Help in the program

LuaCAD explains itself where you are working. Every plug-in uses the same kinds of help:

Whatever you dismissed, you get back in the LuaCAD settings.

#Getting started

Goal: get to know a palette page field by field.

1. Open a page of the palette. If it has cards, the card appears to the left of the palette, and a highlight frame in the color of the plug-in points to the field in question.
2. Next goes to the next field, Back one step back; at the last step the button is called Finish.
3. More in the online help opens the same page in detail in this help (only if there is a section for it).
4. Finish or the close button closes the card. Without the check box it does not come back by itself in this session, but it does at the next start of GstarCAD.

The card stays usable even while a dialog box or an insertion help is open. It closes by itself when you choose another plug-in or no drawing is open any more.

#Insertion help

Goal: see before a workflow at the cursor what the clicks do – before the first click counts.

1. Start a workflow that does not explain itself – such as Insert a pipe, breaking a part into a pipe, Connect or picking an opening. This applies to the palette button and to the typed command.
2. Before the first click the window appears: on the left the picture with numbered clicks, on the right a lead sentence and at most four steps with the same numbers. Keys are named in the text ("Z", "Spacebar"); the bar at the cursor then shows which ones apply.
3. Close, Enter, Esc or the close button close the help – the workflow starts anyway. The next time you start the function it comes again.
4. Online help opens the same workflow in detail in this help (only if there is a page for it).
5. Only the check box Don't show again hides this one help; all others keep coming.

Viewing without a workflow: the "i" of the palette page lists the insertion help of this page ("Insertion help: Insert pipe"). A click shows the window without a command – even if the help is hidden; the check box then shows whether it still comes by itself. Clear the check box and close = it comes again.

#The "i" of a page, a dialog box and a row

Goal: learn in one sentence what a page, a dialog box or a field does.

1. Page: the "i" in the title bar of the palette, to the left of the gear menu. A click shows the name of the page, a short sentence and the explanation; below it, where available, Show step by step (the Getting started cards), one Insertion help: … per insertion help of this page and More in the online help. A page without an explanation has no "i".
2. Dialog box: a short sentence with an "i" at the top of the dialog box; a click shows the explanation and below it More in the online help if there is a section for it.
3. Row or field: the "i" next to the label or the title of a section. If a value comes from a setting, the "i" also tells you where to change it.

If the "i" says that more options are available with a right-click, the list or field has a shortcut menu.

#Opening the online help

The help opens in the browser. Without an internet connection the page stays empty – nothing is lost in LuaCAD.

#Switching notices back on

Everything you switched off with Don't show again, Remember answer or don't ask again is in one place: LuaCAD tab › Info › LuaCAD settings, on the right Notices and prompts.

Everything applies at once. Check boxes you can see in the palette or in an options dialog box (such as "Dialog box before inserting") are not in the list – switch them there. Reset to default settings, area "Notices, prompts and Getting started", resets everything at once (see Default settings).

#Example: switching a dismissed help back on

Goal: get the insertion help for "Insert pipe" in Piping 3D back after you checked "Don't show again".

1. Ribbon › LuaCAD tab › Info ribbon panel › LuaCAD settings.
2. On the right under Notices and prompts there is the row "Piping 3D: insertion help "Insert pipe"" (the title of the help, as it also appears at the top of the help window) – next to it Switch on again.
3. At the bottom it says that 1 notice was switched on again and that it applies immediately; the row is gone.
4. Check that under Getting started and insertion help the check box for Piping 3D is set – otherwise no help comes.
5. Close; in the Piping 3D palette click Insert: the help with the picture comes again before the first click.

#Issues list

Goal: see what a workflow built although it should not be like that – and find the places.

The list only appears if there is at least one issue – after Generate 3D in Piping 3D, with Check risers and as a list for selecting with Divide objects across levels. After assigning, Drainage 3D shows its own result, with the same "Don't show again" switch.

1. The list appears at the bottom right of the GstarCAD screen and stays open while you keep working. At the top a sentence, below it the groups Errors (red dot – usually an adjustment is needed) and Notices (orange dot – information), each with its count.
2. Show or a click on the row: the view goes to the place, the parts are highlighted, a sphere marks the place. If the place is in another drawing, that drawing is opened or made active. The drawing never changes.
3. A second workflow replaces the content of the open list.
4. Close removes the highlight and the sphere. If you close the drawing or GstarCAD, the list closes too.

Don't show again (only in the list after assigning): the plug-in no longer shows the list; the command line still names the issues and tells you how to get it back. On again: gear menu › Options › Show list after assigning or LuaCAD settings › Notices and prompts.