The ribbon provides controls that help you find tools you need to complete a task.
Tabs
At the top of the ribbon are a series of tabs containing relevant tools in groups. Tabs are loaded when selecting from the workflows available in the Quick Access Toolbar.
File Tab and Backstage View
In the left most ribbon tab are a series of tools and settings dialogs typically associated with items found previously in the File, Workspace, and Help menus.
Key-in:
RIBBON
BACKSTAGE
<
OPEN
|
CLOSE
>
Groups
Within each tab are groups containing tools relevant to tasks implied by the tab.
Panels
Panels are containers for grouping buttons. For example, Mstn.View.Rotation2D.Panel and Mstn.View.Rotation3D.Panel in the delivered ribbon group. Panels can be stacked horizontally within a vertical panel so the buttons they contain are shown in rows. This is what is used in <Space> ribbon group pop-up.
Split Buttons
Split buttons contain a set of tools in a drop-down list. There is also an icon of the active tool on the left side of the drop-down arrow. Clicking the icon activates that particular tool. If you select any other tool from the drop-down list, the selected tool replaces the active tool.
Drop-down Button
Drop-down buttons just contain a set of tools in the drop-down list.
Tools or Buttons
Within each group are tool or button icons. Selecting one opens the associated tool settings window or dialog.
In-Ribbon Galleries
In-Ribbon galleries display a graphical collection of related items in the ribbon. For example, the Material gallery () displays different materials. You can click the desired material in the gallery to select it. If there are many items in the gallery, you can also scroll through the gallery or expand the gallery to display the rest of the collection in the expanded pane.
Material ribbon gallery
Expanded Material ribbon gallery
Dialog Launchers
At the lower right side of certain groups are small buttons that open dialogs relevant to the tools in the group. These are typically settings dialogs.
For instance, the Dimension Styles dialog can be opened with the dialog launcher in the Dimensioning group.
Enhanced Tooltips
Positioning the pointer over ribbon items like tools and dialog launchers displays the enhanced tooltips that display the item name along with a short description.
Resize Groups
The ribbon automatically resizes groups as the application window is resized.
Group Pop-up Menus
Right-clicking on a group lists the tools that are available in the in the group. The tools that are displayed in the group have a check mark. You can show/hide the tools by toggling the selection of the tool in the pop-up menu. If the group contains split buttons, the tools in the split buttons are listed as sub-menus in the pop-up menu. You can show/hide tools in these sub-menus as well. For further details, refer to the topic
Pop-up Menus on Tabs and Groups.
Ribbon Search
Ribbon search is an easier way to find tools or dialogs across multiple tabs and workflows of the ribbon. For further details, see Ribbon Search.
Minimize the Ribbon
Clicking minimizes the ribbon. You can expand the ribbon by clicking the same icon again.
Access Help
Clicking opens the AECOsim Building Designer help.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are shortcuts to specific groups or tools in the ribbon. The product supports multi-level keyboard shortcuts. Depending on the key-ins assigned, the tools, ribbon group pop-ups, or pop-up menus are displayed. The keyboard shortcuts can be created, modified, or deleted in the Keyboard
Shortcuts dialog (
).
The default keyboard shortcut for
<Space> key contains tools as well as shortcuts for different ribbon groups.
The keyboard shortcuts
<Q> or
<[> open the quick tools menu. This pop-up menu contains shortcuts to frequently used tools and ribbon group-pop-ups.
Left - Pop-up menu displayed when you press <Q> | Right - Pop-up menu displayed when you press <[>
For example, you can press <QW> to start the Move Element tool.
Another ribbon group pop-up is that of the View tools. It displays the frequently used tools from the View tab. It is displayed when you press
<Shift> and right-click in the view window.
Note: You can also use keytips for ribbon group pop-ups that display when you enter a keyboard shortcut. With the ribbon group displayed at the pointer position, if you press
<Alt>, the keytips for the tools in the group are displayed. The keytip for an individual tool is also displayed when you hover the pointer over the tool in the ribbon group pop-up.
Note: When
Use Position Mapping (Preferences dialog, Position Mapping category) is turned on, a keystroke is first sent to
position mapping for processing. If it is processed there, then subsequent position mapping action takes place. However, if the keystroke is not mapped to position mapping, like the
<Space> key, it is processed as a keyboard shortcut.
Keytips
Keytips are small keyboard tips that indicate which key to press to access a tab or a tool in the ribbon. The following steps explain how to use the keytips:
- With the input focus in Home position, press <F2> to see the keytips for tabs and the Quick Access Toolbar.
- To access the keytips of tools within some other tab, press the keytip for the respective tab after pressing <F2>. For example, to view the keytips for the tools in the Analyze tab, first press <F2> and then <Z>.
- To access the keytips of the tools in the currently displayed tab, press <F3>.
- Press the keytip of the desired tool to activate it. For example, press <TT> to activate the Place Text tool.