AGi32 Overview - Command Structure

Now that you have an idea how a three-dimensional drawing environment functions, let's continue to examine the actual command structure of AGi32. When first opening the program you will find the majority of commands organized into Toolkits on the right side of the desktop. These buttons are simply redundant for a number of commands accessible from the pull-down menus across the top of the screen. Additional view and control settings are available from toolbars at the top of the desktop as well as the bottom of the desktop. Most AGi32 commands are available from the pull-down menus, however, as users become more proficient, it is generally easier to use the Toolkits to select a particular command.

AGi32 commands are organized into groups by the type of entities they operate on, or the functions they perform. Looking first at the structure of the pull-down menus, you will notice familiar menus titled FILE, EDIT and HELP. Like most other software programs you may use, you can expect to find similar functions present in these menus. For example: File-Open, File-Exit, File-Import and other commands are available from the File menu. The more operation-specific menus ADD and MODIFY contain commands designed to Add or Modify entities in the drawing. The VIEW menu contains commands that operate on what you see on the screen.

The CONTROL BAR  provides access to all three desktop modes (Model, Render and Reports) as well as calculation parameters and commands, daylighting capabilities,  post-process ray tracing controls and design tools. The STATUS BAR at the bottom of the desktop contains commands that can be considered Tools providing peripheral functions or adjusting some parameters of program operation.

While the pull-downs are all encompassing, the button toolbars and Toolkits are a much faster and more efficient way of using the major program functions. The button toolbars are arranged such that all buttons contained in each toolkit  are specific to a particular type of entity. Toolkits contain Add and Modify commands, the other toolbars contain global commands that are accessible in each mode, albeit perhaps uniquely as the functionality of each mode differs. For example: commands that operate on Luminaires are found in the Luminaire toolkit. Commands specific to calculation points are found on the Calculation Points toolkit and commands relative to Rooms and Objects are found on the Room/Object toolkit. Specific command titles can be displayed by pausing your mouse cursor over a button momentarily (that's called a ToolTip!).

For the identity of each button please see the Toolbars topic.