Preferences

Function

This command allows you to customize the Carlson Survey settings.

Files Tab

Under the Files Tab, you specify the directories in which the program searches for support, driver, menu, and other files. You can also specify optional, settings such as which dictionary to use for checking spelling. Each option under the Files Tab displays a list of the directories and files used by Carlson Survey. To specify a location for a directory or file, double-click the directory or file from the list. Choose Browse and use the Browse for Folder dialog box (a standard file selection dialog box) to locate the directory or file you want to use.

1  Support File Search Path: Specifies the directories in which Carlson Survey searches for support files. In addition to the files required to run the program, you can include files for fonts, menus, drawings to insert, linetypes, and hatch patterns in the support file search path.

2  Device Driver File Search Path: Specifies where the program looks for device drivers for the video display, pointing devices, printers, and plotters.

3  Miscellaneous File Names: Specifies the names and locations of various types of files.

• Menu File: Specifies the location of the menu file.
• Default Internet Location: Specifies the default Internet location used by both the Connect to Internet option on the Help menu, and the Launch Browser button on the Standard toolbar.

• Text Editor Application: Specifies the text editor application to use for editing mtext objects.
• Custom Dictionary File: Specifies a custom dictionary to use (if you have one).
• Alternate Font File: Specifies the location of the font file to use if Carlson Survey cannot locate the original font and an alternate font is not specified in the font mapping file. If you choose Browse, the program displays the Alternate Font dialog box, from which you can choose an available font.
• Font Mapping File: Specifies the location of the file that defines how Carlson Survey should convert fonts it cannot locate.

5  Print File, Spooler, and Prolog Section Names: Specifies settings related to plotting.

• Plot File Name For Legacy Plotting Scripts: Specifies a default name for the temporary plot files used with plotting scripts created with earlier versions of Autodesk products. The default name is the drawing name plus .plt file name. The default name used with Carlson Survey drawings is the drawing name-layout name plus the .plt file name extension. Some plotting device drivers, however, use a different plot file extension name. This option only affects the default plot file name used for plotting scripts created with earlier versions of Autodesk products.

• Print Spool Executable: Specifies the application to use for print spooling. You can enter the executable file name as well as any command line arguments you want to use. For example, you can enter myspool.bat %s to spool plot files to myspool.bat and have a unique plot file name automatically generated.

6  Printer Support File Path: Specifies search path settings for printer support files.

• Print Spooler File Location: Specifies the path for print spool files. Carlson Survey writes the plot to this location.
• Printer Configuration Search Path: Specifies the path for printer configuration files (PC3 files).
• Printer Description File Search Path: Specifies the path for files with a .pmp file extension, or printer description files.
• Plot Style Table Search Path: Specifies the path for files with an .stb or .ctb extension, or plot style table files (both named plot style tables and color-dependent plot style tables).

7  Search Path for ObjectDBX Applications: Specifies the path for ObjectDBX™ application files. You can enter multiple URL addresses under this option. (Multiple URLs should be separated by a semi-colon.) Carlson Survey searches the specified URLs when an associated ObjectDBX application cannot be located. Only URL addresses can be entered in this option.

8  Automatic Save File Location: Specifies the path for the file created when you select Automatic Save on the Open and Save tab.

9  Drawing Template File Location: Specifies the path for the template files used by the setup wizards.

10Log File Location: Specifies the path for the log file created when you select Maintain a Log File on the Open and Save tab.

11Temporary Drawing File Location: Specifies the location Carlson Survey uses to store temporary files. The program creates temporary files on disk and then deletes them when you exit the program. If you plan to run the program from a write-protected directory (for example, if you are working on a network or opening files from a CD), specify an alternate location for your temporary files. The directory you specify must not be write-protected.

12Buttons: You use the following buttons to manipulate the files and paths.

• Browse: Displays the Browse for Folder or Select a File dialog box, depending on what you selected in the List of Folders and Files.
• Add: Adds a search path for the selected directory.
• Remove: Removes the selected search path or file.
• Move Up: Moves the selected search path above the preceding search path.
• Move Down: Moves the selected search path below the following search path.
• Set Current: Makes the selected project or spelling dictionary current.

