Save and Restore Views

Save and Restore Views allows a user to take a snapshot of a view and save it to file. The saved view can be reinstated when required. A saved view consists of three elements:

• The current drawlist

• View properties (for example, view direction)

• A snapshot picture of the view when it was saved

When selecting which view to restore, the snapshot picture is displayed to help identify whether you are restoring the correct view.

Note: This snapshot is just a picture captured at the time the view was saved. Elements in that picture may have been modified or deleted since the picture was saved, so when the content of the view (the Drawlist) is restored the scene may look different to the snapshot picture. In fact, it is possible that an empty view may appear if all elements in the drawlist have been deleted or moved outside of the view area since the original view was saved.

To access the Save & Restore View window, click on the 3D View Manipulation Toolbar.

The Save Name field allows the user to enter a name for a new view or select an existing view from the drop-down list. When the user selects an existing view, that view is displayed in the Save & Restore window with the time and date it was created.

Restore View

To restore a view, select the required view from the View drop-down list. The selected view is displayed in the Save & Restore View window. To restore the view to the 3D Graphical View click Restore Current View.

If there is an existing model in the 3D view, all of the elements in the 3D view will be removed.

The 3D view will then be populated with the contents of the selected save file.

Overwrite Current View

The user can overwrite the currently selected view without having to type an existing view name in the Save & Restore View window.

Add To DrawList

The user can add the DrawList contents of the current view displayed in the Save & Restore View window to the current 3D Graphical View.

Select the required view from the View drop-down list and click Add to DrawList.

Note: The view direction and scale will be unchanged.

Replace DrawList

The user can replace the DrawList contents of the 3D Graphical view with the contents of the current view displayed in the Save & Restore View window.

Select the required view from the View drop-down and click Replace DrawList.

Note: The view limits and direction will be unchanged.

Save Current View

To save the current view the user must populate the New View field and click Save Current View. The view name can either be a new name or an existing view can be overwritten with a new view.

When the user creates a view, defaults files are created in the pdmsuser folder.