In previous versions of SmartCAM, elements could only be removed from the graphics display by masking the Layer, Step, or Workplane to which they belonged. The act of masking had two effects, it removed the associated elements from the graphics display and it made them inactive for Showpath, Showcut, and Code. If the user wished to hide a particular subset of elements they needed to property change the subset to an unused layer so it could then be masked independently.

With the release of v13 we have introduced the ability to Hide a selected group of elements. This capability allows you to use the many different selection techniques available to define exactly what to hide, for example double clicking an element to select a profile, dragging a selection box around a set of elements, or using selection filters to include or exclude specific element types. When an element is hidden it is only removed from display but continues to remain active for Showpath, Showcut, and Code.

This new capability makes it extremely easy to manage the graphics display. The user can hide the current selection or everything that is unselected with one simple command. Since hidden elements remain active it is possible to hide a range of toolpath elements then use Showpath to verify that range. This allows the clutter of toolpath to be removed from display so the toolpath can be carefully checked while back plotting to the screen move by move.

Hidden and Masked Element List View Markers - Prior to v13 masked elements were identified in the list view with the letter "H". In order to differentiate between Masked and Hidden elements a new marker scheme was necessary. In v13 the list view markers are now user configurable and are specified in the [ListViewMarkers] section of the smartcam.ini file. The default marker configuration is as follows:

Indicates:
   *     - the current Insert position element
   -      - the element belongs to active group
   o     - the element has been masked
   ^     - the element has been hidden
   ô      - a hidden element whose Layer or Step has also been masked

Hiding and Showing Elements - To hide elements simply select a set of elements using the group selection tool then choose the Hide Selected pop-up menu or group palette icon. Another extremely useful method is to hide all elements that are not selected. For example if you wish to exclusively work on a certain area of the model you can first select that area using a box selection then choose the Hide Unselected command.

Examples (rollover for caption):