Display Tab

1  Under Window Elements, you control display settings specific to the Carlson Survey drawing environment.

• Display Scroll Bars in Drawing Window: Specifies whether to display scroll bars at the bottom and right sides of the drawing area.
• Colors: Displays the Color Options dialog box. Use this dialog box to specify the colors of elements in the window.
• Fonts: Displays the Command Line Window Font dialog box. Use this dialog box to specify the font for the command line text.

2  Under Layout Elements, you control options for existing and new layouts. A layout is a paper space environment in which you can set up drawings for plotting.

• Display Layout and Model Tabs: Specifies whether to display the layout and Model tabs at the bottom of the drawing area.
• Display Margins: Specifies whether margins are displayed in a layout. Margins appear as dashed lines. Objects drawn outside of the margins are clipped or omitted when the drawing is plotted.
• Display Paper Background: Specifies whether a representation of the specified paper size is displayed in a layout. The paper size and plot scale determine the size of the paper background.
• Display Paper Shadow: Specifies whether a shadow is displayed around the paper background in a layout.
• Show Page Setup Dialog for New Layouts: Specifies whether the Page Setup dialog box is displayed when you create a new layout. Use this dialog box to set options related to paper and plot settings.
• Create Viewport in New Layouts: Specifies whether a viewport is created when you create a new layout.

3  Under Display Resolution, you control the quality of the display of objects. If you set high values to improve display quality, the impact on performance is significant.

• Arc and Circle Smoothness: Controls the smoothness of circles, arcs, and ellipses. A higher number produces smoother objects, but requires more time to regenerate, pan, and zoom the objects. You can improve performance by setting this option to a low value such as 100 for drawing, and increasing the value for rendering. The valid range is 1 to 20,000. The default setting is 100. This setting is saved in the drawing. To change the default for new drawings, consider specifying this setting in the template files on which you base your new drawings.

• Segments in a Polyline Curve: Sets the number of line segments to be generated for each polyline curve. The higher the number, the greater the performance impact. Set this option to a low value such as 4 to optimize performance for drawing. Values range from -32767 to 32767. The default setting is 8. This setting is saved in the drawing.

4  Under Display Performance, you control display settings that affect Carlson Survey performance.

• Apply Solid Fill: Controls whether solid fills in objects are displayed. Objects with solid fill include multilines, traces, solids, all hatches (including solid-fill), and wide polylines. You must regenerate the drawing by using REGEN for this setting to take effect. This setting is saved in the drawing. Clear this option to optimize performance.
• Show Text Boundary Frame Only: Displays the frames for text objects instead of displaying the text objects. After you select or clear this option, you must use REGEN to update the display. This setting is saved in the drawing. Select this option to optimize performance.

5  Under Crosshair Size, you control the size of the crosshairs. The valid range is from 1 to 100 percent of the total screen. At 100 percent, the ends of the crosshairs are never visible. When the size is decreased to 99 percent or below, the crosshairs have a finite size, and the ends of the crosshairs are visible at the edge of the drawing area. The default size is 5 percent.

Open and Save Tab

Under the Open and Save Tab, you control options that relate to opening and saving files.

1  Under File Save, you control settings related to saving a file in Carlson Survey.

• Save As: Displays the valid file formats used when saving a file with SAVE and SAVEAS. The file format selected for this option is the default format that all drawings are saved as when you use SAVE or SAVEAS. Saving an Carlson Survey file to any DXF format affects performance. Set the Save As option to Carlson Survey 2000 Drawing to optimize performance while saving.
• Save a Thumbnail Preview Image: Specifies whether an image of the drawing should be displayed in the Preview area of the Select File dialog box.

• Incremental Save Percentage: Sets the percentage of potential wasted space in a drawing file. When the specified percentage is reached, the program performs a full save instead of an incremental save. Full saves eliminate wasted space. If you set Incremental Save Percentage to 0, every save is a full save. Although incremental saves increase the size of your drawing, avoid setting a very low value. Low values degrade performance because the program performs time-consuming full saves more often. For optimum performance, set the value to 50. If hard disk space is scarce, set the value to 25. If you set the value to 20 or less, performance of the SAVE and SAVEAS commands slows significantly.

