You can Copy selected model objects to the Clipboard and then Paste them to another place of the same model, or transfer to another model. Doing this you can either preserve the original objects, or Cut them from the source model.
To invoke these commands choose the corresponding items from the Edit or context menu, or click the corresponding toolbar button, or press one of the keyboard shortcuts listed below.
The Copy/Cut operations are disabled when none of the model objects are selected. The Paste operation is disabled when the Clipboard does not contain geometric objects QuickField copied having invoked the Copy/Cut operation.
When you Paste one or several objects into a model, positioning of the pasted objects relative to each other remains the same as in the source model. If the target model is empty QuickField preserves the original coordinates of the pasted objects. Otherwise, to separate the pasted objects from the rest of the target model QuickField places them behind the right bound of the target model. This makes possible dragging of the objects to another position and preserves original object properties - labels and mesh spacing values.
The pasted objects remain selected after the operation. All other objects in the target model become unselected.
Keyboard shortcuts:
Copy CTRL+C
Cut CTRL+X
Paste CTRL+V
Here is the list of topics on Drag and Drop Editing discussed on this page:
What can be Done with Drag and Drop?
How to Start Dragging?
Defining the Exact Drop Position.
Visual Drag Effects.
Drag Modes and Drop Effects.
Canceling Drop.
Actions Performed on Drop.
Undo after Drag and Drop.
Dragging to Another View.
Dragging to Another Model.
You can move or copy any group of model objects - vertices, edges, and blocks - to another place on the model plane, or to another model opened by this or another instance of QuickField.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
First of all, find out which objects you want to drag and select them. If you do not know how to select model objects in QuickField, look here
Place the mouse pointer over one of selected objects and press any mouse button. The shape of the cursor and the color of the selected objects will change.
Note: Placing the pointer over selection might be difficult when the selected set of objects does not contain blocks and snap to grid option is on. In such case we suggest you to place the pointer over one of the vertices you are going to drag.
Keep in mind that if you press a mouse button with the pointer outside of selection, QuickField, instead of dragging, initiates rubberband selection. In such case the shape of the cursor and the color of selected objects does not change when you press the mouse button down.
The difference between dragging with left and right mouse buttons is described in Actions Performed on Drop.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
When you press a mouse button with pointer over the selection QuickField displays the bright red dot close to the current pointer position. This dot indicates the so-called anchor point that helps to set the exact position of the copied or moved objects after drop.
In the beginning the exact position of the dot depends on:
the distance between the pointer and the nearest model vertex; and
the distance between the pointer and the nearest background grid node, unless the snap to grid option is off
In particular, when you press the mouse button with the mouse pointer over a model vertex QuickField always positions the anchor at the same point.
When you drag the objects the anchor point is also dragged. QuickField keeps displaying it as a bright red dot. The dragged anchor always coincides with one of the model vertices or, unless the snap to grid option is off, with one of the background grid nodes. You can see the coordinates of the dragged anchor point in the status bar.
After the drop QuickField calculates the difference between initial and final anchor positions and shifts all dragged objects exactly for the length of that vector.
Example: Suppose that you want to move a group of model objects containing the point with coordinates (a, b). After the move the new coordinates of the point should be (c, d). Here is the sequence of required actions:
If there is no vertex at (a, b), add it choosing Add Nodes from the Edit menu and entering the coordinates in the dialog.
If there is no vertex at (c, d), add it in the same way.
Select the objects to move including the vertex at (a, b).
Place mouse pointer over this vertex and press the left button. You will see the anchor at (a, b).
Drag the objects until the anchor coincides with the vertex at (c, d) and release the mouse. The first vertex will be moved exactly to (c, d).
Delete one or both of the created vertices (in most cases, the first vertex will not exist after move) if you no longer need them.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
To help you drag and drop the objects correctly QuickField provides visual feedback consisting of:
the dragged anchor position indicated by the bright red dot and its coordinates in the status bar;
the shape of the cursor;
the rubberband representation of the dragged edges;
the status message telling how to change the drag mode.
Using of the anchor is described in Defining the Exact Drop Position.
The shape of the cursor reflects your choice between moving and copying of the objects. The Copy cursor displayed by QuickField shows the plus sign ('+') while the Move cursor does not. As usual, the cursor displayed over the places where drop is not allowed looks like the "No Parking" sign.
The rubberband always contains all of the edges that will be moved or copied to another position upon Drop. When you move connected objects the rubberband also contains the connecting edges.
Note: the rubberband does not contain any of selected isolated vertices. This does not mean that these vertices will not be moved or copied. When isolated vertices constitute the whole selection, the only things that move during drag are the cursor and the anchor.
When you change the drag mode the rubberband feedback and the shape of the cursor are changed appropriately.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
Dragging of model objects can be performed in different modes. The drag mode used immediately before the drop defines the actions performed by QuickField.
