Interface
Zoom Factor option
The scale of a drawing on the screen can be changed by calling the Zoom Factor option from the View menu or the Toolbar item . The cursor is changed to a magnifying glass. To apply this, click the place where you want the centre of the enlarged or ...
Trim Drawing Edges option
This option in the View menu provides the opportunity of reducing the drawing’s boundaries, to make the system as large as possible when printed, or to view the entire system.
Toolbar
The Toolbar at the top of the Main Window contains several buttons. The four buttons to the left are used for opening files, cutting and pasting components and printing. If you lay your mouse pointer on these, a short message will appear near the ...
Property balloons
To assist in reviewing models using DRAINS or the DRAINS Viewer, property balloons can be set to appear when the mouse pointer passes over objects such as pits and pipes for which data has been entered. These can be switched on or off from the View ...
Pop-up (right mouse button) menus
You can open individual menus for the various system components drawn in the Main Window by clicking the right-hand mouse button while holding the pointer on the component (right-clicking). The menu appears near the component. Examples for a pit and ...
Main Window
When DRAINS begins operation it displays its Main Window. This is the place where details of drainage systems are entered graphically, on an x-y coordinate base. The background that appears in DRAINS models is a layer that is created from vector ...
Index sheet window
Here you will have a view of the total drawing space including the title blocks, which are fixed in the bottom right corner. A skeleton depiction of the drainage system will be shown, together with a rectangular 'mask' that can be moved around the ...
Extend Drawing Boundaries dialog box
This provides the opportunity of moving the boundaries and providing extra space in one of four directions, which you can choose on the dialog box. For example, if you choose Right and Bottom this moves the drawing in the opposite direction, creating ...
Dialog box, property sheet
These are windows containing text boxes into which data can be entered and selection boxes and buttons of various types enabling options to be selected. When opening up a new dialog box or property sheet, most text boxes are likely to be blank and ...
Crop Drawing Boundaries dialog box
This provides the opportunity of reducing the boundaries in one of four directions, which you can choose on the dialog box. For example, if you choose Left and Bottom this moves the drawing in this direction, reducing available space at the bottom ...
Colour-coding
From mid-2015, DRAINS has adopted the following colours for pits and pipes: