A courtyard object has the same geometric structure as a shape object and can therefore consist of a sequence of line, arc or curve segments connected together. When a courtyard object is selected and the Edit tool is active, the control hooks of the individual segments that compose it are displayed.

When the control hooks are visible, the following operations can be performed:

Drag the hooks located in the vertices of the linear segments.
Drag the hooks on the ends of the arcs to adjust the opening of the arc.
Drag the hook placed in the center of an arc to move the arc.
Drag the control hooks of a Bezier curve.
Drag the control hooks of a spline curve.
Click anywhere on the object and drag the mouse to move the object.
Right-click on a hook to display the corresponding menu of commands.

Consecutive Bezier Curves

When two Bezier curves are consecutive, the common point between the two curves can be set to one of the following modes:

Angular point. The angular points have two control hooks that can be moved independently; the curve course through the angle will not continue smoothly but will form an angle.
Slight damping point. The two angle control hooks are oriented in parallel and can only be moved simultaneously. The lines of the control hooks can be of different lengths, allowing the degree of curvature to be varied.
Symmetrical point. The two angle control hooks are aligned in parallel and have the same length. They can only be moved simultaneously and with an equal degree of curvature in both directions.

Commands in the hook menu

Command	Description
Move All	Moves all active hooks. Displays the Move dialog box.
Deselect All	Deactivates all active hooks.
Select Hook	Activates the clicked hook.
Deselect Hook	Disables the clicked hook.
Move Vertex	Displays the dialog box in which to specify the new vertex coordinates.
Insert Vertex	Adds a new linear segment by inserting a vertex at the midpoint of the segment.
Remove Segment	Removes the segment to which the hook belongs.
Convert to Line	Converts the segment to a line.
Convert to Arc	Converts the segment to an arc.
Convert to Bezier	Converts the segment to a Bezier curve.
Convert to Spline	Converts the segment to a spline curve.
Toggle Direction	Reverses the direction of the arc.
Set Center	Set the center of the arc.
Set Axes	Sets the length of the axes of an ellipse arc.
Start Angle	Displays the dialog box in which to specify the new value of the starting angle.
End Angle	Displays the dialog box in which to specify the new value of the end angle.
Move Point	Displays the dialog box in which to specify the new coordinates of the point of a spline curve.
Insert Point	Adds a new point in a spline curve.
Remove Point	Removes a point from a spline curve.
Angular	Sets the point of a Bezier curve as the angular point.
Smooth	Sets the point of a Bezier curve as a slight damping point.
Symmetrical	Sets the point of a Bezier curve as a symmetrical point.
Move Courtyard	Displays the Move dialog box.
Rotate Courtyard	Displays the Rotate dialog box.
Properties Courtyard	Displays the Properties dialog box.
Show reference point	Displays the transformation center of the selection. The transformation center is initially hidden and is set in the center of the selection rectangle. See the Transformation center.


To graphically modify a Courtyard

Consecutive Bezier Curves

Commands in the hook menu

See also