Label Properties

All points, straight objects, arcs, interiors, point loci, function plots, and measurements have a Label panel.

Use the Label panel to change an object’s label, to change whether and how the label is displayed, and to change whether the label is used in custom tools.

Label: This box displays the label of the selected object. It will be blank if a label has not yet been assigned to the object. Type a new label to change the object’s label.

If you enter a label that ends with something in square brackets —such as A[1]—the part inside the brackets will be displayed as a subscript in your sketch. In other words, type A[1] in Label Properties to display A₁ in your sketch.

Style: Click on this button to display a dialog box in which you can adjust the font, size, and typeface in which the label is displayed.

Show Label: Use this checkbox to hide or show the object’s label. (This checkbox is unavailable for objects that cannot display separate labels, such as measures.)

The final checkbox in Label Properties differs depending on the context. It appears as Use Label in Custom Tools for a sketch object, but for a custom tool object appears as either Automatically Match Sketch Object (for a given) or Use Label in Sketches (for a step).

Use Label in Custom Tools: Use this checkbox to determine whether the label of a sketch object will be used in custom tools. Normally, custom tools assign new and unique labels to the objects they create. So, if you are defining a custom tool that includes an object with a special label—such as “hypotenuse” or “orthocenter”—and you want to duplicate that label whenever the tool is used, you should check this option. This box appears only when viewing properties for a sketch object, and is enabled only for objects that can be created by a tool. It is disabled for independent points and other independent objects.

Use Label in Sketches: Use this checkbox to determine whether or not the label of a custom tool step object will be used in sketches. With this box unchecked, the custom tool assigns a new and unique label when it constructs this step. When the box is checked, the step’s label is used whenever a sketch object is constructed from this step. This box appears only when using the Script View to view properties of a custom tool step object.

To view the properties of a custom tool object, you must make that tool the chosen tool, and choose Show Script View from the Custom Tools menu.

Automatically Match Sketch Object: Use this checkbox to determine whether or not a custom tool given object will be automatically matched to an object with the same label in the sketch. This box appears only when using the Script View to view properties of a custom tool given object. When this box is checked, the object appears in Script View as an assumed given. When not checked, the object appears in Script View as a normal given.