Property Manager

The Property Manager gives access to all of the relevant optic, system, and display window properties. The properties are split up into different groups including those relevant to the selected optic, the system, and the active window.

Docking the Property Manager

The Property Manager can be shown either within the LaserCanvas window (the default), or as a separate floating window.

To show or hide the Property Manager, select menu Tools | Properties or select the Properties button on the toolbar.

To toggle the Property Manager between docked and in a floating window, select menu Tools | Dock Properties.

When the Property Manager is docked, you can

Change the width by dragging the size bar.
Display the Property Manager at the left or right of the LaserCanvas window by holding the Ctrl key while clicking the size bar.
Display the Property Manager in a floating window by holding the Ctrl + Shift keys while clicking the size bar.
For both docked and floating windows, you can change the column widths by dragging the centreline.

Property Groups

The properties displayed within the Property Manager are divided into the following groups:

Optic Group
System Group
Variables Group
Canvas Group
Graph Group
Common Tasks Group

Which of the groups, and which of the properties within each group, are accessible at any time depend on the visible window and the optics selected within the canvas. The Common Tasks are always visible.

Each group can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the group heading. If a group of properties is collapsed, a "+" symbol is displayed in the group heading.

Property Fields

Each property has a title, shown in the left-hand column, and a value, shown in the right. The exceptions are the Common Task commands, which span the entire width of the window.

For editable properties, clicking in the right-hand column allows you to edit the property value. Press the Enter key, or click outside the edit field, to accept the new value. Press the Escape key to cancel the input.

If the entered value of an edit field contains an error, the edit field remains visible, with the contents selected. If there is an error in an equation, the status bar will indicate the error.

Optic and system properties that can be entered as equations usually show the current value of the equation. To display the source equation for these items, select menu Tools | Property Equations or select the Equations button on the toolbar.

Some properties are read-only and cannot be edited.