 GrADS Metafile Viewer Help Index

GV Overview

Commands

File menu

Edit menu

View menu

Page menu

Window menu

Help menu


GV Overview

GMF Viewer (GV) brings the convenience of Windows to the use of GRADS metafiles. GV allows you to view and manipulate GRADS metafile (graphics metafiles created by GRADS). This version of GV supports metafiles format created by GRADS version 1.5.  GV assumes that default extension of GRADS metafiles is GMF. There are two version of GV: 16-bit version for MS Windows 3.1 and 32-bit version for Windows 95 and Windows NT.

To open the metafile simply double click on a file listed in the File Manager or Explorer, drag and drop the file onto GV, or use the standard Open dialog box. If your file includes more than one picture you can browse through pages using keyboard keys (PageDown and PageUp) or toolbars buttons.

Use the right mouse button to access most commonly used features.

You can save separate pages of a GRADS metafile as Windows Metafile (WMF) using File/Save Page As command or copy current page (Edit/Copy) to Windows Clipboard and paste it in your favorite Windows application if it handles Windows Metafiles.

Use File/Print command to print a current document to any printer (you do not need Postscript printer).  Use File/Print Preview to display the active metafile as it would appear when printed.

You can customize the image -  display it as black-and-white or color, change thickness of lines (use View commands and View/Options dialog box). You can clip and enlarge any part of your image -  switch to the Clipping mode (View/Clipping) and drag rubber-band box around the clipping area.


File menu commands

The File menu offers the following commands:

Open	Opens an existing metafile.
Close	Closes an opened metafile.
Save Page As	Saves a current page of an opened metafile as Windows Metafile (WMF) to a specified file.
Print	Prints a metafile.
Print Preview	Displays the metafile on the screen as it would appear printed.
Print Setup	Selects a printer and printer connection.
Exit	Exits GMF Viewer.


Edit menu commands

The Edit menu offers the following commands:

Copy	Copies data from the current metafile page to the clipboard.


View menu commands

The View menu offers the following commands:

Toolbar	Shows or hides the toolbar.
Status Bar	Shows or hides the status bar.
Color Mode	Switches between color and monochrome modes.
Normal Width	Switches between normal and double line widths.
Clipping Mode	Enable or disable clipping mode.
Fast Redraw	Enable or disable fast redraw mode.
Options	Modifies GV settings that control appearance of active window.


Page menu commands

The Page menu offers the following commands:

Go To	Opens Go To Page dialog box.
First	Go to the first page
Next	Go to the next page
Previous	Go to the previous page
Last	Go to the last page


Window menu commands

The Window menu offers the following commands, which enable you to arrange multiple views of multiple metafiles in the application window:

New Window	Creates a new window that views the same metafile.
Cascade	Arranges windows in an overlapped fashion.
Tile Horizontally	Vertically arranges windows in non-overlapped tiles.
Tile Vertically	Arranges windows in non-overlapped tiles side by side.
Arrange Icons	Arranges icons of closed windows.
Window 1, 2, ...	Goes to specified window.


Help menu commands

The Help menu offers the following commands, which provide you assistance with this application:

Index	Offers you an index to topics on which you can get help.
Using Help	Provides general instructions on using help.
About	Displays the version number of this application.


File Open command
Open command (File menu)

Use this command to open an existing metafile in a new window.  You can open multiple metafiles at once.  Use the Window menu to switch among the multiple open metafiles.  See Window 1, 2, ... command.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+O


File Open dialog box

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

List Files of Type

Select the type of file you want to open:

*.gmf - GRADS metafile

Drives

Select the drive in which GMF Viewer stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which GMF Viewer stores the file that you want to open.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File Close command
Close command (File menu)

Use this command to close all windows containing the active metafile


File Save As command
Save Page As command (File menu)

Use this command to save the current page of active metafile as Windows metafile.  GMF Viewer displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your metafile.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+S


File Save As dialog box

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a metafile with a different name.  A filename can contain up to eight characters and an extension of up to three characters.  GMF Viewer adds the extension you specify in the Save File As Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the metafile.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the metafile.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File 1, 2, 3, 4 command
1, 2, 3, 4 command (File menu)

Use the numbers and filenames listed at the bottom of the File menu to open the last four metafiles you closed.  Choose the number that corresponds with the metafile you want to open.


File Exit command
Exit command (File menu)

Use this command to end your GMF Viewer session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu

Shortcuts

Mouse:	Double-click the application's Control menu button.

Keys:	ALT+F4


Copy command (Edit menu)

Use this command to copy the current page of the active metafile onto the clipboard.

