Useful functions

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Useful functions

StarBoard Software has several useful accessories:

Protractor
Ruler
Spotlight
Stopwatch
Screen Capture
Screen Recorder
Screen Block
Compass
Screen Keyboard

Also, applications installed on your computer can be added as external accessories:

Adding external applications as accessories

Protractor

Select Accessories - Protractor from the Tools menu.
The protractor is displayed on the screen.

Drag / to adjust the size of the protractor.
Drag to rotate the protractor.
Drag to point to the area you want to measure. The angle will be displayed in the white box.
If you wish to draw a straight line along the angle guides, start dragging the pointer along the angle guides (the pointer will change to a pen, as shown in the picture below).
The line will snap to the angle guide.
To exit the protractor, select .

Note: The protractor will snap into position onto any objects.
With the Snap to Grid Lines setting ON, the protractor will snap into position on the grid.

Ruler

Select Accessories - Ruler from the Tools menu.
The ruler is displayed on the screen.

Drag / to adjust the size of the ruler.
Drag to rotate the ruler.
Drag to point to the area you want to measure. The length between the two adjustable measuring lines will be displayed in the white box.
If you wish to draw a straight line along the ruler, start dragging the pointer on the area above the top edge of the ruler (the pointer will change to a pen, as shown in the picture below).
The line will snap to the edge.
Note: If you continue drawing, the line will stop at the end of the ruler.
To exit the ruler, select .

Note: The ruler will snap into position onto any objects.
With the Snap to Grid Lines setting ON, the ruler will snap into position on the grid.

Spotlight
It is possible to display only a portion of the screen, which can be enlarged.

Select Accessories - Spotlight from the Tools menu.
The screen goes into the spotlight mode and the Spotlight dialog box is displayed.
Change the settings if necessary.
- Shape : Sets the shape of the spotlight (Circle or Square).
- Zoom : Sets the enlargement ratio (from x1 to x3).
- Size : Sets the size of the area of the spotlight.
- Brightness : Sets the brightness of areas not under the spotlight.
To exit the spotlight mode, select Exit on the dialog box.

Stopwatch
The stopwatch has both a count up and countdown function.

Select Accessories - Stopwatch from the Tools menu.
The stopwatch is displayed on the screen.

/:	Allows the countdown time to be set by using the buttons to the right of the timer.
Start/Stop:	Starts/stops the stopwatch.
Reset/Clear:	Resets the timer to its original value.
Config:	The following settings are available. Keep the dialog box on top of other applications. Pop-up when the timer expires. Change the stopwatch display. Play sound when the timer expires.
Exit:	Exits the stopwatch.

While it is running, the stopwatch can be minimized. The stopwatch will continue running and displays the time in the Taskbar (Windows):

Screen Capture
Contents shown on the screen can be captured.

Select Accessories - Screen Capture from the Tools menu.
The screen capture accessory is displayed on the screen.
Click (Show Options), and change the option settings, if necessary.
- Timer : Sets the time until the capture begins.
- Settings : Sets the options for this feature.
  - Save as File : The captured image is saved with one of the following file extensions (.bmp, .jpg, .png, .tiff).
  - Half Size Image : Reduces the captured image to half size.
  - Continue Shooting : The screen capture accessory stays open after capturing the screen, and you can capture images continuously.
  - Automatic Paste : The captured image is automatically inserted into the end of the Whiteboard topic.
  - Invert Selection : Anything that is outside the selected area will be captured.
Select the capture button.
- (Desktop Capture) : Captures the entire desktop.
- (Window Capture) : Captures the selected window.
- (Drag-select Capture) : Captures the rectangular area specified with the Pen.
- (Freehand Capture) : Captures the area surrounded by a freehand line.

If the user selects a timing other than 0 seconds, when a screen capture is triggered, a countdown timer will be displayed in the top right of the screen. This shows a countdown to the screen capture.
Note: This feature is only available on the Windows version.
Screen Recorder
A sequence of events can be recorded, and can be replayed as a video. This is useful for demonstration purposes.
Note: This feature is only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Select Accessories - Screen Recorder from the Tools menu.
The screen recorder accessory is displayed on the screen.

This has the following buttons:
- (Start recording) : Starts recording events that occur on the screen.
- (Pause recording/Resume recording) : Pauses or resumes the recording. This button is only displayed on Windows.
- (Stop recording) : Stops the recording. This button appears when the recording has started.
- (Settings) : Allows you to specify settings for the screen recording session, such as a folder where the video files will be stored.
Select the Start recording button to begin. The Screen Recorder will become invisible (to make it visible again, just move the pointer over the Screen Recorder's last position).
You can then perform various tasks in StarBoard Software - this sequence of events will be recorded.
If you need to pause the recording at any time, click on the Pause recording button.
To start recording again after pausing, click on the Resume recording button.
When you have finished recording, click on the Stop recording button.
On Windows, a Save As dialog will be displayed, allowing you to specify a file name and folder for saving the recording.
On Mac, the dialog is not displayed and the file name will be set according to the QuickTime Player X settings (see below).
The recording will be saved as a video file.

A video file created with the Screen Recorder can be replayed in your computer's video player or media player software.

Settings for the Screen Recorder

On Windows:

Click on the Settings button, and the Screen Recorder Settings is displayed.

On the Mac:

Click on the Settings button, and a small information dialog is displayed:
Click on OK, and select the drop-down arrow that is provided on the QuickTime Player:

Screen Block (Windows version only)
The Screen Block accessory allows you to hide all or part of the screen.
This is described in full detail here: Screen Block

Compass

The Compass tool allows you to draw curves at any angle.

Select Accessories - Compass from the Tools menu.

The following picture shows the parts of the Compass:

Compass

The following table is a key:

Number	Name	Description
1	Rotation handle	By grabbing the rotation handle, you can rotate the Compass without drawing an arc.
2	Close button	Click on this button to close the Compass tool.
3	Angle display	The angle of the Compass tool is displayed in the “Angle display” area.
4	Radius display	The radius (the distance between the needle and the pen) is displayed in the “Radius display” area.
5	Change radius	You can change the radius (the distance between the needle and the pen) by grabbing the Radius handle and pulling the Compass arm.
6	Draw arc	By grabbing the Compass's pen handle, you can draw an arc on the whiteboard area.

The following picture shows an example of arc drawing with the Compass:

After drawing an arc with the Compass, you can select it and use the Object Properties widget to change attributes such as the line color and thickness.
You can also add radius lines, using the Show Radius Lines check box:

This can produce an effect like this:

Or this:

To define a fill color, you can use the options in the Object Properties widget.
Note: If the object has no fill color and the radius lines are not visible, you can not use the Fill tool to add a fill color.

To edit the arc, you can grab the yellow handles. The pointer will change to a cross

and you can drag the handles to change the size and angle of the arc.

Note: The compass will snap into position onto any objects.
With the Snap to Grid Lines setting ON, the compass will snap into position on the grid.

Screen Keyboard
The Screen Keyboard accessory allows you to enter text with a pen or finger, using an on-screen keyboard.
This is described in full detail here: On-Screen Keyboard

Adding external applications as accessories
You can add applications installed on your computer as external accessories.
Added applications are displayed as accessories and can be easily launched.

Select Accessories - Add/Delete External Applications from the Tools menu.
The Add/Delete External Applications dialog box is displayed.
Select Add.
The Add external accessory programs dialog box is displayed.
Select the application executable (.exe on Windows, .app on Mac) you want to add.
Select Open.

To remove accessories, select the accessory in the Add/Delete External Applications dialog box and select Remove.