i try to go back to an existing text and use MOVE to change the position of the arrow. how can i do this ?
currently i have to create a whole new text and delete the old one… not good.
thx!
The Move tool will move the block of Text, leaving the arrowhead where you first placed it.
Use the Text tool to move the existing Text’s arrowhead.
Click the text/leader near the arrowhead and drag it to a new location.
To do this you need to use the Text tool itself, not the Move tool.
Click the Text tool at the tip of the existing leader arrow … and if you’re in luck, it grabs the arrow, while it automatically changes to the Move tool.
It’s a fiddly maneuver that doesn’t always work the first time, or the second time, or the third…
When it fails to work, hit Escape and try again. Orbiting to get a different view tends to help.
I find it’s easier/quicker to edit the existing text and copy all of it to the clipboard.
Then create a new Text entity and simply paste in the text from the clipboard.
Erase the old one when finished.
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thanks Both!
yes very finicky indeed. and not at all obvious that the text tool switches to the move operation
one other thing… i could swear i used to be able to view my model without all the text obscuring the view… now i cant remember how i did that… is there a simple optoin to NOTview texts/leader lines/dimensions , etc. ?
thx
Save your file with all text, dimensions and leader lines on a layer. You can then toggle the visibility on or off as you like.
thx… but does that risk screwing things up later as i will lose track of which text applies to which components/groups/entities that are layer 0 ?
Creating a scene with hidden text is a solution if multiple layers are being used. Here is an easy way to wrangle up all the text (also works for dimensions through the same process)
Click below to watch .gif
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You will need to manage your information. You should never put anything but raw geometry on layer 0. You would designate a layer with a meaningful name to receive all of your text, dimension and leader line info. I would think this information will not be prone to a lot of change once you set it (maybe dimensions will change during the design process). But even if something changes as you work, it seems to be a very simple matter to simply edit the information. You only need to be concerned about the layer’s visibility and you can easily control that thru the use of scenes./
thanks. you have different tools bars than I do but i can see where i can select all text in the model info window HOWEVER if my model has several layers of nested components, is there an easy way to select all the text on all the levels.
i tried to explode the whole model… but that only seems to explode 1 down.
If you place your text, dimensions and leader lines on a single layer, let’s call it TEXT, you can access all text at one time by toggling this layer named TEXT on or off. Any component of which your text may be a part is not relevant if the text is made a part of the TEXT layer; this is true regardless of nested levels because the layer does not isolate geometry, it simply controls the visibility of all objects placed in the layer. All parts of a component need not exist within the same layer.
In addition to the Model Info box that @Wade points out, you should experiment with the Entity Info Panel and the Layers Dialogue Box to control how this information is seen. You may be making this harder than it needs to be.
This thread has given me some tips that I have found very useful. I, too, was having trouble moving leaders around and I, too, was resorting to just clipping the text and creating a new leader.
One task that was tripping me up was how to create a new leader that pointed to the same place as an existing leader. Eventually I noticed the selection indications.
If I use the Text tool to point at an Endpoint that already has a leader and the existing text is highlighted as selected, then I’ll be using the Text tool to manipulate the existing leader.
If I can find a place on the screen where the Endpoint shows as selected, but not the existing text, then I can add a new leader pointing to the same Endpoint.
Obvious, after I figured it out. Frustrating when it would sometimes work and sometimes not because I wasn’t paying enough attention.
thanks for the tip.