2  File Safety Precautions settings help you avoid data loss and detect errors.

• Automatic Save: Saves your drawing automatically at the interval you specify. You can specify the location of all Autosave files by using the SAVEFILEPATH system variable. SAVEFILE (read-only) stores the name of the Autosave file.
• Minutes Between Saves: Specifies how often the drawing is saved when using Automatic Save. The value is stored in SAVETIME.
• Create Backup Copy with Each Save: Specifies whether a backup copy of a drawing is created when you save the drawing. The backup copy is created in the same location as the drawing. The ISAVEBAK system variable controls whether a backup copy of the drawing is created.
• Maintain a Log File: Specifies whether the contents of the text window are written to a log file. To specify the location and name of the log file, use the Files tab in the Options dialog box.
• File Extension for Temporary Files: Specifies a unique extension that allows you to identify your temporary files in a network environment. The default extension is .ac$.

Retrieving Autosave (backup) Files

3  Under File Open, you control settings that relate to recently used files and open files.

• Number of Recently Used Files to List: Controls the number of recently used files that are listed in the File menu for quick access. Valid values are 0 to 9.
• Display Full Path In Title: Displays the full path of the active drawing in the drawing's title bar, or in the Carlson Survey title bar if the drawing is maximized.

4  Under External References (Xrefs), you control the settings that relate to editing and loading external references.

• Demand Load Xrefs: Controls demand loading of xrefs. Demand loading improves performance by loading only the parts of the referenced drawing needed to regenerate the current drawing. External Reference File Demand Load is also controlled by the XLOADCTL system variable.
• Disabled: Turns off demand loading.
• Enabled: Turns on demand loading and improves performance. Select the Enabled setting to enhance the loading process when you are working with clipped xrefs that contain a spatial or layer index. When this option is selected, other users cannot edit the file while it is being referenced.
• Enabled with Copy: Turns on demand loading but uses a copy of the referenced drawing. Other users can edit the original drawing.
• Retain Changes to Xref Layers: Saves changes to layer properties and states for xref-dependent layers. When the drawing is reloaded, the properties currently assigned to xref-dependent layers are retained. This setting is saved in the drawing.

Plotting Tab

Under the Plotting Tab, you control options related to plotting.

1  Under Default Plot Settings For New Drawings, you control default plotting settings for new drawings or drawings created in AutoCAD Release 14 or earlier that have never been saved in Carlson Survey 2000 format.

• Use As Default Output Device: Sets the default output device for new drawings and for drawings created in AutoCAD Release 14 or earlier that have never been saved in Carlson Survey 2000 format. The list displays any plotter configuration files (PC3) found in the plotter configuration search path and any system printers that are configured in the system.
• Use Last Successful Plot Settings: Sets the plotting settings according to the settings of the last successful plot.
• Add or Configure Plotters: Displays the Autodesk Plotter Manager (a Windows system window). You can add or configure a plotter with the Autodesk Plotter Manager.

2  Under General Plot Options, you control options that relate to the general plotting environment including paper size settings, system printer alert behavior, and OLE objects in an Carlson Survey drawing.

• Keep the Layout Paper Size If Possible: Uses the paper size specified on the Layout Settings tab in the Page Setup dialog box under the File menu as long as the selected output device can plot to this paper size. If the selected output device cannot plot to this paper size, the program displays a warning message and uses the paper size specified either in the plotter configuration file (PC3) or in the default system settings if the output device is a system printer. You can also set Keep the Layout Paper Size If Possible by setting PAPERUPDATE to 0.
• Use the Plot Device Paper Size: Uses the paper size specified either in the plotter configuration file (PC3) or in the default system settings if the output device is a system printer. You can also set Use the Plot Device Paper Size by setting PAPERUPDATE to 1.
• System Printer Spool Alert: Determines whether to alert you if the plotted drawing is spooled through a system printer because of an input or output port conflict.
• Always Alert (And Log Errors): Alerts you and always logs an error when the plotted drawing spools through a system printer.
• Alert First Time Only (And Log Errors): Alerts you once and always logs an error when the plotted drawing spools through a system printer.
• Never Alert (And Log First Error): Never alerts you and logs only the first error when the plotted drawing spools through a system printer.
• Never Alert (Do Not Log Errors): Never alerts you or logs an error when the plotted drawing spools through a system printer.
• OLE Plot Quality: Determines the quality of plotted OLE objects. The values are Line Art, Text, Graphics, Photograph, and High Quality Photograph.
• Use OLE Application When Plotting OLE Objects: Launches the application used to create the OLE object when plotting a drawing with OLE objects. You can use this option if you want to optimize the quality of plotted OLE objects. This setting is saved in the drawing. You can also control this option by using the OLESTARTUP system variable.
• Hide System Printer: Controls whether Windows system printers are displayed in the Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes under the File menu. This option hides standard Windows system printers only. You can control the size of the list of devices in the Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes by moving a device's PC3 file out of the Plotters directory and its subdirectories.

