XTrkCAD User Guide Version 5.4.0.752f9693ff68
Main Window Overview

  • Main Window Overview

    • The size of the main window can be changed by dragging on the resizing borders.
    • Minimizing the Main Window will minimize all XTrackCAD windows.
  • The Main Window contains (from the top down):

  • Title bar

    • Current filename, XTrackCAD version number, and window manager buttons. An asterisk (*) after the filename indicates that there are unsaved changes.

  • Menu Bar

  • Tool Bar

    • Manipulate track and other objects The toolbar buttons size can be adjusted using a User Preference in the .ini or .rc file (on Windows or Mac/Linux) in the xtrkcad directory.
      If running Linux or Mac a line "Preference.LargeIcons: 1.5" can be added. The scale value can be from 1.0 to 2.0 only. The corresponding configuration Windows would be
[Preference]
LargeIcons=1.5

Note The configuration file uses the language specific definitions for the decimal separator. Eg. in Germany, where the comma is used, the correct value would beLargeIcons=1,5.

  • Hot Bar (Hot Bar)

    • Scrolling list of Turnouts and Structures

  • Main Canvas

    • Main drawing area with rulers along each side.
    • The Main Canvas is where all tracks and objects (and optional background image) are drawn.
    • The Background Image is drawn on the main canvas if specified in the Layout Dialog menu.
    • The center of the Main Canvas can be moved (Panned) using the;
      • ARROW Keys
      • Left-Click and drag in Zoom
      • "@" key in Select, Modify and Pan/Zoom.
      • Mouse Wheel - adding Shift key will Pan the screen up and down. Adding Ctrl as well Pans left and right.
      • Horizontal Mouse Wheel - adding Shift key will Pan the screen left and Right (if available)
      • Scroll Left and Right - if the scroll left and right guestures are mapped to the trackpad by the operating system, with Shift depressed the screen will Pan.
      • On mice and systems that support Three Button Mice, holding the Middle Mouse Button while dragging, will Pan the canvas.
    • The Main Canvas can be panned so that the area beyond the room boundaries is shown (the grey area). The Constrain Drawing Area to Room Boundaries option on the Display (Display Dialog) dialog under the Options (Options Menu) menu forces the Main Canvas stop panning once the room boundary is reached. Holding the Control key while panning will invert the value of this setting.
    • The scale of the Main Canvas can be changed using the;
      • Zoom selections (Zoom) under the View (View Menu) menu
      • Zoom buttons on the Tool-bar
      • Mouse Wheel
      • PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys
      • Pan/Zoom Pan/Zoom button on the Tool-bar

    Note: If The scale 1:1 is reached, "Macro Zoom" mode can be entered using CTRL+PageDown - with repeated presses a scale of 10::1 is possible.

    • When Zooming, the Main Canvas will retain the center of the display if Constrain Drawing Area to Room Boundaries is not set. Otherwise, as much of the room as possible is displayed, and any grey area will be to the right and above the room.
    • Tracks will be drawn with two lines and ties if you zoom in. When the drawing scale is 1:1 a dashed centerline is also drawn for each track.
    • The ARROW keys move the Canvas left, right, up or down by half a screen. If Shift is used together with the arrow keys, the movement will be 1/20th of screen in the selected direction.
    • In many commands, the result that will result from clicking the mouse is shown by anchors which highlight the track object or feature in blue that will be affected as the mouse is dragged over the canvas and becomes close enough to select it.

  • Map Window

    • You can change which portion of the layout is displayed by using the Map Window (Map Window).

  • Status Bar

    • Contains from left to right;
      • Drawing scale of the Main Canvas,
      • X position of the cursor,
      • Y position of the cursor,
      • Status and informational messages