Making a Custom Tool

You define new custom tools by example: you create a construction you wish to “turn into a tool,” then define a tool based on that example. Turn any construction into a custom tool by selecting sketch objects that define a construction you wish to turn into a tool. The objects you select must be related to each other in such a way that at least one selected object is completely determined by other selected objects. Then choose Create New Tool from the Custom Tools menu.

The selected objects to be produced by a tool are called results. The selected objects that don’t depend on any others, but upon which the results depend, are called givens. Any unselected objects that relate the selected givens to the selected results are intermediate objects. (Intermediate objects are not reproduced when you use the tool; only the objects that were selected when you defined the tool are reproduced as results when you use the tool.)

Follow these steps to make a new custom tool:

1. Make a construction to serve as an example of the construction you want the tool to produce. You can use any of Sketchpad’s tools or menus to create this exemplar.

2. Select both the given objects (usually, independent points) and the desired resulting objects you’d like the tool to produce. The order in which you select the givens determines the order in which you’ll match givens when using the tool.

3. If there are other objects that relate the givens to the final results, you can select them or not. If you do select them, they will be shown when you use the tool. If you don’t select them, they won’t appear when you use the tool.

4. Choose Create New Tool from the Custom Tools menu that appears.

5. A dialog box appears in which you can type a name for the tool. Type a name and click OK.

Your tool is added to the Custom Tools menu, and is ready to use.

Subtopics:
Specifying the Results of a Tool
Managing Custom Tools
Showing or Hiding the Script View
How To Make a Perpendicular Bisector Tool