3  Under Default Plot Style Behavior, you control options related to plot style behavior in all drawings. Changing the default plot style behavior using the Options dialog box does not affect the current drawing. A plot style is a collection of property settings defined in a plot style table and applied when the drawing is plotted. The default setting is Use Color Dependent Plot Styles. The plot style list on the Object Properties toolbar is disabled by default. You enable the list after you select the Use Named Plot Styles option and open a new drawing. You can also control Default Plot Style Behavior by using the PSTYLEPOLICY system variable.

• Use Color Dependent Plot Styles: Uses color-dependent plot styles in both new drawings and drawings created in earlier versions of Autodesk products. Color-dependent plot styles use the numbers from the color index to create a plot style table with a .ctb file extension. Each color is defined by a name or number ranging from 1 to 255. You can assign each color number to a different pen on a pen plotter to achieve different property settings in the plotted drawing. If this option is selected, a plot style is created for each color setting. You can also control Use Color Dependent Plot Styles by setting the PSTYLEPOLICY system variable to 1.

If you want to change the default plot style behavior for a drawing, select this option or Use Named Plot Styles before opening or creating a drawing. Changing the default plot style behavior using the Options dialog box affects only new drawings or drawings created in an earlier release of an Autodesk product that have never been saved in Carlson Survey 2000 format. This setting is saved with the drawing. Once a drawing is saved with Use Color Dependent Plot Styles as the default, you can change the default to Use Named Plot Styles with a migration utility with a migration utility. However, once a drawing is saved with Use Named Plot Styles as the default, you cannot change it to Use Color Dependent Plot Styles.

• Use Named Plot Styles: Uses named plot styles in both new drawings and drawings created in earlier versions of Autodesk products. Carlson Survey plots the drawing according to the property settings you specify in the plot style definition. The plot style is defined in the plot style table attached to the layout or viewport. Named plot style tables are files with the file extension .stb. You can also control Use Named Plot Styles by setting the PSTYLEPOLICY system variable to 0.

If you want to change the default plot style behavior for a drawing, select this option or Use Color Dependent Plot Styles before opening or creating a drawing. Changing the default plot style behavior using the Options dialog box affects only new drawings or drawings created in an earlier release of an Autodesk product that have never been saved in Carlson Survey 2000 format. This setting is saved with the drawing. Once a drawing is saved with Use Color Dependent Plot Styles as the default, you can change the default to Use Named Plot Styles with a migration utility. However, once a drawing is saved with Use Named Plot Styles as the default, you cannot change it to Use Color Dependent Plot Styles.

• Default Plot Style Table: Specifies the default plot style table to attach to new drawings. A plot style table is a file with a .ctb or an .stb extension that includes and defines plot styles. If you are using color-dependent plot styles, this option lists all color dependent plot style tables found in the search path as well as the value of None. If you are using named plot styles, this option lists all named plot styles tables.
• Default Plot Style for Layer 0: Sets the default plot style for Layer 0 for new drawings or drawings created with earlier releases of an Autodesk product that have never been saved in Carlson Survey 2000 format. The list displays the default value Normal and alphabetically displays any plot styles defined in the currently loaded plot style table.
• Default Plot Style for Objects: Sets the default plot style that is assigned when you create new objects. The list displays a BYLAYER, BYBLOCK, and Normal style, and it alphabetically displays any plot styles defined in the currently loaded plot style table.
• Add or Edit Plot Style Tables: Displays the Autodesk Plot Style Table Manager (a Windows Explorer window). You can create or edit plot style tables with the Autodesk Plot Style Table Manager.

