Tutorials CivilCraft help Reference
Keys and mouse
Every keyboard shortcut and mouse, trackpad and touch action in CivilCraft, grouped, with the browser and platform differences.
Written for CivilCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
Single-letter keys work when you are not typing in a box. Shortcuts with ⌘Ctrl use Command on a Mac and Ctrl elsewhere. See also Keys in the browser.
Files and editing
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘OCtrl+O | Open a point file, LandXML or project |
| ⌘SCtrl+S | Save the project (downloads a .civilcraft.json file) |
| ⌘PCtrl+P | Plot the plan to PDF (opens the plot dialog, not the browser's print) |
| ⌘ZCtrl+Z | Undo |
| ⌘YCtrl+Y | Redo |
| fn DeleteDelete | Delete the selected survey points, alignment, pad, structure, pipe or PVI |
| ⌘CCtrl+C | Copy the selected survey points (also as point rows for a spreadsheet) |
| ⌘XCtrl+X | Cut the selected survey points |
| ⌘VCtrl+V | Paste points: they follow the pointer, click where they go |
| ⇧⌘VCtrl+Shift+V | Paste in place: at the points' own coordinates |
| ⌘DCtrl+D | Duplicate the selected points: a copy follows the pointer |
| ⌘ACtrl+A | Select every survey point |
| EscEsc | Select none (and cancel a paste) |
⌘SCtrl+S, ⌘OCtrl+O and ⌘PCtrl+P work even while you are typing in a box. ⌘ZCtrl+Z and ⌘YCtrl+Y in a text box undo your typing instead, as usual, and so do ⌘CCtrl+C, ⌘XCtrl+X, ⌘VCtrl+V and ⌘ACtrl+A: in a box they copy, cut, paste and select its text. With text selected on the page (in a panel), ⌘CCtrl+C copies that text. ⇧⌘ZCtrl+Shift+Z does nothing in CivilCraft: use ⌘YCtrl+Y or the Redo button.
Mac
The Mac key labeled delete is DeleteBackspace to the browser. To delete a selection, press fn DeleteDelete (Fn and delete), or choose Delete in the toolbar's More menu.
Tools
| Key | Tool |
|---|---|
| VV | Select |
| AA | Alignment |
| GG | Pad |
| PP | Pipes |
| BB | Breakline |
| OO | Boundary |
| RR | Show or hide the profile view |
| II | Turn Add PVIs on or off (opens the profile view if it is closed) |
| FF | Fit: show everything |
| DD | 3D: show the site in 3D, or go back to the plan |
Pressing the key of the active tool again goes back to Select. Letters with Shift do nothing.
While drawing
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ReturnEnter | Finish the alignment, pad, pipe run, breakline or boundary |
| DeleteBackspace | Remove the last point clicked |
| EscEsc | Cancel the drawing (or the paste); pressed again (or with nothing drawn), go back to Select and clear the selection |
Plan view
| Key or action | Result |
|---|---|
| Wheel | Zoom in or out at the pointer |
| Drag on empty space | Pan (in any tool; a short click still clicks; with ⇧Shift held it draws a selection box instead) |
| Drag with the middle button | Pan |
| Drag with the right button | Pan (no menu opens) |
| SpaceSpace and drag | Pan |
| Click | Select (with Select), or place a point (with a drawing tool) |
| ⇧Shift and click | Add a survey point to the selection, or take it out |
| ⇧Shift and drag | Draw a box: the survey points inside it are added to the selection |
| Click while pasting | Put the pasted points there (ReturnEnter puts them at their own coordinates) |
| Drag a grip | Move a PI, pad corner or structure (one undo step) |
| ↑↑ ↓↓ ←← →→ | Pan, when the plan has the focus (click it first) |
| ++ and −− | Zoom in and out at the middle, when the plan has the focus |
The = key zooms in like ++, so you do not need Shift.
Profile view
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Click with Add PVIs on | Add a PVI there |
| Click a PVI | Select it |
| Drag a PVI | Move it (one undo step) |
| fn DeleteDelete or DeleteBackspace | Remove the selected PVI (Backspace only when the profile view has the focus) |
The profile view does not zoom or pan.
Screen and help
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F1F1 | Open or close this help (the side panel); Help in the app bar does the same |
| EscEsc | Close the help panel when it is open |
| ⌃⇧FCtrl+Shift+F | Cycle the screen modes: full screen, full screen with the bars hidden, normal |
| EscEsc | Leave full screen (the browser's own key) |
F1F1 reaches the help before CivilCraft sees it, so it works in any tool. On most Mac keyboards, press fn with F1, or click Help. ⌃⇧FCtrl+Shift+F uses the Control key on every platform, including a Mac. See Using help for how to search this help.
Mouse, trackpad and touch
Mouse
- Wheel zooms at the pointer. A mouse with a free-spinning wheel zooms quickly: give it short turns.
- Pan with any drag on empty space, the middle button, the right button, or SpaceSpace and drag.
Mac
On a Mac trackpad:
- Two-finger scrolling zooms (it does not pan), and pinching zooms too.
- To pan, press and drag on empty space with one finger, or hold SpaceSpace and drag.
- A two-finger click (right-click) opens no menu and does nothing on its own.
Touch
On a touch screen:
- Tap to select or to place a point; one finger dragged on empty space pans.
- Two fingers pinch to zoom and move together to pan.
- Drag a grip or a PVI with one finger. Grips are small: zoom in first.
- Finishing a drawing needs ReturnEnter. There is no on-screen finish button yet. A double-tap finishes only in browsers that turn it into a double-click, and then it drops the last point. Attach a keyboard to draw alignments, pads, breaklines and boundaries.
- There is no hover on touch, so the status bar readouts update only while a finger is down.
Browser keys that win
Some keys belong to the browser and never reach CivilCraft, for example ⌘WCtrl+W (close tab), ⌘TCtrl+T (new tab), ⌘NCtrl+N (new window) and F11F11 (full screen in Windows and Linux browsers). CivilCraft does not use them. If a shortcut opens something in the browser instead, click the plan once so the page has the focus, and try again.