Module: Measurement (Basic) ()

Description:

This module provides access to two-dimensional and three-dimensional measuring tools. The idea is to click directly into the rendered scene and draw. The 2D tools draw anywhere in the viewer window, whereas the 3D tools work only on geometry displayed in the viewer.

You can access the tools via the View/Measuring menu or via the measuring tool button at the top of the viewer. Click on the tiny triangle at the lower right corner of the tool icon to display a pulldown menu from which you can select the desired measuring tool: (2D or 3D line, 2D or 3D angle, 3D circle, 3D box, and 2D or 3D text). To change the position of a selected tool, click on one of its red handles and drag it to a new location. Some tools also provide text entries that allow changing their position.

Once the Measurement tool is activated, the mouse pointer changes its shape. While the tool is activated, every measurement you perform will be automatically added to the list. For example, you can activate the 2D Length tool to measure a distance, measure a second one, then activate the 2D Angle tool and add an angle measurement. The three measurement objects will be added to the list one by one automatically.

Every tool has attributes (visible, locked, render in front, text, color, line width, and font size) that are accessible via the Tools port of the Measurement object which was created in the Project View.

Note: 2D distance measurements require orthographic view, else the measurement is in pixels.

Ports:

Tools

Each tool is displayed as a row in the toolbox. The columns have the following meaning (from left to right):

• visible: Click on the eye icon to toggle visibility of the tool in the viewer. When the eye is empty, the tool is invisible. Click and drag over multiple rows to toggle the visibility of multiple tools.
• locked: Click on the padlock icon to lock/unlock the tool. When the padlock is locked, the tool is locked and can't be modified in the viewer. Click and drag over multiple rows to lock/unlock multiple tools.
• render in front: Click on the render-in-front icon to toggle whether the tool is always rendered in front of the scene and no longer hidden by objects that are nearer to the camera. It also is always pickable. Click and drag over multiple rows to change the icon for multiple tools.
• type: The fourth column indicates the type of the tool (2D length, etc.).
• text: The fifth column displays the value of the measured quantity. Double clicking on it allows you to change the display format for numerical values, and the text string for text tools.

If you select a tool in the toolbox, it is highlighted in the viewer with red squares (handles) that you can drag using the mouse. You can select more than one tool at the same time. With the color button, the line width drop-down menu and spin box, and the font size spin box, you can change the appearance of the selected tools. The line width affects the size the of red tool handles as well.

You can move circle and box tools with the mouse by clicking in the middle of the shape. You can scale (only from the camera side it has been created) circle and box tools with 3D green tick marks. With the Export button you can export all containing Measurement tools information to a SpreadSheet.

With the Delete button you can delete the currently selected tool(s). With the Export button you can export the currently selected tool(s).

Commands:

tool init
Erase all points and settings of a tool.

tool getValue <id>
Return the value of the tool with the specified id. If the tool is an Angle or a Distance, a float will be returned. If the tool is an Annotation, the annotation text will be returned. The same command can be called as: tool<id> getValue.

tools getPoints <id>
Return the points of the tool with the specified id. If the tool is a 2D Angle or Distance, 2 points are returned as a TCL list. If the tool is a 3D Angle or Distance, 3 points are returned as a TCL list. If the tool is an Annotation 1 point is returned.The coordinates are normalized between 0 and 1 for the 2D points. The same command can be called as: tool<id> getPoints.

tools getName <id>
Return the name of the tool with the specified id. The same command can be called as: tool<id> getName.

tools getNumberTools
Returns the number of elements in the tool form.

tools exportSpreadSheet
Export all containing Measurement tools information to a SpreadSheet.

tools dump
Returns a TCL list containing all the Measurement tools information.

tool<id> point <p1>[<p2>...]
Set the points for the specified tool.

tool<id> format "<frm>"
Set the format for the specified tool.

tool<id> color <red> <green> <blue>
Set the color for the specified tool.

tool<id> pointSize <size>
Set the pointSize for the specified tool.

tool<id> name <newName>
Set the name for the specified tool.

addLine 2D
Create a 2D line as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the line properties can be set.

addLine 3D
Create a 3D line as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the line properties can be set.

addAngle 2D
Create a 2D angle as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the angle properties can be set.

addAngle 3D
Create a 3D angle as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the angle properties can be set.

addAnnotation 2D
Create a 2D annotation as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the annotation properties can be set.

addAnnotation 3D
Create a 3D annotation as a tool object. By using the previous TCL commands, the annotation properties can be set.