System Tab

Under the System Tab, you control Carlson Survey system settings.

1  Under Current Pointing Device, you control options that relate to the pointing device. This field displays a list of the available pointing device drivers.

• Current System Pointing Device: Sets the system pointing device as current.
• Wintab Compatible Digitizer: Sets the Wintab Compatible Digitizer as current.
• Accept Input From: Specifies whether the program accepts input from both a mouse and a digitizer or ignores mouse input when a digitizer is set.

2  Under General Options, you control general options that relate to system settings.

• Single-Drawing Compatibility Mode: Specifies whether a single-drawing interface (SDI) or a multi-drawing interface (MDI) is enabled. If you select this option, Carlson Survey opens only one drawing at a time. If you clear this option, the program can open multiple drawings at once.
• Display OLE Properties Dialog: Controls the display of the OLE Properties dialog box when inserting OLE objects into a drawing.
• Show All Warning Messages: Displays all dialog boxes that include a Don't Display This Warning Again option. All dialog boxes with warning options are displayed regardless of previous settings specific to each dialog box.
• Beep on Error in User Input: Specifies whether the program should sound an alarm beep when it detects an invalid entry.
• Allow Long Symbol Names: Determines whether long symbol names are enabled. Named objects can include up to 255 characters. Names can include letters, numbers, blank spaces, and any special character not used by Windows and Carlson Survey for other purposes. When this option is enabled, long names can be used for layers, dimension styles, blocks, linetypes, text styles, layouts, UCS names, views, and viewport configurations. This option is saved in the drawing.

3  Under Live Enabler Options, you specify how Carlson Survey checks for Object Enablers. Using Object Enablers, you can display and use custom objects in Carlson Survey drawings even when the ObjectARX application that created them is unavailable.

• Never: Prevents the program from checking for Object Enablers regardless of your settings in the Today window.
• When Autodesk Point A is Available in Today: Carlson Survey checks for Object Enablers only if Autodesk Point A is open in the Today window. It is not necessary for the Today window to be open. However, the program checks for Object Enablers only if a live Internet connection is present.
• Always: Carlson Survey always checks for Object Enablers regardless of your settings in the Today window.
• Maximum Number of Unsuccessful Checks: Specifies the number of times Carlson Survey will continue to check for Object Enablers after unsuccessful attempts.

User Preferences Tab

Under the User Preferences Tab, you control options that optimize the way you work in Carlson Survey.

1  Under Windows Standard Behavior you specify whether Windows behavior is applied when working in Carlson Survey.

• Windows Standard Accelerator Keys: Follows Windows standards in interpreting keyboard accelerators (for example, CTRL+C equals COPYCLIP). If this option is cleared, the program interprets keyboard accelerators by using Carlson Survey standards rather than Windows standards (for example, CTRL+C equals Cancel, CTRL+V toggles among the viewports).
• Shortcut Menus in Drawing Area: Controls whether right-clicking in the drawing area displays a shortcut menu or issues ENTER.
• Right-Click Customization: Displays the Right-Click Customization dialog box. You can also set Shortcut Menus in Drawing Area and the right-click customization settings by using the SHORTCUTMENU system variable.

2  DesignCenter – this section does not apply to Carlson Survey.

3  Under Hyperlink, you control settings that relate to the display properties of hyperlinks.

• Display Hyperlink Cursor and Shortcut Menu: Controls the display of the hyperlink cursor and shortcut menu. The hyperlink cursor appears alongside the crosshairs whenever the pointing device moves over an object that contains a hyperlink. The hyperlink shortcut menu provides additional options when you select an object that contains a hyperlink and then right-click in the drawing area. If this option is cleared, the hyperlink cursor is never displayed and the Hyperlink option on shortcut menus is not available (if shortcut menus are enabled).
• Display Hyperlink Tooltip: Controls the display of the Hyperlink tooltip. If this option is selected, a hyperlink tooltip is displayed when the pointing device moves over an object that contains a hyperlink. Display Hyperlink Cursor and Shortcut Menu must be selected to enable this option

• Running Object Snap: Specifies that running object snaps override coordinate entry at all times. You can also set OSNAPCOORD to 0 to enable Running Object Snap.
• Keyboard Entry: Specifies that coordinate entry overrides running object snaps at all times. You can also set OSNAPCOORD to 1 to enable Keyboard Entry.
• Keyboard Entry Except Scripts: Specifies that coordinate entry overrides running object snaps, except in scripts. You can also set OSNAPCOORD to 2 to enable Keyboard Entry Except Scripts.