Drag mode is defined by:
the mouse button you keep pressed while dragging; and
the state of CTRL and ALT keyboard keys before the drop.
There is no way to change the mouse button in the middle of the drag - you press it at the beginning and release to perform the drop. On the other hand, you can change the state of CTRL and ALT keyboard keys at any moment.
Note: If you drag with right mouse button make sure that the ALT key is released before the drop. If you release the right mouse button with the ALT key pressed QuickField will do nothing.
To get the specific drop effect choose the drag mode according to the following rules:
To choose the required action from the displayed context menu drag with right mouse button and keep control keys released before the drop.
To move the objects inside the same model preserving connections between the moved and the stationary parts drag with left mouse button and keep control keys released before the drop.
To move the objects inside the same model breaking connections between the moved and the stationary parts drag with left mouse button and press ALT before the drop.
To copy the objects inside the same model drag with left mouse button and press CTRL before the drop.
To copy the objects to another model drag with left mouse button and keep control keys released before the drop.
To move the objects to another model drag with left mouse button and press ALT keeping CTRL released before the drop. QuickField cannot preserve connections between different models.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
To cancel drop either press the ESC key on the keyboard or click the alternate mouse button before drop. Besides that, drag will not be started if you release the pressed button without moving the mouse. In the latter case QuickField proceeds as if you performed the corresponding mouse click.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
Depending on the drag mode used at the drop moment QuickField chooses the action from the following list:
Moving the dragged objects preserving their connections with the rest of the model; or
Moving the dragged objects breaking their connections with the rest of the model; or
Copying the dragged objects.
If you dragged with the right mouse button, QuickField displays the context menu with available drop actions and waits for your choice. Besides the actions listed above this menu contains the Cancel option. If you close the menu without choosing any item, QuickField does nothing.
If you dragged with the left mouse button, QuickField defines the required action depending on the last drag mode used before the drop. The correspondence between the drag modes and the actions performed after drop is described in Drag Modes and Drop Effects.
The effects of drag-copying are the same as if you invoked the Duplicate command for the selected objects shifting the copies together with the anchor point.
The effects of drag-moving are sometimes different from the similar Move operation. Here are the main differences:
The Move operation never moves objects from one model to another. Drag-moving can move objects to another model breaking the connections with the stationary part of the source model.
The Move operation does not allow to change model topology - it does not allow to move vertices to the other blocks, or to create intersections. Drag-moving inside the same model does not have any limitations.
The Move operation always preserves such object properties as labels. Drag-moving might cause labels to change
See also Dragging to Another Model.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
QuickField Model Editor performs Undo/Redo operations on per-model basis. It maintains separate stack of model states for every model and, when you request Undo or Redo, restores the state of the model before or after the corresponding operation.
If several model windows are opened simultaneously, Model Editor performs Undo/Redo for the model displayed in the active window. To make another window active, click anywhere inside it. Click scrollbar if you do not want to change the current selection set of the model.
Drag and Drop differs from other Model Editor operations in that it might relate to two different models at once. When you drag a group of items moving them from one model to the other QuickField changes both the source and the target models. In such case, if you decide to Undo the effects of the whole operation, you would have to perform Undo for both of involved models. If you decide to Undo the effects only on the one of the models, be careful and before starting Undo check which of the model windows is active at the moment.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
In some cases moving model objects could be quite inconvenient. For example, this would be the case when you need to move or copy relatively small objects across relatively large spaces. It is impossible simultaneously select the small source objects and fit the target place inside the window.
This inconvenience could be easily eliminated with Drag and Drop between different views of the same model. Try the following:
Open the second window for the same model choosing New Window from Window Menu.
Arrange the windows so that both are visible.
Zoom In the first window on the source objects. Select those objects you want to move or copy.
Zoom In the second window on the target place.
Drag the selected objects from the first to the second window.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
There are several things that make dragging to another model slightly different from that where the source and the target models are one. Here is the short list of the differences:
You cannot move objects to another model preserving connections between the moved and the stationary parts of the source model.
Move is the default operation (the operation performed on drop with released control keys) when you drag inside the same model; Copy is the default when you drag to another model.
To undo the effects of Move to another model you would have to perform Undo twice - once for each of the involved models.
Both Move and Copy to another model might cause the target problem to become incompletely defined. This is caused by the fact that Model Editor automatically adds all missing labels associated with the moved/copied objects to the target model, but fails to copy the corresponding label definitions from the source to the target data file.
Both Move and Copy to another model might make the target coordinates of an object different from its source coordinates. This is the case when the source and the target models use different length units. Copying/moving objects to another model Model Editor preserves the real-world sizes, for example, the source length of 1 m becomes 100 cm when the source model uses meters and the target model uses centimeters as their length units.
Return to Drag and Drop Topics.
Related Topics
Copying and Moving Geometric Objects
Deleting Geometric Objects
Selecting Geometric Objects