Later you can paste the image of copied page to any application that can handle

Windows metafiles.

Copying data to the clipboard replaces the contents previously stored there.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+C


View Color Mode command
Color Mode command (View menu)

Use this command to switch between color and monochrome modes for the active window. It is preferable to switch to monochrome mode before sending output to monochrome printer.


View Normal Width command
Normal Width command (View menu)

Use this command to switch between normal and double line widths modes for the active window.


View Clipping Mode command
Clipping Mode command (View menu)

Use this command to enable or disable clipping mode for the active window. While in clipping mode user can clip and enlarge rectangle parts of image in current window.


View Fast Redraw command
Fast Redraw command (View menu)

Use this command to enable or disable fast redraw mode for the active window. In fast redraw mode GV may consume substantial amount of memory. Use this mode only if you have more than 8MB of RAM.


View Options command
Options command (View menu)

Use this command to invoke Options dialog box and change settings that control appearance of the active metafile window.

See View Options for help on using the Options dialog box.


View Options

Options command (View menu)

Use the Settings tab in the Options dialog box to change the appearance of the metafile image.

Line Width

    Normal line width    Display a metafile using default line width

    Custom line width   Display a metafile using user-defined line width factor (25%-400%)

Scale lines to be xxx% of normal width  User-defined line width factor (used if custom line width is selected)

Color Mode

    Monochrome    B/W  mode

    Color                   Color mode


View Toolbar command
Toolbar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in GMF Viewer, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.

See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.


Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in GMF Viewer,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

Click	To

Open an existing metafile.  GMF Viewer displays the Open dialog box, in which you can locate and open the desired file.

Save the active metafile or template with its current name.  If you have not named the metafile, GMF Viewer displays the Save As dialog box.

Print the active metafile.

Copy the selection to the clipboard.

Go to the first page in the current window.

Go to the previous page in the current window.

Go to the next page in the current window.

Go to the last page in the current window.


View Status Bar Command
Status Bar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.

See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the GMF Viewer window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.

The right areas of the status bar contain page and coordinates indicators, and clock.

Indicator	Description

Page M of N	The current page (M) and total number of pages (N).

Click mouse inside of page indicator area to change page (left button -

previous page, right button - next page).

X = xx”, Y = yy”	The coordinates of cursor.

Click mouse inside the indicator to hide/show coordinates indicator.

hh:mm:ss	The current time/date.

Click mouse inside the indicator to switch between date and time modes.


New command (Window menu)

Use this command to open a new window with the same metafile as the active window.  You can open multiple metafile windows to display different parts or views of a metafile at the same time. When you open a new window, it becomes the active window and is displayed on top of all other open windows.


Cascade command (Window menu)

Use this command to arrange multiple opened windows in an overlapped fashion.


Tile Horizontal command (Window menu)

Use this command to horizontally arrange multiple opened windows in a non-overlapped fashion.


Tile Vertical command (Window menu)

Use this command to arrange multiple opened windows side by side.


Window Arrange Icons Command

Use this command to arrange the icons for minimized windows at the bottom of the main window.  If there is an open metafile window at the bottom of the main window, then some or all of the icons may not be visible because they will be underneath this metafile window.


1, 2, ... command (Window menu)

GMF Viewer displays a list of currently open metafile windows at the bottom of the Window menu.  A check mark appears in front of the metafile name of the active window.  Choose a metafile from this list to make its window active.


Index command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help.  From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using GMF Viewer and various types of reference information.

Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.


Using Help command (Help menu)

Use this command for instructions about using Help.


About command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the copyright notice and version number of your copy of GMF Viewer.


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of GMF Viewer.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the GMF Viewer window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Title Bar

The title bar is located along the top of a window.  It contains the name of the application and metafile.

To move the window, drag the title bar.  Note: You can also move dialog boxes by dragging their title bars.

A title bar may contain the following elements:

Application Control-menu button

Metafile Control-menu button

Maximize button

Minimize button

Name of the application

Name of the metafile

Restore button


Size command (System menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Drag the size bars at the corners or edges of the window.


Move command (Control menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F7


System Minimize Command
Minimize command (application Control menu)

Use this command to reduce the GMF Viewer window to an icon.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the minimize icon [image] on the title bar.

Keys:	ALT+F9


Maximize command (System menu)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the maximize icon [image] on the title bar; or double-click the title bar.

Keys:	CTRL+F10 enlarges a metafile window.


Next Window command (metafile Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the next open metafile window.  GMF Viewer determines which window is next according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F6


Previous Window command (metafile Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the previous open metafile window.  GMF Viewer determines which window is previous according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+CTRL+F6


Close command (Control menus)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single metafile, the Close command on the metafile Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.

