Digital Pipe Fitter uses the following menu.

File

New Joint

"New Joint" is used to open a new joint window. Either select the sub-menu item "Select a Joint..." to use the joint selection wizard or select the joint name to be opened. The joint selection wizard includes pictures and short descriptions of the joints to aid in selection.

Open Joint/Project

"Open Joint/Project" opens the file open dialog box to select the saved joint to view. Both joints and projects are saved as .pcj files. So if a file containing a project is opened, all joints in that project are opened. If the file contains a project, all currently opened joints will be closed to make room for that project. Only one project can be opened at a time since by definition a project is all currently opened joints.

Open Recent

"Open Recent" presents a list of the most recently viewed files. Select from the list the file to be opened. Each of these files could contain either a joint or a project.

Save Joint

"Save Joint" will save the currently selected joint to disk. If it is a new joint that has not previously been saved, the user will be asked for a filename. All joints and projects should be saved with a .pcj file extension.

Save Joint As

"Save Joint As" will save the currently selected joint to a new file.

Save Project

"Save Project" saves all open joints to a single .pcj file. This collection of joints can later be loaded with the "File - Open Joint/Project" menu item.

Close Joint

"Close Joint" will close the currently open joint and ask the user if it is to be saved if it has been edited. To close all windows, use the "Window - Close All" menu item.

Duplicate Joint

"Duplicate Joint" will create a copy of the currently selected joint. The joint name of the new joint will be numerically incremented from the name of the original joint.

Store as Default

"Store as Default" is the way to store the default state used by a new joint when opened up in the future. First set the parameters of a joint to the desired values. Then select the "File - Store as Default" menu item. After this the next time a joint of this type is created it will contain these default parameters. If a user commonly uses one size of pipe for much of their work, this feature will save time.

Printer Setup

"Printer Setup" selects the printer to be used for printing templates. Other properties unique to the printer can be changed here as well. Selecting between landscape and portrait orientation can in same cases minimize the number of pages needed to print a template.

Page Setup

"Page Setup" sets margins and orientation for printing. Smaller margins mean less pages to print a template.

Exit

"Exit" will close the Digital Pipe Fitter application.  If any open joints have been edited and not saved, the user will be asked if they want to save the joints or not.

Print

Under the "Print" main menu item is a list of template pages that are ready to be printed from the currently selected joint. A purchased license is required to print templates. There is one exception.  In order to allow testing of printer compatibility, printing is always allowed for Branch Joints with a Branch Angle of 53 degrees.  If you open a Branch Joint and set the Branch Angle to 53 degrees, then printing will be enabled for that joint, even if you do not own a license.

Starting with version 1.7, Digital Pipe Fitter can print a report file that includes the template scaled to fit on one page and a list of ordinate measurements to be used to measure the cuts manually without the need of a full sized template.

Starting with version 1.62, Digital Pipe Fitter can 'print' to an AutoCad® DXF file.  At the bottom of the print menu is a submenu called "Export DXF". Select a compenent under this submenu to write that component's cutline to disk.  The DXF file contains the same axis and lables that the print version contains.  Use this feature to incorporate drawings of the cutlines into your official documentation. 

Options

Settings

Opens the settings window.  The settings window is used to set line colors, template thickness and other printing options.

inches mm

Each joint can independently be set to use either inches or millimeters as its units of measure. These menu items and the associated buttons on the button bar will switch the units of measure on the currently selected joint. Utility Joints can reference other joints using different units of measure and create an accurate result in whichever units desired.

License

Opens the license window.  This window is used to register your purchased license to enable printing.  It also shows the current state of your existing license.

Window

The "Window" menu contains standard window manipulation functions. The currently open joint windows can be tiled or placed in a cascade arrangement. Windows minimized to the bottom of the application window can be arranged. Also, all open joint windows can be closed with the "Close All" menu item.

Help

Manual

Requires a default browser. Opens a local version of this manual.

Online Support

"Online Support" opens your default web browser to http://digitalpipefitter.com/support 

Be sure to check occasionally for new versions of the software.

About

"About" shows version number, license agreement and contact information.