Nudging with Arrow Keys

One or more selected points can be moved incrementally using the up, down, left and right arrow keys. In the orthogonal views these directions correspond to the vertical and horizontal screen directions. In the oblique projection view, only the up and down arrows have effect, nudging points in the positive and negative stylus direction.

Nudging can be the most effective way of making smaller scale edits, for example when improving the curvature distribution

The size of nudge produced by each keystroke is set by clicking the Tool button (or selecting GEOMETRY \ NUDGE SIZE...):

Figure 3:51. Set Arrow Key Nudge Size dialog.

When enabled, the Snap to Grid facility interacts with nudging. One consequence of this is that it is impossible to nudge a point if the nudge size is less than half the grid cell size.

Note: The window that the nudge is effected in (and hence the direction the arrow keys correspond to) is determined by the last window that the Left Mouse button was clicked in.

When using the nudge functionality for data points, it is possible to select the next or previous data point along the current curve using the keyboard. It is also possible to select a single data point or a range of data points without using the mouse.

The starting point needs to be selected using the mouse, as this also sets the active curve. Once a starting point has been selected it is then possible to move forwards and backwards along the curve using <Ctrl + Shift> and the left and right arrow keys to select the next or previous data point. When a point has been selected it is then possible to use the ordinary arrow key nudge functionality.

To select a range of points use <Ctrl + Shift> and the down arrow key , then move along the curve to select points. To clear the selection use <Ctrl + Shift> and the up arrow key . To bring up the pop-up menu for your selection it is possible to use the pop-up menu key on your keyboard.