Shortcuts

Keys: 	CTRL+F4 closes a metafile window


Restore command (Control menu)

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Switch to command (application Control menu)

Use this command to display a list of all open applications.  Use this "Task List" to switch to or close an application on the list.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+ESC

Dialog Box Options

When you choose the Switch To command, you will be presented with a dialog box with the following options:

Task List

Select the application you want to switch to or close.

Switch To

Makes the selected application active.

End Task

Closes the selected application.

Cancel

Closes the Task List box.

Cascade

Arranges open applications so they overlap and you can see each title bar.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Tile

Arranges open applications into windows that do not overlap.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons of all minimized applications across the bottom of the screen.


Viewing the Metafile

Use the right mouse button to access most commonly used features.

Browse metafile using keyboard keys (PageDown and PageUp) or toolbars buttons.

You can save separate pages of a GRADS metafile as Windows Metafile (WMF) using File/Save Page As command or copy current page (Edit/Copy) to Windows Clipboard and paste it in your favorite Windows application if it handles Windows Metafiles.

Use File/Print command to print a current document to any printer (you do not need Postscript printer).  Use File/Print Preview to display the active metafile as it would appear when printed.

You can customize the image -  display it as black-and-white or color, change thickness of lines (use View commands and View/Options dialog box). You can clip and enlarge any part of your image -  switch to the Clipping mode (View/Clipping) and drag rubber-band box around the clipping area.


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.

<< If you wish to author help specific to each message box prompt, then remove the AFX_HIDP_xxx values from the [ALIAS] section of your .HPJ file, and author a topic for each AFX_HIDP_xxx value.  For example, AFX_HIDP_INVALID_FILENAME is the help topic for the Invalid Filename message box. >>


File Print command
Print command (File menu)

Use this command to print a metafile.   This command presents a Print dialog box, where you may specify the range of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the destination printer, and other printer setup options.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+P


Print dialog box

The following options allow you to specify how the metafile should be printed:

Printer

This is the active printer and printer connection.  Choose the Setup option to change the printer and printer connection.

Setup

Displays a Print Setup dialog box, so  you can select a printer and printer connection.

Print Range

Specify the pages you want to print:

All	Prints the entire metafile.
Selection	Prints the current page.
Pages	Prints the range of pages you specify in the From and To boxes.
Copies

Specify the number of copies you want to print for the above page range.

Collate Copies

Prints copies in page number order, instead of separated multiple copies of each page.

Print Quality

Select the quality of the printing.  Generally, lower quality printing takes less time to produce.


Print Progress Dialog

The Printing dialog box is shown during the time that GMF Viewer is sending output to the printer.  The page number indicates the progress of the printing.

To abort printing, choose Cancel.


File Print Preview command
Print Preview command (File menu)

Use this command to display the active metafile as it would appear when printed.  When you choose this command, the main window will be replaced with a print preview window in which one or two pages will be displayed in their printed format.  The print preview toolbar offers you options to view either one or two pages at a time; move back and forth through the metafile; zoom in and out of pages; and initiate a print job.


Print Preview toolbar

The print preview toolbar offers you the following options:

Print

Bring up the print dialog box, to start a print job.

Next Page

Preview the next printed page.

Prev Page

Preview the previous printed page.

One Page / Two Page

Preview one or two printed pages at a time.

Zoom In

Take a closer look at the printed page.

Zoom Out

Take a larger look at the printed page.

Close

Return from print preview to the editing window.


File Print Setup command
Print Setup command (File menu)

Use this command to select a printer and a printer connection.  This command presents a Print Setup dialog box, where you specify the printer and its connection.


Print Setup dialog box

The following options allow you to select the destination printer and its connection.

Printer

Select the printer you want to use.  Choose the Default Printer; or choose the Specific Printer option and select one of the current installed printers shown in the box.  You install printers and configure ports using the Windows Control Panel.

Orientation

Choose Portrait or Landscape.

Paper Size

Select the size of paper that the metafile is to be printed on.

Paper Source

Some printers offer multiple trays for different paper sources.  Specify the tray here.

Options

Displays a dialog box where you can make additional choices about printing, specific to the type of printer you have selected.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


Update command
Update command (File menu)

<< Write a topic here that discusses the Update command. >>


Save Copy As... command
Save Copy As... command (File menu)

<< Write a topic here that discusses the Save Copy As... command. >>


Embedded Object Resize Bar

<< Write a topic here that discusses the embedded object resize bar. >>