Manipulating Surfaces Using the Compass

This task explains how to move and translate surfaces independently from any other element in the document using the compass.

Open the Manipulate1.CATPart document.

  1. Click the Select icon and select the surface you wish to move.

  2. Point to the compass manipulation handle (the red square located on the privileged plane at the base of the compass).
    The cursor shape changes to a cross.

  3. Drag and drop the compass over the surface you wish to move about.
    The compass now is displayed in green.
 

Make sure you choose to display the bounding box using the Display manipulation bounding box option from the Tools > Options > General > Display dialog box, Navigation tab to display the whole bounding box as shown below, not just the compass over the geometry.

  1. Move the pointer over any bounding box boundary, and drag the surface where you wish to move it.

  1. Pull along a horizontal axis to slide the surface to the right or to the left.

  1. Similarly you can pull along a vertical axis to move the surface up or down.
    The displacement distance is displayed as you move the surface around.

  1. Release the mouse-key.
    The surface has moved to a new location.
For further details and general manipulation tasks refer to the Infrastructure User's Guide: Manipulating Viewpoints Using the Mouse and Compass and Manipulating Objects Using the Mouse and Compass.