Appendix A -- Menus
While the Shortcut Keys are the most efficient way to use your ICATS, the menu system is also useful in general, and a small number of infrequently used features are only available through the menus. The ICATS Menus are fully described below.
Menu Tabs
The ICATS uses a "Tabbed" menu, that should be familiar to any user of a computer system. The five available Tabs and a short description are:
- Balls -- Add and remove balls, and randomize ball positions
- Tools -- Add ICATS drawing elements (target, ABall, TBox, etc.) to the layout
- Table -- Perform "table" level operations (load/save, grid toggle, flip layout)
- Settings -- Manage ICATS Settings
- Quit -- Properly shuts down your ICATS
Each menu and menu function is now described:
Balls
Left-Click on the balls grid number 1-15 to toggle each object ball. Yellow numbers indicate the ball is "on the table" and white numbers indicate the ball is not on the table. Left-Click on the "C" adds the next available cue ball (C1-C15) to the table. Cue balls can be removed by Right-Click on the Cue ball, followed by Left-Click on the "Remove" menu option.
Clicking on one of the "Randomize" buttons will randomize:
- Table -- balls currently on the table are moved to random locations
- 15 -- all 15 object balls, and one cue ball, are placed in random locations
- 9 -- the 1-9 object balls, and one cue ball, are placed in random locations
Tools
The Tools menu is primarily used by Drill authors when creating layouts. The descriptions below are brief, with full description of the capabilities in the ICATS Drill Author's Guide.
| Targets | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Load | Load an image target (JPG or PNG) |
| Circle | Add a Circle target to the layout |
| Triangle | Add a Triangle target to the layout |
| Polygon | Add a four-sided Polygon to the layout (polygon angles can be other than 90 degrees) |
| Sq./Rect | Add a four-sided Square/Rectangle to the layout (90 degree angles) |
| Other | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Half Ball Spacer | Add a Half Ball sized spacer to the layout |
| Full Ball Spacer | Add a Full Ball sized spacer to the layout |
| Text Box | Add a Text Box to the layout |
| Aiming Ball | Add an Aiming Ball to the layout |
| Free Line | Add a free line (unattached to a ball) to the layout |
Table
The Table menu provides several functions that affect the whole table, as described below:
- Grid -- "Toggle" turns the grid on and off. "Snap-To" enables a snap-to grid, with balls "sticking" to specific positions on the grid.
- Drill -- "Load" and "Save" launch the File Manager, allowing Drills to be loaded and saved.
- Flip -- "Horz" and "Vert" flip all ICA drill elements horizontally, or vertically.
- Image -- "Load" will load a Table Image, think of this as immovable "cloth", onto the table. If a Table Image is present, additional options for "Invert" (inverting colors), "Rotate" (rotate 180 degrees) and "Delete" (remove the Table Image) will be offered.
Settings
The Settings menu configures the operation of the ICATS program. Key settings are:
- Projector Mount -- Left-Click the "triangles" to toggle between Side Mount and End Mount.
- Table Size -- Left-Click the "triangles" to scroll through many options of table size. This setting ensures balls are of proper size.
- Aiming Ball Style -- Set the Style of displayed ABalls between "X/Y" (X -- left/right, Y -- follow/draw) and "Clock" (O'Clock position and number of tips).
- Calibrate -- Enter Calibration mode. Refer to the ICA Training System Setup Guide for details of calibration.
- Update -- Left-Click the "Update" button to check for any available program or module updates.
Quit
The Quit menu exits the ICATS program. The "Shutdown" option is almost always the desired choice, and is highlighted in yellow for emphasis. Having selected "Shutdown", wait about 10 seconds for the green LED on your ICATS to stop flashing, then remove power. Your ICATS is now properly Shutdown.
Options for "Reboot" (re-starting your ICATS and relaunching the pool program) and "To Pi" (exit to the Raspberry Pi Linux Desktop) are also provided, but are expected to be used infrequently.