Watch Window Options

Right-clicking a watch window will present a context menu contain- ing a number of options for changing how data is represented and displayed. These options are discussed below.

 

Data Representation

Coordinate System

Watch windows can display data in one of three coordinate system types: Cartesian, Cylindrical, or Spherical. In the cylindrical/spherical case, the XY axes of the coordinate frame define the θ plane. In the spherical case, the Z axis of the coordinate frame defines the φ=0 direction. Values will therefore be displayed in either of 3 ways relative to the current reporting frame:

 

Angular Display Mode

Angular rotation values can be reported in several display modes when full frame to frame transformation information is displayed.

 

Precision

The number of decimal places used to display watch window data can be controlled. Depending on the necessary accuracy and the user’s tolerance for quickly-changing values, the default values may provide too much precision (revealing noise and resulting in quickly- changing numbers) or too little (yielding insufficient detail for the required accuracy).

By default, SA uses the default length and angle precision set in the User Options. However, you can use any preferred precision. The options when changing decimal precision are as follows:

 

Projection Options

The projection options for a point-based watch window are shown here:

The projection options for a watch window on a surface or object are built upon the query controls here: Projection Options

The frame of reference can also be adjusted. Frame of Reference

Vector tolerances can also be applied. Vector Tolerances

 

Item Visibility

Showing / Hiding Rows

Individual rows in a watch window can be shown or hidden. For instance, if you are only interested in adjusting the XY position of a feature, you can remove the Z component from the window to prevent confusion and simplify the display.

Row entry visibility is controlled using the provided set of check box- es. Only the checked options will be displayed when the watch window properties dialog is closed.

 

Background Window

Background Color

The Background color button provides the ability to set the color of the watch window in Solid Color display mode such that it can be set to any color needed to help in visualization.

Transparency

Watch windows can be made transparent, so that their backgrounds are invisible. The window border can also be made partially transparent. This allows you to see what’s going on in the graphical view while a watch window is being displayed across the entire screen.

To enable background transparency select the radio button in the properties dialog and use the Transparency Level control to adjust the window border transparency.

 

Text Controls

Font

Watch windows can be displayed in a custom font. You can change the font and style. (Although you can change the font size, this setting is ignored and the size of the window itself is used for determining text size).

Text Color

You can change the text color for the watch window on a row-by-row basis.

Highlight Color

If a prescribed tolerance for a watch window is exceeded, the out-of- tolerance values will be highlighted. You can control the color used for this highlight.

 

Arrow Settings

When a watch window is displayed that is comparing to another entity, arrows are displayed in the graphical view as a way to visualize the deviations. You can control how these arrows are depicted using the options in the Watch Window Settings dialog

 

Graphical Guide

The graphical guide option are described here: Graphical Guide

 

Setting a Zero Reference

The X, Y or Z components in a watch window can be zero’d with respect to a particular reference position. To do so, place the reflector in the desired location and double click on the window to bring up the selection control. An offset reference can be added to any or all of the axes.

Once set, a display “OS: ###” will be added to the offset row so that this offset is clearly marked. To remove it, simply double click again and uncheck the corresponding zero component box.

 

UDP Network Transmit

The UDP Network Transmit controls are described here: