The Info Tool

The Info Tool is used to get information about the current state of an object. For example, it tells you the type of object, its label, and what its parents and children are. It also tells you if the object is being traced.

Parents and Children:

An object on the screen can have dependencies on other objects. For example, when we draw a line segment, we first plot a point and then drag to get the other endpoint and the segment. The segment then depends on the two endpoints, so we say that the segment is a child of the endpoints and the endpoints are parents of the segment. Thus, the objects on the screen can be placed in a hierarchy of relatedness, with points generally being at the top of the hierarchy (generally no parents - except for midpoints or other constructed points). The Info Tool can be used to get an idea of where an object fits within this hierarchy.

WebLinks:

An active world-wide-web link can be created on the canvas by using the "Set Web Link" option under the View menu.

This link will appear as a text box (like a measurement box) with the text being blue and underlined.

The Info Tool must be used to "surf" to the linked web page. Just click on the text link in the canvas with the Info Tool and a web browser will pop-up and take you to the linked page.