Control Panel

In the Control Panel window, the Information Layers and its different representations are selected for visualization as well as for a desired operation.

Every data manipulation (edition, processing, crossings etc) is performed on the Information Layer that is active in the Control Panel.

The Control Panel window is presented for the user along with the main Spring window, when a database Project is activated. It is responsible for the functions of selecting data and controlling the visualization displays.

The fields of the Control Panel are enabled after a project is activated. In this dialog box, the content of the project (Information Layers) can be presented on the screen.

The option View in the menu bar of the Spring module main window shows or hides the Control Panel through the options Active Panel and Inactive Panel respectively, in the UNIX version, or View - Control Panel  (atalho_painel.gif - 967 Bytes) in the Windows version.

The figure below represents the Control Panel. In this figure, the button Window Control allows one to define the active window. The Available ILs field informs which Categories and Information Layers are available. Selected ILs presents the ILs that were selected in the Available ILs field. The letters (D, C, T, I and N) before the Category Names indicate the type of category (for instance, D for DTM and C for Cadastral). The buttons represent the draw, selection, search, vector edition, raster edition and help operations.

   


SEE:


See also:
How to digitize data on SPRING ?
Resources for Importing and Exporting data!


Operating SPRING


To select data for operation

To select an IL on which an operation is about to be performed it is required to activate it or, depending on the operation, it is necessary to draw it on the active display. To do so, use the two lists of the Control Panel: Available ILs and Selected ILs.

  • Available ILs - only the active database categories are presented; they have at least one Information Layer in the active project. Depending on the category, the ILs and their available representations are presented. The parenthesis "( )" beside the category will be fulfilled with (V) when an IL of that category is selected.
  • Selected ILs - shows the category and the IL selected among the available ones.

When selecting an Information Layer (IL), the options in the menu bar of the main window become available to operate on that IL. Many times it is not necessary to view the datum, only the selection is enough, so that any application is able to operate it.


Activating an IL for operation:

  • activate a Database ( atalho_bancod.gif - 1054 Bytes) and a Project ( atalho_projeto.gif - 1036 Bytes). The Control Panel is automatically presented;
  • select View - Active Panel... (UNIX) or View - Control Panel (Windows)  in the main menu if, for any reason, the Control Panel is closed;
  • select a Category on the list;
  • select a correspondent Information Layer.

NOTE: Observe that there will always be an Active IL of the Active Project, and its name will be shown in the footnote area of the active drawing window, or as a dark stripe over the name on the Information Layers List of the Control Panel. Depending on the model of the selected category, one of the options of the main menu will be enabled. For instance, if the category is thematic, the item Thematic will be enabled to operate on the active IL.



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To visualize data (IL)

To present one or more ILs in one of the drawing areas, one must define which ILs will be presented for visualization. In order to do it, it is necessary to activate the desired display before selecting the data. The Main window of the Spring module is initially active. If no other window is activated, the data selection will be in the Main one.

OBS: An activated IL is not necessarily selected for visualization in one of the drawing areas. One should also select its representations.

The selection of data for visualization happens in the representations level. After selecting Category and Information Layer one must choose which representations of that IL will be presented.

For each selected representation, an equivalent letter is shown in parenthesis before the name of the IL, indicating the selection. The representations vary depending on the IL category, as follows:  

THEMATIC

Points (P) - show all 2D points; Lines (L) - show all lines defining a polygon or not; Matrix (M) - vectors formatted as a matrix; Classes (C) - presents points/lines/polygons that are associated to classes, with its corresponding visual aspects; Text (T) - toponimy automatically generated or edited.

NUMERIC

Samples (A) - spot heights and imported contour lines or edited; Grid (G) - rectangular grid; TIN (Ti) - triangular grid "Triangular Irregular Network"; Contour Lines (I) - contour lines generated from a grid; Image (Im) - gray level image of the grid; Text (T) - toponimy automatically generated or edited.

IMAGE

M (M) - monochromatic channel, R (R) - red channel, G (G) - green channel, B (B) - blue channel; Text (T) - edited toponimy over the image; Synthetic (S) - three band coding into a single image; Classified (C) - image created by a classification process; Labeled (R) - lines created by image segmentation.

