Q. I want to use Wingdings characters, such as stars, as Data Markers. How do I get rid of the white border round them which stops the Data Connector lines touching them?

A. At the bottom of the list of Markers at the right hand side of the Marker style window (see section 11.2.3.1 of the manual) you can indeed opt to have Characters used as Markers, including those of the Wingdings font. However, their style definitions, which are set on the left hand side of the Marker style window, need to be set up a little differently than those of FigSys' own Markers. By default, the Filled box is checked but, with font Characters, that has the effect of putting a background box around them so, usually, you will want to uncheck that. You need to note, also, that the color of the Characters is controlled from the Edge color dialog.

Q. I have created a Plot at the top of my page and now I want to create a second Plot immediately under it with the Axes of exactly the same size as the top one and aligned perfectly with it. How can I achieve this?

A. To add a second Plot similar to a first one, within the same Workspace, you first save an Object File of the original Plot. This is done from the Plot's context menu (right click on the Plot when it is highlighted then click on Save As | Object File Format). You then apply the Insert Object tool (section 17.3 of the manual). Don't draw a Marquee before the import because you want the copy to be exactly the same size as the original. When the Object File has been imported, it will be superimposed over the original Plot. Before you do anything else, touch the Space Bar to open the Properties window of this second Plot and, under Mouse Actions, check the Drag Inside box. This enables you easily to drag the new Plot to where you want it by clicking inside the Plot box and holding the mouse button while you move the mouse. You can now add data to it, as instructed in section 8.3 of the manual. Note that if you had a Bar Graph in the original Plot, then the new Plot will also plot as a Bar Graph. However, the detailed bar properties will need editing to get the exact same appearance as those of the first Plot. However, in every other respect, the Object file is a perfect facsimile of the first and its Child Objects, such as texts, rectangles, arrows etc will all have been recreated exactly. To create new Datasets for adding to a plot, it is easiest to use the 2d Dataset Wizard (see section 6.3.4.1 of the manual).

Please also note that the Page Layout Wizards (accessed from the Standard Modules pane at bottom left of the FigSys window) can be used at any time. If you highlight a Plot and then click on the appropriate Page Layout Icon it will send the Plot to the chosen zone of the Canvas. This can be used to neatly arrange several Plots on the Canvas. If before starting work you know that you will want a number of Plots neatly arranged, say, in the four corners of the Canvas, then the Page Layout Wizards are also accessible as you work your way through the 2d Graph Wizard (see the second tutorial in section 4.4 of the manual).

Q. I have a Plot type which I use frequently but with different data each time. Is there a quick way to insert new data into an already existing Plot?

A. If you have e.g. a Line-scatter Plot with six Datasets, each differentiated with its own style of Marker, you can change the actual data values in each Dataset without affecting the Markers. So you need to save the  Workspace which contains your original Plot and it will then become the template for subsequent Plots. When you have new data, you open the template .WSP file and then open each Dataset in turn by clicking on its icon. You can either key-in the new data or copy it from the clipboard. Of course, by so doing, you actually lose the original data from the Datasets so it is important only to do this data replacement on a Workspace which has already been saved. You will now find that the new data are incorporated on your Plot but each Dataset retains its style, such as varied Markers. If the new data have a different numeric range from the original, you may need to use the Quick Tickmarks facility to change the Axis scale (see section 9.2.2.1 in the Manual). Note also that if you now have fewer or more datapoints than in the original, you can remove or add rows to a Dataset (see section 6.5.1 of the manual).

Q. Why is it that sometimes I click or double click on an object and it won't highlight?

A. Usually because it is a Child Object of a Parent (such as a Plot) which is already highlighted. You need to de-select the Parent by clicking outside its boundary and you will then be able to highlight the Child Object. Alternatively, the object may be 'behind' another object, in which case you can click the 'Send behind' tool when the Object in front is highlighted. Read chapter 2 of the Manual if this terminology is not familiar.

Q. I output an image file from the context menu of a Plot and it did not include some texts and an arrow which I had drawn.

A. The objects missing from your image were not Child objects of the Plot. Image file output includes everything which is within a Container but nothing which is not. You therefore have the option either to make sure that every object is a Child of the Plot or, alternatively, output an image file of the entire Canvas, which will include all the objects visible on the View.

Q. I was trying to move a rectangle precisely into place but it would only move in jerks when I dragged it with the mouse.

A. It has its snap-to-grid box checked. You can find this box to uncheck it by opening the rectangle's Properties window and selecting the Mouse Actions tab.

Q. I often want to drag a Plot into a new position on the Canvas but find that I can only grab the edge of it with my mouse, which is quite difficult to do. Is there a way to make this easier?

A. There is a checkbox in the Mouse Actions dialog of the Plot2d Properties window which is named 'Drag inside'. When checked, this allows you to 'grab' the Plot anywhere inside its border for dragging. When you have done the drag, it may be desirable to uncheck the box, otherwise you may later have problems moving Child Objects within the Plot.

Q. I used a Rectangle as a border for a Rich Text but I can't drag them simultaneously to a new position. Is there a way of linking them?

A. Yes, one can be made a Child Object of the other. Not all objects are able to be Parents, by default, but the ability to be a parent can be switched on. Under 'Mouse actions' of their Properties window is a checkbox 'Accept children'. When it is checked, any Object created within the new Parent will be its Child, so the two can be dragged by the mouse together.

Q. How do I use a Symbol character as a superscript in the Label Text editor?

A. It is true that it is not practicable to have, say, a single Greek letter as superscript by use of the Symbol tool. You need to create the superscript with the appropriate tool and then use the Facename facility to alter the font of the superscript character to Symbol and then touch the appropriate key to alter it to the required character. The Character Map given as an Accessory with Windows will help you to locate the appropriate key to press.

Q. How do I get pin-sharp accuracy with offsetting side-by-side bars in a Bar Plot? Sometimes, even when I have what seem like the exactly right offset, my bars still seem a tiny bit separated or overlapping.

A. You are probably working with the bar widths and offsets defined in millimetres, which is usually fine. However, your computer screen image is actually composed of pixels. All measurements in FigSys can be defined in various units but when pin-sharp accuracy of placement is needed, it is most easily obtained by specifying them in pixels, so that they will exactly correspond to the screen's own basic unit of measurement.

Q. I want to plot the residuals after I have done a curve fit. How do I do that?

A. Immediately after the fit has finished a small dialog window opens on which one of the buttons is Save as File. Click on this and then open the resulting text file in WordPad (the editor utility given as an Accessory with Windows). Edit the file to remove everything except the table containing the residuals and then resave it. Now open it in Excel, selecting in Step 1 of the Text Import Wizard 'Fixed Width' as the original data type. Now, highlight the table of data in Excel, copy it, then paste it back into the Figsys Raw Data Grid. The residuals can now be used to create a FigSys Dataset in the usual way.