5  Under Object Sorting Methods, you determine the sort order of objects.

• Object Selection: Controls how objects are sorted during selection. If this option is selected, Carlson Survey sorts objects available for selection from those created first to those created last. If two overlapping objects are chosen during object selection, the program recognizes the newest object as the selected object. If this option is cleared, object selection is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• Object Snap: Controls how objects are sorted when using Object Snap. If this option is selected, Carlson Survey sorts objects available for selection from those created first to those created last. If two overlapping objects are chosen when using Object Snap, the program recognizes the newest object as the object to snap to. If this option is cleared, Object Snap is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• Redraws: Controls how objects are sorted when using the REDRAW command. If this option is selected, the program sorts and redraws objects in the drawing from those created first to those created last. If this option is cleared, the redrawing of objects is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• Regens: Controls how objects are sorted when using the REGEN command. If this option is selected, the program sorts and regenerates objects in the drawing from those created first to those created last. If this option is cleared, the regeneration of objects is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• Plotting: Controls how objects are sorted during plotting. If this option is selected, the program sorts and plots objects in the drawing from those created first to those created last. If this option is cleared, the plotting of objects is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• PostScript Output: Controls how objects are sorted in PostScript output. If this option is selected, the program sorts and exports objects in the drawing from those created first to those created last. If this option is cleared, the exporting of objects is determined by a random sort order. This setting is saved in the drawing.
• Lineweight Settings: Displays the Lineweight Settings dialog box. Use this dialog box to set lineweight options, such as display properties and defaults, and also to set the current lineweight.

6  Associative Dimensioning – this section does not apply to Carlson Survey.

7  Lineweight Settings - Displays the Lineweight Settings dialog box. Use this dialog box to set lineweight options, such as display properties and defaults, and also to set the current lineweight.

Drafting Tab

Under the Drafting Tab, you specify a number of general editing options.

1  Under AutoSnap Settings, you control settings that relate to object snaps. Using object snaps, you can locate exact points and planes including endpoints, midpoints, centers, nodes, quadrants, intersections, insertion points, and perpendicular and tangent planes.

• Marker: Controls the display of the AutoSnap™ marker. The marker is a geometric symbol that displays the object snap location when the crosshairs move over a snap point on an object. You can also enable the Marker by setting AUTOSNAP to 1.
• Magnet: Sets the AutoSnap magnet on or off. The magnet is an automatic movement of the crosshairs that locks the crosshairs onto the nearest snap point. You can also enable the Magnet by setting AUTOSNAP to 4.
• Display AutoSnap Tooltip: Controls the display of the AutoSnap tooltip. The tooltip is a text flag that describes which part of the object you are snapping to. You can turn object snaps on and off from the Object Snap tab in the Drafting Settings dialog box. You can also enable the Display AutoSnap tooltip option by setting AUTOSNAP to 2.
• Display AutoSnap Aperture Box: Controls the display of the AutoSnap aperture box. The aperture box is a box that appears inside the crosshairs when you snap to an object. You can also set the Display AutoSnap Aperture Box by using the APBOX system variable.
• AutoSnap Marker Color: Specifies the color of the AutoSnap marker.

2  Under AutoSnap Marker Size, you set the display size for the AutoSnap marker. Values range from 1 to 20 pixels.

3  Under Tracking Settings, you control the settings that relate to tracking behavior.

• Display Polar Tracking Vector: Sets polar tracking behavior on or off. With polar tracking, you can draw lines along angles relative to a drawing command From or To point. Polar angles are 90-degree divisors, such as 45, 30, and 15 degrees.
• Display AutoTrack Tooltip: Controls the display of the AutoTrack tooltip. The tooltip is a text flag that displays the tracking coordinates. You can turn Object Snap Tracking on and off on the Object Snap tab in the Drafting Settings dialog box. You can also enable the AutoTrack tooltip by setting AUTOSNAP to 32.

