A fill symbol consists of one or more child fills, and a child fill can be an image fill or a symbol fill. To make a fill symbol, the user must add a child fill or child fills and set the style(s) of the child fill(s) as needed.
The Child Fill Manager (shown in the figure below) in the Fill Symbol Editor can be used to effectively manage the child fill(s) constituting a fill symbol.
When creating a fill symbol (see: Creating a Fill Symbol), once the Fill Symbol Editor is opened, an empty symbol child fill will be added to the child fill list in the Child Fill Manager by default. The user needs to select a symbol for this symbol child fill and set its style, or keep adding child fills for making the fill symbol.
When editing a fill symbol that already exists in a fill symbol library (see: Editing Fill Symbols), once the Fill Symbol Editor is opened, all the child fills constituting this fill symbol will be shown in the child fill list in the Child Fill Manager.
Each item in the child fill list corresponds to a child fill.
Add Child Fills
When creating or editing a fill symbol in the Fill Symbol Editor, the Add button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager can be used to add a child fill. An added child fill is a symbol fill by default.
Double click the newly added child fill in the child fill list. Then the status of this child fill will change to what is shown in the middle figure below, i.e., to a drop-down list box. Click on the drop-down button on the right of the list box to bring out the list of child fill types. From this list, the type of the child fill can be set to image or symbol.
Delete Child Fills
- When selecting the child fills to be deleted in the child fill list in the Child Fill Manager, you can click while holding down the Shift or Ctrl key to select multiple child fills at a time;
- Click the Delete button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager to delete the selected child fill(s). Note: The child fill(s) cannot be restored once deleted.
Adjust Child Fill Order
In the Child Fill Manager, the order of the child fills in the child fill list is the order in which the child fills are layered from top to bottom in the fill symbol; the top child fill in the child fill list also lies at the top of the fill symbol; and the child fill at the bottom of the child fill list also lies at the bottom of the fill symbol. The order of child fills can be adjusted through the Move To Top, Move Up, Move Down, and Move To Bottom buttons in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager, and the order of the child fills in the fill symbol will be adjusted accordingly.
- When selecting the child fills to move in the child fill list in the Child Fill Manager, you can click while holding down the Shift or Ctrl key to select multiple child fills at a time;
- Click the Move To Top button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager to move the selected child fill(s) to the top. If multiple child fills are selected, all of them are moved on the top of other child fills and the relative positions between the selected child fills are not changed.
Click the Move Up button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager to move the selected child fill(s) up one layer, i.e., to bring the selected child fills to the front of the next child fill. If multiple child fills are selected, all of them are moved up one layer and the relative positions between the selected child fills are not changed.
Click the Move Down button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager to move the selected child fill(s) down one layer, i.e., to send the selected child fills to the back of the previous child fill. If multiple child fills are selected, all of them are moved down one layer and the relative positions between the selected child fills are not changed.
Click the Move To Bottom button in the toolbar of the Child Fill Manager to move the selected child fill(s) to the bottom. If multiple child fills are selected, all of them are moved to the bottom of other child fills and the relative positions between the selected child fills are not changed.
Set Child Fill Types
The Fill Symbol Editor provides two types of child fills: symbol fills and image fills. When editing a fill symbol, the types of the child fills can be changed at any time. Note that once the type of a child fill has been changed, an image or a symbol must be reassigned to the child fill.
The steps to set a child fill type are the same as those when adding a child fill:
- In the child fill list in the Child Fill Manager, select the child fill whose type is to be set and double click on the selected child fill;
- In the child fill list, the status of the selected child fill will change to a drop-down list. Click on the drop-down button on the right. In the pop-up drop-down list that shows the child fill types, click the needed type to set the selected child fill to this type.