25.2. Getting Started
25.2.1. General Layout
Bulldozer's graphical interface is divided into five separate panes. The top center pane, View Selector, is used to select some standard viewing angles of an object or scene. The bottom center pane, Mouse Operations, gives the user the ability to modify individual mouse operations. The left pane is used for listing objects or object layers, depending on what editing mode the user is in. The right pane is used for listing materials or available objects to be used, depending on what editing mode the user is in. The center pane, Viewing Pane, is used to display an object or scene, using OpenGL.
Along with the 5 separate panes is a status bar at the very bottom and a menu bar at the top of the interface. The status bar identifies which editing mode Bulldozer is currently in.
25.2.1.1. Viewing Pane
This is where objects are drawn using OpenGL, for the user to physically see. Every aspect of the object is displayed, from individual facets to the material layout of the object.
25.2.1.2. View Selector
The view selector contains buttons that define standard viewing angles for an object or a scene. When a button is clicked, the Viewing Pane is refreshed with the new viewing angle. The following are a list of buttons available and what they do:
Front
Sets the viewing angle to the front of the object.
Back
Sets the viewing angle to the back of the object.
Left
Sets the viewing angle to the left side of the object.
Right
Sets the viewing angle to the right side of the object.
Top
Sets the viewing angle to the top of the object. (A birds view of the world)
Bottom
Sets the viewing angle to the bottom of the object. (A moles view of the world)
25.2.1.3. Left Pane
The left pane contains two types of lists. In Object Editing Mode, this pane is referred to as Parts List and displays the different parts of an object. Other CAD programs may refer to these parts as layers. Bulldozer refers them as parts because it is assumed that each object will be layered by its individual parts. For example a house object may consist of the following parts (layers): roof, walls, windows, and doors. This will be useful later for Material Attributing.
In Scene Editing Mode, the left pane is referred to as Used Objects List, displays a list of objects currently used in a scene and whether they are currently visible or not.
25.2.1.4. Right Pane
The right pane also contains two types of lists. In Object Editing Mode, this pane is referred to as Material List and displays a list of materials currently available to attribute an object with.
In Scene Editing Mode, this is referred to as Available Object List and contains a listing of objects available to insert into a scene. The listing also consists of the object's filename and file path.
25.2.2. Menu Commands
At the top of Bulldozer's graphical interface is a menu bar with the following commands:
File Menu
New
Creates a blank workspace for editing a new scene or a new object. If any modifications were made in the workspace before calling the New command, a message box will appear asking for confirmation on discarding the modifications.
Open
Loads a saved scene or object into the current workspace. The type of object the program will load, is dependent on what editing mode Bulldozer is in. In Object Editing Mode, the program will allow the opening of Alias Wavefront (.obj), AutoCAD Exchange (.dxf), and DIRSIG Object (.gdb) files. In Scene Editing Mode, the program will allow the opening of DIRSIG Scene (.odb) files.
Open Object
Loads an object into the current scene and automatically switches to Object Editing Mode.
Open Scene
Loads a saved scene into the workspace and automatically switches into Scene Editing Mode.
Save
Saves the current scene or object and any changes made to it.
Save As
Saves the current scene or object as a copy under a new filename. This does not change nor eliminate any previously saved files.
Exit
Closes Bulldozer.
Edit Menu
Copy
Duplicates a selected item or object into memory for later insertion.
Cut
Removes a selected object or item from the workspace and saves it memory for later insertion.
Paste
Places a copy of a stored item or object into the workspace from memory.
Select
Selects an item.
Select All
Selects all the current items in the workspace.
Undo
Restores the workspace back to the previous state before the last command executed.
Options
Draw Mode Preference
Sets the drawing preference of an object in the viewing pane.
Bounding Box
Draws an inserted object as a solid box.
Facet/Polygon
Draws an inserted dialog box with every polygon or facet filled and shaded.
Wire Frame
Draws an inserted object using white lines to outline the shape of each facet in the object.
Insert Dialog
Enable Insert Dialog
Allows an insert dialog box to appear, upon insertion of an object into the viewing pane.
Disable Insert Dialog
Disables the pop-up of an insertion dialog box upon inserting an object into the viewing pane. Objects will be inserted based on the previous settings stored in the insert dialog box.
Mode Menu
Switches the current editing mode. The sub menu option is dependent on what editing mode Bulldozer is currently in.
Help Menu
Contents
Displays this help file.
About
Displays an dialog box with Bulldozer's version and copyright information.
25.2.3. Mouse Commands
The bottom pane of Bulldozer is dedicated to defining mouse commands. Each mouse button can be individually defined from a given list of commands. The purpose of this is to give the user a way to easily execute commands that are used often. The list of commands available for each mouse button depends on what editing mode Bulldozer is currently in.
25.2.3.1. Object Mode Commands
The following is a list of available mouse commands in Object Editing Mode:
Rotate View
Rotates the current object in the viewing pane.
XY Plane
Rotates the object left to right and front to back.
Z Axis
Rotates the object based on the center point of the viewing pane (along the axis pointing toward the user).
Translate View
Moves an object left/right and up/down within the viewing pane.
XY Plane
Moves the object left/right and up/down.
Z Axis
Moves the object along the Z axis of the screen.
Select
Selects parts within the Viewing Pane.
Part Level
Allows selection of object parts.
Facet Level
Allows selection of a single facet within the object.
