Edit Menu

General procedures for using the Copy, Cut, and Paste features

NOTE: the Dasher clipboard is not the same thing as the Windows clipboard.  Thus information cannot be moved from one application to another using this method.

  1. Position the cursor or mouse pointer on the cell that will be the upper-left-hand cell of the area you wish to copy or cut.
  2. Hold down a shift key.
  3. Click and drag with the mouse (or use the keyboard arrow keys) to highlight the area you wish to copy or cut.
  4. Once the area is highlighted, release the mouse button while the shift key is still depressed (if using a mouse to do this).
  5. Release the shift key and the area should stay highlighted.
  6. Hit the CTRL+C (copy) or CTRL+X (cut) keys (or go to the Edit menu and select Copy or Cut)  (or right click and select Copy or Cut from the menu that appears) to get this part of the grid on the Dasher clipboard.  Note that the highlighted area will not be highlighted after this operation.
  7. Position the cursor or mouse pointer on the cell that will be the upper-left-hand cell of the area you will be pasting.
  8. Hit CTRL+V or select Edit/Paste (you can right click and select Paste from the menu that appears to bypass step 9).
  9. The status bar will prompt you to click in the cell that will be the upper-left-hand corner of the block your are pasting.
  10. If there isn't enough room to paste the information onto the grid (i.e. not enough columns or rows) Dasher will let you know.
  11. You can paste the information as many times as you'd like (making it easy to create patterns)

 

 

NOTE:  In all of the following instructions when you are instructed to click on a column to select it do not click on the column header row (the one that contains the timing of the column).  Click instead on one of the rows below the header row.

Insert column(s) (Ctrl+I)

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the column where you want the new columns to be inserted.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the where you want the last column to be inserted.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear to confirm the number of columns to be inserted.  If Yes is selected all the existing columns will be moved to the right and new columns will be inserted where specified.

The new columns' timing is based on the column directly to the left of where the columns were inserted.  Each new column is spaced out at 00:00.05 intervals.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Delete column(s) (Ctrl+D)

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the starting column to be deleted.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the ending column to be deleted.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear to confirm the number of columns to be deleted.  If Yes is selected all of the existing columns between the two selected columns will be deleted (including the two selected columns.  Left over columns to the right of the deleted columns will be moved to the left and the grid will be shortened.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Add column(s)

Presents a box asking you to type in the number of columns you wish to add to the right end of the grid.  New columns are incremented at 00:00.50 intervals based on the timing of the last column.

You may press the ESCape key to cancel this operation.

Add time

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the starting column of the range of columns where you want to add time.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the ending column of the range of columns where you want to add time.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear, asking you to type in an amount of time to add to the selected columns (see the Settings menu for valid time formats).  Once the time is entered click OK to complete the operation.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Subtract time

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the starting column of the range of columns where you want to subtract time.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the ending column of the range of columns where you want to subtract time.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear, asking you to type in an amount of time to subtract from the selected columns (see the Settings menu for valid time formats).  Once the time is entered click OK to complete the operation.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Timing change (interval)

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the starting column of the range of columns where you want change the timings.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the ending column of the range of columns where you want to change the timings.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear, asking you to type in an amount of time to increment each column within the range (see the Settings menu for valid time formats).  Once the time is entered click OK to complete the operation.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Timing change (percent)

When selected you will be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the starting column of the range of columns where you want change the timings.  Once this column is selected you will again be prompted by a message in the status bar to click on the ending column of the range of columns where you want to change the timings.  Once this is done a dialog box will appear, asking you to select whether you wish to add to or subtract from the existing timings and by what amount (expressed as a percentage of the existing timing).  Once your choices have been made click OK to complete the operation.

You may press the ESCape key or select another menu option to cancel this operation.

Box change (Ctrl+B)

Presents a box asking you to type in the number of control boxes you have connected to the computer.  Each control box you have will add 8 rows to the grid.  Here you can decrease the number of control boxes (and thus rows) the grid has, keep it the same, or increase it.  Keep in mind that the more control boxes you have the longer it takes various grid operations to complete.  If you choose to decrease the number of control boxes, the data contained in the deleted rows is lost.  If you choose to increase the number of control boxes, the additional control boxes will be added at the bottom of the grid and existing data will not be affected.

Select current column

Selects or turns on all the cells in the column in the control grid where the cursor is.

Unselect current column

Unselects or turns off all the cells in the column in the control grid where the cursor is.

Select current row

Selects or turns on all the cells in the row in the control grid where the cursor is.

Unselect current row

Unselects or turns off all the cells in the row in the control grid where the cursor is.

Clear grid (Ctrl+G)

Selecting this will clear the entire contents of the grid (does not include column timings or row label information).  User confirmation is required if changes have been made and not saved.

Resize columns

Presents a dialog box asking you to type in the width you want all grid columns to have.  The value presented in the dialog box is what the columns are currently set at.  Enter a value and click OK to complete this operation.

Resize rows

Presents a dialog box asking you to type in the height you want all grid rows to have.  The value presented in the dialog box is what the rows are currently set at.  Enter a value and click OK to complete this operation.

Reset column and row sizes (Ctrl+R)

This will reset all column and row sizes to their default values.

Select audio file

Dasher opens a file selection window and allows you to select a valid audio file.  Note that one can change the type of files you're looking for by changing the "File Type:" drop down box located directly under the Filename field.

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