4  Under Aperture Size, you set the display size for the Autosnap aperture. When Display AutoSnap Aperture Box is selected (or when APBOX is set to 1), the aperture box is displayed in the center of the crosshairs when you snap to an object. The size of the aperture determines how close to a snap point you can be before the magnet locks the aperture box to the snap point. The smaller the aperture, the closer you must be to the snap point to activate the magnet. Values range from 1 to 50 pixels. You can also set Aperture Size by using the APERTURE system variable.

Selection Tab

Under the Selection Tab, you control settings that relate to object selection methods.

1  Under Selection Modes, you determine the methods of selecting objects.

• Noun/Verb Selection: Allows you to select an object before starting a command. The command affects the previously selected object or objects. You can also set this option by using the PICKFIRST system variable.
• You can use many editing and inquiry commands with noun/verb selection, including: ALIGN, DVIEW, PROPERTIES, ARRAY, ERASE, ROTATE, BLOCK, EXPLODE, SCALE, CHANGE, LIST, STRETCH, CHPROP, MIRROR, WBLOCK, COPY, and MOVE.
• Use Shift to Add to Selection: Adds or removes an object to the selection set when you press SHIFT and select an object. To clear a selection set quickly, draw a selection window in a blank area of the drawing. You can also set this option by using the PICKADD system variable.
• Press and Drag: Draws a selection window by selecting a point and dragging the pointing device to a second point. If this option is not selected, you can draw a selection window by selecting two separate points with the pointing device. You can also set this option by using the PICKDRAG system variable.
• Implied Windowing: Initiates the drawing of a selection window when you select a point outside an object. Drawing the selection window from left to right selects objects inside the window's boundaries. Drawing from right to left selects objects within and crossing the window's boundaries. You can also set this option by using the PICKAUTO system variable.
• Object Grouping: Selects all objects in a group when you select one object in that group. With GROUP you can create and name a set of objects for selection. You can also set this option by setting the PICKSTYLE system variable to 1.
• Associative Hatch: Determines which objects are selected when you select an associative hatch. If this option is selected, boundary objects are also selected when you select an associative hatch. You can also set this option by setting the PICKSTYLE system variable to 2.

2  Under Pickbox Size, you control the display size of the Carlson Survey pickbox. The pickbox is the object selection tool that appears in editing commands. The default size is set to 3 pixels; values range from 0 to 20. You can also set the Pickbox Size by using the PICKBOX system variable. If you use the command line to set Pickbox Size, values range from 0 to 32767.

3  Under Grips, you control the settings that relate to grips. Grips are small squares displayed on an object after it has been selected.

• Enable Grips: Controls whether grips are displayed on an object after you select it. You can edit an object with grips by selecting a grip and using the shortcut menu. Enabling grips in a drawing significantly affects performance. Clear this option to optimize performance.
• Enable Grips within Blocks: Controls how grips are displayed on a block after you select it. If this option is selected, Carlson Survey displays all grips for each object in the block. If this option is cleared, the program displays one grip located at the insertion point of the block. You can edit an object with grips by selecting a grip and using the shortcut menu.
• Unselected Grip Color: Determines the color of an unselected grip. If you choose Other from the color list, Carlson Survey displays the Select Color dialog box. the program displays an unselected grip as the outline of a small square. You can also set Unselected Grip Color by using the GRIPCOLOR system variable.
• Selected Grip Color: Determines the color of a selected grip. If you choose Other from the color list, Carlson Survey displays the Select Color dialog box. The program displays a selected grip as a filled small square. You can also set Selected Grip Color by using the GRIPHOT system variable.

4  Under Grip Size, you control the display size of grips. The default size is set to 3 pixels; values range from 1 to 20. You can also set the Grip Size by using the GRIPSIZE system variable. If you use the command line to set Grip Size, values range from 1 to 255.