Unselect All
Deselects all selected items.
Zoom/Magnify
Gives a closer or more distant look at an object.
Window
Zooms in over an area outlined with the mouse.
In and Out
Zooms in and out by dragging the mouse back and forth within the Viewing Pane.
Flip Normal
Inverses the normals for selected facets on an object.
Part Level
Flips the normals of all the facets within a given part of an object.
Facet Level
Flips the normals of an individual facet in an object.
Unselect All
Deselects all selected items.
25.2.3.2. Scene Mode Commands
The following is a list of available mouse commands in Scene Editing Mode.
Rotate View
Rotates the whole scene within the viewing pane.
XY Plane
Rotates the scene left to right and front to back.
Z Axis
Rotates the scene based on the center point of the viewing pane (along the axis pointing toward the user).
Translate View
Moves the scene left/right and up/down within the viewing pane.
XY Plane
Moves the scene left/right and up/down.
Z Axis
Moves the scene along the Z axis of the screen.
Select
Allows the selection of objects within the scene via the Viewing Pane.
Unselect All
Deselects all selected items.
Zoom/Magnify
Gives a closer or more distant look at the scene.
Window
The default selection. Zooms in over an area outlined with the mouse.
In and Out
This gives the user the ability to zoom in and out by dragging the mouse back and forth.
Flip Normal
Inverses all normals for selected objects.
Object Level
Flips all the normals on an object.
Unselect All
Deselects all selected items.
Rotate Selection
Rotates a selected object within a scene
XY Plane
Rotates the object left to right and front to back.
Z Axis
Rotates the object based on the center point of the viewing pane (along the axis pointing toward the user).
Translate Selection
Moves a selected object left/right and up/down within the scene.
XY Plane
Moves the object left/right and up/down.
Z Axis
Moves the object along the Z axis.
Scale Selection
Scales an object within the scene.
X Axis
When checked, scales along the X axis.
Y Axis
When checked, scales along the Y axis.
Z Axis
When checked, scales along the Z axis.
Hide
Hides an object in the scene without deleting it.
UnHide All
Shows all hidden objects in the scene.
Delete
Deletes an object from the scene.
Insert Object
Inserts an object into the current scene.
25.2.4. Additional Commands
The following are additional commands that are unique to their section or only appear in certain situations.
25.2.4.1. Menu Shortcuts
The following are quick shortcuts to commands found in the menu bar. These shortcuts are located right underneath the menu bar.
New
A shortcut to the New command in the File menu.
Open
A shortcut to the Open command in the File menu.
Save
A shortcut to the Save command in the File menu.
25.2.4.2. Object Editing Mode List Commands
Object Editing Mode List Commands are found within the Part List and Material List. These commands are usually activated by right clicking within one of the lists or on an item within the lists.
25.2.4.2.1. Part List Menu
New
Clears the workspace. If any changes were made in the workspace before the New command, a dialog box will appear asking for confirmation on discarding any changes made in the workspace.
Open
Loads a new object into the workspace.
Save
Saves any changes made to the current object.
Save As
Saves a copy of the current object under a new filename.
Edit Object
Opens the Object Editor for the current object. See Section 25.3.2.2 for more information.
Undo Selection
Deselects all parts that are selected.
25.2.4.2.2. Material List Menu
New
Clears the current list of materials from the workspace.
Open
Opens and loads a new material file listing into the pane. A material file is a text file that contains the properties needed to identify different types of materials.
Save
Saves the current listing of materials and any changes made to each material.
Save As
Saves a copy of the current listing and any changes made to each material under a new filename.
Add Entry
Adds a new material entry into the material listing. The user must supply a name and id for the new material. The material's attributes can be modified using Edit Entry.
Edit Entry
Loads the Material Editor for a selected object.
Copy Entry
Creates an exact copy of a selected material under a new name and id. The user must supply the new material's name and id.
Delete Entry
Removes a selected material from the material list.
25.2.4.3. Scene Editing Mode List Commands
Scene Editing Mode list commands are found within the Used Object List and Available Object List. These commands are usually activated by right clicking within one of the lists or on an item within the lists.
25.2.4.3.1. Used Object List Menu
New
Clears the workspace. If any changes were made in the workspace, before calling the New command, a message box will appear asking for confirmation on discarding any modifications made to the workspace.
Open
Loads a new scene into the workspace.
Save
Saves any changes made to the current scene.
Save As
Saves a copy of the current scene under a new filename.
Edit
Opens the Instance Editor.
Hide
Removes an object from the Viewing Pane without removing the object from the actual scene. The object becomes invisible, and the word Yes will appear next to its name in the Used Object List under Hidden. This option appears only for objects that are visible.
UnHide
Reveals a hidden object in the Viewing Pane. The object will no longer be hidden and is now available for viewing. This option is only available for objects that are hidden.
Delete
Removes a selected object from the scene. Once the object is deleted, its name is removed from the Used Object List, and the object is removed from the Viewing Pane.
25.2.4.3.2. Available Object List Menu
Clear
Clears the current listing.
Open
Opens a folder containing objects to be placed within a scene. The user must specify a folder to populate the list from. The old listing is cleared before the new listing is displayed.
Merge
Opens a folder containing objects and appends a new listing to the current Available Object List. The user must specify a folder containing objects to append to the current list.
Clear Item
Removes a selected object from the Available Object List.