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Hot Bar

The Hot Bar is a scrolling list of all the Turnout, Sectional Track and Structures available from the Turnout and Structure commands. You can optionally display the Description and/or Part Number under each object by the Hot Bar Labels radio button on the Display dialog.

The two arrow buttons move the list one object to the Right or Left. Holding down the Shift key will move the list by greater amounts. About eight Shift-Clicks will jump from the start to the end of the list. Also, pressing the keys 1 through 9 and 0 will jump to relative spots on the list.

Right-Click will display a popup-menu of the contents of the Hot Bar which you can also use to jump through the list.

Objects are selected by clicking on an object and then Dragging on the Main window.

Turnouts:

Turnouts have an Active End-Point which is the handle used to position the Turnout. You can change the Active End-Point by a Shift-Left-Click which causes the next End-Point to become Active.

If you Left-Drag a turnout onto a track, the Active End-Point is aligned with the selected track. On flex-track, you can flip the turnout by moving the cursor from one side of the track centerline to the other. On another turnout, the new turnout will be placed at the End-Point closest to the cursor.

XTrkCad will automatically connect the turnout's End-Points to any other tracks that they are aligned to. The number of End-Points that will be connected is displayed on the Status Bar, as well as the Maximum displacement between these End-Points and the tracks they will be connected to. XTrkCad will adjust the position of the Turnout to give you the best fit for locating the turnout. You can override this adjustment by holding down the Shift key while Dragging.

You can also Right-Drag to rotate the turnout on the layout. Shift-Right-Click displays a popup-menu allowing you to rotate the turnout by various angles.

When you press the Space key, the turnout is positioned on the layout. Any tracks that are aligned with any of the turnout's End-Points will be connected to the turnout automatically. If you are using the Turnout command then you can also click the Ok button on the dialog.

If you choose another turnout or change commands after beginning to place a turnout on the layout, the turnout will be created if it is attached to another track. Otherwise it will be removed.

If the Drawing Scale is smaller or equal to the Label Scale then Turnouts will be labeled with their description when drawn. The individual labels can be can be turned off by the Move Label command, or all Turnout labels can be disabled by using the Display dialog. As well, the length of any connected Flex-track will be indicated at each End-Point.

Structures:

Structures are placed on the Layout in same way as Turnouts except that there is no Active End-Point and Structures do not align with existing tracks.


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