Quad Cursor Settings in BricsCAD
Quick answer: BricsCAD’s Quad Settings screen has 24 individual settings covering when the Quad appears, its size and position, timing, rollover tips, and shortcut menus. Open it by right-clicking the QUAD field in the Status Bar and choosing Settings. One dependency is worth knowing upfront: if SELECTIONPREVIEW is off, it silently disables the Quad’s hover display, rollover tips, and selection cycling all at once, regardless of their own individual settings.
Opening the Quad Settings
Right-click the QUAD field in the Status Bar and choose Settings to open the Quad settings screen.
Display and Activation
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Quad display | When the Quad appears: a negative value turns it off; 1 = on hover; 2 = on selection; 4 = on right-click with nothing selected or under the cursor; 8 = suppress on hover for entities outside the current selection |
| Quad default command launch | Whether right-clicking an entity launches its default command directly (1) or you need to click the button yourself (0) |
| Selection preview display | When objects highlight as the pickbox hovers over them: 1 = only when no command is active; 2 = when a command is prompting for entity selection |
Position and Size
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Quad popup corner | Where the Quad appears relative to the cursor: Upper right, Middle right, or Lower right |
| Quad width | Number of columns per row, 6 by default |
| Quad most recent items | How many recently used items (entities or operations) show in the menu |
| Quad icon size | Button size: 0 = small (16×16), 1 = large (32×32), 2 = extra-large (64×64) |
| Quad icon space | Spacing around buttons: narrow, normal, or large |
Timing
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Quad show delay | Milliseconds between an entity highlighting and the Quad appearing |
| Quad hide delay | Milliseconds the Quad stays visible after the cursor leaves its hide margin |
| Quad hide margin | Distance in pixels the cursor can move away from the Quad before it hides |
| Quad go transparent | Whether the Quad turns transparent when the cursor is outside it but still within the hide margin |
| Quad expand delay | Milliseconds before the Quad expands after the cursor enters it |
| Quad expand tab delay | Milliseconds before a group tab expands after the cursor enters it |
Tabs and Units
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Quad tab flags | Bit-coded tab display options: 1 = fixed-width tabs matching the buttons above them, 2 = centre-aligned tab labels, 4 = borders between tabs, 8 = double-height tabs for longer labels, 16 = show mass properties for 3D Solid entities |
| Property units | Bit-coded units shown for entity properties: 1 = length, 2 = area, 4 = volume, 16 = dynamic dimensions, 32 = mass properties. Uses whatever units are set in the drawing’s own properties |
Rollover Tips
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Rollover tips | Whether entity properties display in the Quad while hovering |
| Rollover opacity | How transparent the Quad is in rollover state, from 10 (very transparent) to 100 (fully opaque) |
| Rollover selection set | What rollover tips show when multiple entities are selected |
| Rollover parameters | Whether block parameters show in rollover tips |
Shortcut Menus and Tooltips
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Shortcut menus | Bit-coded, sum the values you want: 1 = Default shortcut menus, 2 = Edit mode shortcut menus, 4 = Command mode shortcut menus, 8 = Command mode shortcuts only when options are available from the command line, 16 = show a shortcut menu on a long right-click press, 32 = repeat the last command on a short right-click when entities are selected and the Quad isn’t shown |
| Shortcut menu duration | How long the right button must be held to trigger a shortcut menu |
| Tooltips | Whether tooltips display for buttons, tabs, and menus |
| Tooltip delay | Milliseconds before a tooltip appears; a negative value disables tooltips entirely |
The SELECTIONPREVIEW Dependency
This one’s worth calling out on its own, since it quietly disables more than just the Quad. When SELECTIONPREVIEW is off, three separate things stop working at once, regardless of their own individual settings:
- The Quad’s hover display is ignored, even if Quad display is set to show on hover.
- Rollover tips don’t show entity properties, even if Rollover tips is on.
- Selection cycling shows no badge or dialog, even if selection cycling itself is enabled.
If any of these three features seem to have stopped working entirely, check SELECTIONPREVIEW first before troubleshooting the individual setting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find these detailed Quad settings? Right-click the QUAD field in the Status Bar and choose Settings.
Why have my Quad, rollover tips, and selection cycling all stopped working at once? Check SELECTIONPREVIEW. If it’s off, all three are ignored regardless of their own individual settings.
How do I make the Quad show more columns or more recent commands? Increase Quad width for more columns per row, or Quad most recent items for more history, both in the Quad settings screen.
Can I control how long I need to hold right-click for a shortcut menu? Yes, the Shortcut menu duration setting controls exactly that.