOME, and END keys can be used to change the value. The slider can be very short or not visible if the column width is small. Increase the column width by dragging the left or right edge of the column. The slider is set to reasonable limits, but Voxler accepts a larger range of values from the edit field for some properties. In such a case, enter the number directly in the edit field.
Spin Button	A spin button may appear to the right of a property that requires a number. Use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the value in the edit control. When the value has reached the maximum or minimum allowed value, it will either stop changing or wrap around to the beginning or end of the range. The spin button is set to reasonable limits, but there is sometimes a need to exceed those limits. If necessary, enter the desired value directly into the edit boxes.
Static (Grayed-Out) Text	Static text is informational and cannot be edited, as indicated by the grayed-out color of the text.

Keyboard Commands

Use the following keys when working in the Properties window when the property name is selected:

The UP ARROW key selects the previous property.
The DOWN ARROW key selects the next property.
The LEFT ARROW key selects the previous property or collapses the list of a parent property.
The RIGHT ARROW key selects the next property or expands the list of a parent property.
The PAGE UP key moves the selection up by the height of the window, scrolling if necessary.
The PAGE DOWN key moves the selection down by the height of the window, scrolling if necessary.
The HOME key selects the first property.
The END key selects the last property.
The TAB key selects the next property that accepts keyboard input (similar to a dialog). It skips collapsed items as indicated by the (+) button to the left of the item. Use the arrow keys to navigate to a collapsed item.
SHIFT+TAB selects the previous property that accepts keyboard input (similar to a dialog).