Chapter 6: Advanced Editing
plug
6-8: Text
6-8-2: Selecting Text
plug


The only category of text that is not selectable is the text that is integral to a node's graphics (i.e. the Flip-Flop). For the rest, you can select and manipulate the text just as you would the object on which the text resides. (Note that port names on cell instances are not selectable: instead, select their export name inside of the cell definition.)

Note that the name of an unexpanded cell instance is not easily selectable. This is a feature that prevents accidental selection of unimportant text. For these hard-to-select pieces of text, the only way to select them is to use special select mode (see section 2-1-5).

All text is attached to its node, arc, or cell at an anchor-point. This is the one point on the text that never moves, regardless of the size of the text. The highlighting of selected text varies according to the anchor-point. Typically, the highlighting consists of an "X" through the text. This indicates that the anchor-point is in the center. If a "U" is drawn in any of four orientations, it indicates that the anchor-point is on the side and that the text grows out of the opened end. If an "L" is drawn in any of four orientations, it indicates that the anchor-point is in a corner.
Figure 6.13

Besides these 9 anchor points, there is one more special type of anchor called boxed. Boxed text has a centered anchor point, but is limited in size to a particular box. It appears as an "X" but also has four lines that indicate the edge of the box. Boxed text is typically used on unexpanded cell instance names so that the text does not exceed the size of the instance.

Figure 6.22
Note that text can be moved away from its attached node or arc. If this has been done, then selection of the text will also indicate the attached component by drawing a dashed line to it.


Prev Previous     Contents Table of Contents     Next Next