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Figure 12 |
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Figure 13 |
Text annotation objects are placed using 2D coordinates where the X, and Y values are in the range [0,1]. The point (0,0) corresponds to the lower left corner of the visualization window and the point (1,1) corresponds to the upper right of the visualization window. The 2D coordinate used to position the text annotation matches the text annotation's lower left corner. To position a text annotation object, enter a new 2D coordinate into the Lower left text field. You can also click the down arrow next to the Lower left text field to interactively choose a new lower left coordinate for the text annotation using the screen positioning control, which represents the visualization window. The screen positioning control, shown in figure, lets you move a set of cross-hairs to any point on a square area that represents the visualization window. Once you release the left mouse button, the location of the cross-hairs is used as the new coordinate for the text annotation object's lower left corner.
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Figure 14 |
To set the text that a text annotation object displays, type a new string into the Text text field. You can make the text annotation object display any characters that you type in but you can also use the $time wildcard string to make the text annotation object display the time for the current time state of the active database. A text string of the form: Time=$time will display Time=10 in the visualization window when the active database's time is 10. Whatever text you enter for the text annotation object is used to identify the text annotation object in the Annotation objects list.
Text annotation objects can be displayed in any color, including the visualization window's foreground color. You can also set the opacity for text annotation objects to make them transparent. If you want to set the color for a text annotation object, you must first turn off the Use foreground color check box. Once that check box is turned off, the text annotation uses the color that you pick for it instead of the visualization window's foreground color. To change the color for a text annotation object, click the Text color button and choose a new color from the Popup color menu. To change the opacity, use the opacity slider next to the Text color button.
In addition to being able to set the position, size, message, and color for the text annotation object, you can also choose from 3 different fonts (Arial, Courier, and Times) and set certain font display properties such as bold, italic, and shadow.