Selecting a partCopy Anchor Link

The Inspector card, in the right sidebar, shows whatever is selected. To select a part:

• click or tap it in the 3D view
• click a mount on the Front elevation
• click a row in the Rack layout card
• click a check, a problem, a BOM line or a printed part, which selects the part it's about

With nothing selected, the inspector says "Select a part in the 3D view, the elevation or the layout to see and edit it." Press Esc to clear the selection.

The headerCopy Anchor Link

At the top, the inspector shows:

• the part's name
• its catalog id and revision, in the form <namespace>/<slug>@<revision>
• its description from the catalog, if it has one
• a link up to the part that holds it, such as ↑ DeskPi RackMate TL1. Click it to select that part.

The card's header also tells you what kind of part this is, such as "tray" or "device". For a part that came built into another part, such as one post of a rack, it says "part of" and the name of that part.

PlacementCopy Anchor Link

Placement says where the part sits: "on" the part holding it, then the socket it's in, such as the rails or a tray's deck.

• On rails, the Position field sets the position, counted from the bottom (0 is the lowest position, U1). Type a number or use the arrows.
• On a deck or shelf, the inspector shows the part's x and y offset. Tick centred across the deck to keep it centred side to side. Nudging it with the arrow keys moves it 5 mm and turns centring off.

Parts that came built into another part show where they are, but you can't move them on their own.

ValuesCopy Anchor Link

Values lists the part's parameters, as its catalog entry defines them: sizes, counts, options and switches. Depending on the parameter, you get a number field, a list to pick from, a checkbox or a text field. Some parameters have a short code in front of the label, the same code that appears in the part's drawings and notes.

• A value that another part sets for this one shows the value followed by "from parent". Change it on the parent instead.
• After you change a value, a reset button appears next to it. It puts the value back to the default.

Values you set here apply to this one part only. To set a value for every copy of a part at once, use Measurements.

Changing a value can change the part's size, and with it what fits. The checks rerun on every change.

DerivedCopy Anchor Link

Derived lists values the part works out from its parameters, such as how many rail positions it spans. They're listed by their short names, as the catalog entry defines them, and they're read-only: change the values they come from.

SocketsCopy Anchor Link

Sockets lists the places on the part where other parts go, such as the rails of a rack or the deck of a tray. Each shows its kind and the parts in it, or "empty". Click a part to select it, or hover it to highlight it in the 3D view.

Replace withCopy Anchor Link

Replace with lists other catalog parts that fit the same socket. Pick one to swap it in, in the same place. What sits on the part stays where it is. The part's own values go back to the new part's defaults.

For mounts on the rails, the Rack layout card has the same swap as its Mount kind list. See Placing parts.

ActionsCopy Anchor Link

At the bottom of the inspector:

• Duplicate copies the part and what sits on it into the next free position, or 20 mm over on a deck, and selects the copy. Ctrl+D does the same.
• Rotate turns a part on a deck or shelf by 90°. It shows only for those parts.
• Remove takes the part and what sits on it out of the project. Delete does the same.

These actions only show for parts you placed. Built-in parts, and the rack itself, can't be duplicated or removed. Every action is one undo step: Ctrl+Z takes it back.

MeasurementsCopy Anchor Link

The Measurements card lists every value in the project that you can measure on your own hardware, grouped by part. Catalog values are assumptions until you measure them: type what your calliper says, and the field turns blue to show it's measured. Each group's header counts how many of its values are measured, for example "3/8 measured".

• A measurement of the rack itself applies to the rack in this project.
• A measurement of any other part applies to every copy of that part in this project. Measure one tray and all the trays of that kind follow.
• A value you set back to the catalog's number counts as not measured again.

Each revision in History says how many values were measured at that point.

To start over, Reset to assumptions in the rackparams.json card clears every measurement. It also puts the rack's own values back to the catalog's defaults. See Exports and printing.

To model a device that isn't in the catalog yet, from your own measurements, use the device modeler.