NETWORK

Lines (L) - show all lines; Objects (O) - show lines/nodes that are associated to objects, with its corresponding visual aspects; Text (T) - toponimy automatically generated or edited; Restrictions (R) - turn restrictions.

CADASTRAL

Points (P) - show all 2D points; Lines (L) - show all lines defining a polygon or not; Objects (O) - presents points/lines/polygons that are associated to the objects, with the corresponding visual aspects; Text (T) - toponimy automatically generated or edited.


OBS: All ILs can have associated texts presented. A text can be edited/imported to any IL of any model, or automatically generated for ILs of any model, except image.

 

Context Menu

The context menu presents a number of operations that are performed regarding in Active Infolayer or Category of Active Infolayer.
This menu is displayed when click with mouse right button on area of the tree of Category and Infolayers or on area of the List of Selected Infolayers.
Some of operations are:

  • Draw;
  • Vector Editing;
  • Raster Editing;
  • Query;
  • Rename Infolayer;
  • Rename Category;
  • Order Infolayers from Category;
  • Copy Infolayer;
  • Remove Infolayer;
  • + Priority;
  • - Priority;

 

Priority

The Priority sets the sequence for data visualization and it is associated to each Information Layer. Click on Selected IL, click on the IL that you wish to set higher or lower priority, click with the RB (mouse right button) and choose between +priority and -priority. The IL on the top of the list will be drawn after any IL below it.

To visualize data one should first Activate a window, select the set of representation desired and then click on Draw in the activated window.


 Visualizing a project data:

  • activate the Database ( atalho_bancod.gif - 1054 Bytes) and the Project ( atalho_projeto.gif - 1036 Bytes) desired;
  • select View - Active Panel... (UNIX) or View - Control Panel (Windows) in the main menu;
  • select a Category;
  • select an Information Layer;
  • activate in the Windows Control, of the Control Panel, the desired window;
  • select the set of data for visualization, in the Control Panel, selecting the desired Representation and define the Priority for each IL;
  • click on Draw or in the active window.


NOTE: to deselect all the IL representation just do a double click on the corresponding IL, or a double click on a category to deselect all the ILs belonging to this category.

 

Thematic Classes Selection or Samples

A thematic map can have its entities (points, lines and polygons) associated to classes defined in the Database, that is, each one with a different visualization aspects (color, filling, pattern, etc.). If the user wants to present in the drawing window only the polygons which are in a given class, he/she can use the Data Selection, window, which allows the class selection to be presented.

In the Numerical IL's case, the sample representation can be of the following types: 3D, Lines 3D, Break Line, or Master Line. With the Data Selection window it is possible to select only some types for visualization.


NOTE: Once the classes to be presented are selected, from a certain IL, these will be stored automatically, even if the Spring module is finished. To restore the classes’ presentation in an IL, a new selection has to be made.


NOTE: The line visualization of a thematic IL can be changed, because it is independent of the filling defined for a polygon. The visualization of these lines is defined through a dialog box Information Layer.

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How to control the SPRING windows

Besides the Main Window, there are four other windows for visualization, but n other windows can be created. The Auxiliary Window is specially reserved for some procedures, such as: data mosaicing and images registration.

  • Activate - a window is important for the data selection definition for visualization and for operation results presentation which are performed in the window, as contour lines generation for instance. Activate a window is an exclusive option, that is, only a window can be active at each time.  If the Control Panel is floating, the active window is selected; if not, the visible tab is the window that is active. When activating another window, the previous will be automatically deactivated. Activating a window and an IL are independents, because, when activating a window where previously an IL was selected for this window, it does not mean that this IL will be active just by activating the window. When the "Spring" module is initiated the main window will be by default the active window.  The system stores the ILs which are selected in each of the five windows. Even if the active window is changed or closed, the data will be kept selected.
  • View - it controls the windows presence in the working area. All the windows can be presented at the same time, because these are non exclusive options. When showing any other window, besides main window, this will become the active window. The system stores the ILs which are selected in each of the five windows. Even if the active window is changed or closed, the data will be kept selected. A window can be created, removed or hidden. When creating a window, a new option appears in the footnote of the drawing area; when removing, it is removed from the footnote area; and, when hiding, it stays docked at the main window. When the Control Panel is floating, there is a button to select the active window.

  
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