About Aligning and Distributing the Resources

Selection of the Orthogonal View

An Orthogonal View (Top view) is set to align operation. You can change the view by selecting View.

Selection of the Multiple Resources

A multiacquisition is displayed to choose the multiple resources, once selected, all the resources other than the selected list of resources would be unavailable.

You can:

• Select multiple resources.
• Select a single resource to align.
• Preselect the resources and select Align and Distribute (which skips the Tools Palette appearance for multiselection).

Selection of the Reference Resource

You can choose a reference to align, rotate, and (offset) distribute operations. You can select the Reference to choose a resource. The reference selection is common for any operation.

• Align Expander:
  • The reference selection is used to choose an edge that is parallel to the view axis. The edge selected is highlighted in red.

  • Note: If you select an edge that is not parallel to the axis, a message appears to select a proper edge: In case of the local axis, the edge should be parallel to the local axis orientation.

• Rotate Expander:
  • The reference selection is used to choose a resource as a reference. The orientation of the selected reference is highlighted with green arrows.
• Distribute Expander:
  • The reference selection is used to choose a resource as a reference. The reference selection can be done only if the offset mode is selected. The selected reference is highlighted with green arrows.

  • Note: In the case of a local axis, the direction of the arrows represents the orientation of the local axis selected.

Aligning the Resources

Multiple resources can be aligned to an edge reference (depending on the align option selected). You can select multiple align option on the same edge for a selected view by choosing different align options.

Aligning Options without edge selection. Choices are: Left align, right align, bottom align, top align option:

• The resources are transferred to left margin within the list of selected resources.
• The align option (selected) is highlighted until you select another aligning option.

The aligning option without the edge selection:

• Align Center.
  • The resources are transferred to vertical center distance within the list of selected resources to align.
• Align Middle:
  • The resources are transferred to horizontal center distance within the list of selected resources to align.

Aligning with Reference Selection:

• Left Align:
  • The list of the resources to align is transferred to left of the edge (Red) reference.
  • The alternate solutions are provided by visual cue .
  • The selected align option is highlighted until you select another align option.
• Right Align:
  • The list of resources to align is transferred to right of the edge (Red) reference.
  • The alternate solutions are provided by visual cue .
  • The selected align option is highlighted until you select another align option.
• Bottom Align:
  • The list of resources to align is transferred to bottom of the edge (Red) reference.
  • The alternate solutions are provided by visual cue .
  • The selected align option is highlighted till you select another align option.
• Top Align:
  • The list of resources to align is transferred to top of the edge (Red) reference.
  • The alternate solutions are provided by visual cue .
  • The selected align option is highlighted till you select another align option.
• Align Center:
  • The list of resources to align is transferred to center of the edge (Red) reference.

• Align Middle:
  • The list of resources to align is transferred to middle of the edge (Red) reference.

Rotating the Resources

Multiple resources are rotated (Oriented) to a reference on the option selected.

By default, The rotate expander, the first object in the multilist is selected as a reference if you do not explicitly select a reference. The reference does not rotate.

You can select multiple rotate options on same reference for a selected view.

Rotate to U, V, W Orientation:

• The list of resources to align is rotated to match the selected orientation of the reference selected. Rotation of the object happens around its bounding box center.
• A red arrow indicates the selected orientation on the reference selected.
• The alternate solutions are provided by visual cue.
• The selected rotate option is highlighted until you select another option.

Distributing the Resources

You can distribute the multiple resources for the option selected. Choose the reference resource selection for distributing an offset; if not, the first selected resource becomes the reference.

Horizontal and Vertical Distribution:

• The resources are spaced equally in horizontal or vertical direction based on the selected view.
• The distance between the resources is calculated using the total distance between the ends of the resources (either horizontal or vertical) divided by the number of resources to be distributed.

Creating Offset Distribution

You can create an offset distribution from Align and Distribute dialog box.

• Select the Offset check box to choose and distribute an offset.
• Enter offset distance in the editor.
• Once you enter the value, select the direction to distribute. Otherwise, the system defaults to the previously selected direction.

Selection of Undo or Redo

You can Undo or Redo to select an expander view. Changing the expander or orthogonal view or selecting the list for aligning closes the Align and Distribute dialog box if you click Undo or Redo. For example: If you select Align expander and select different aligning options, and choose Undo option repeatedly (for more than three times), the Align and Distribute dialog box closes.