Adding and Selecting Items - Alternate Method.

• Adding items.
• Selecting items.
• Keys.

In previous chapters you were shown how to add items using the Unit Toolbars, and to select items by left-clicking on them whilst in "Drag and Drop" mode. Described below are alternate methods for adding and selecting items. These should be considered as advanced methods, and you should be familiar with the methods described in previous chapters.

The methods covered below work in all room systems.

In Adding Your Units you were shown how to create items using the Unit Toolbars. There is a second method for adding items where you type in a code into the Select Box at the top of the design screen. With practice many users find this method quicker, especially for drawing the Walls layer of your design.

NOTE - you should be familiar with using the Unit Toolbars before attempting to use the code method.

Entering a code.

Codes are entered into the Select Box at the top of the design screen.

The Select Box is to the left of the Select... Button. Type the code into the box and press "Return" or "Enter" on your keyboard to create the item.

Before entering a code the Select Box must be empty i.e. you cannot have an item selected.

Codes can be entered in upper or lower case.

ArtiCAD will not accept an invalid code. You will be unable to add any other items until the incorrect code is removed from the Select Box.

Codes.

Every item in ArtiCAD has a code. There are two ways of finding the code.

• hover your mouse over the Unit Toolbar button for that item. The code appears in capitals after the description e.g "Tall Oven Housing - TO" - "TO" is the code you would enter in the Select Box.
• using the search dialog (as covered in Adding Units - Searching, the code appears in the " Unit Code" column.

It is also possible to specify the width of the item using the code. In the Walls layer, "A" is the code for an archway. Entering "A" on it's own will create an arch using the default width (1000). "1200A" will create and arch 1200 wide. "950D" will create a 950 wide door.

Default items for the selected layer.

Within each layer there is a default item - an item that does not need a code, you only need enter a size.

In the Walls layer, entering "1000" will create a 1000 wide wall. In Kitchen Base Units, entering "600" will create a 600 wide regular base cabinet.

Room System	Layer	Default Item
Kitchen	Walls	Wall
	Base Units	Ordinary base unit
	Wall Units	Ordinary wall unit
Bathroom	Walls	Wall
	Base Units	Space
	Wall Units	Wall unit
Bedroom & Studies	Walls	Wall
	Base Units	Space
	Wall Units	Space

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In Drag and Drop you were shown how to select items using the mouse. There are a few situations where it is not possible to use the mouse to select items.

• certain wall components (turn, back, rotate, join).
• when you are in a 3D view.
• items that have been mistakenly entered with a width of zero.

You can use the keyboard to select items. Pressing the left-arrow (usually to the bottom-right of your keyboard) will select the item added before the currently selected item. Pressing the right-arrow selects the item added after.

In the above image, pushing the left-arrow would select the L-shaped corner base, pushing the right arrow would select the 800 wide drawer pack.

IMPORTANT - items are listed in the order they were added to the design, not the order they appear on the design.

You can change the layer you are in by pushing the up-arrow or down-arrow keys. For example, if you were in the Base Units layer, pushing the up-arrow would change to the Walls layer, pushing the down-arrow would change to the Wall Units layer.

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