RedcrabX – Worksheet Guide

Saving, loading, printing, layout and ribbon groups  |  Version 1.0

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Table of Contents

• 1. Overview
• 2. Saving the Worksheet (.rcx)
• 3. Loading and Recent Files
• 4. The .rcx File Format
• 5. Printing
• 6. Print Area Selection
• 7. Workspace Layout
• 8. Anchored Boxes
• 9. Ribbon Groups
• 10. Tips and Best Practices

1. Overview

A worksheet is the main document of RedcrabX. It is a free-form canvas that can hold any number of boxes — MathBox, TextBox, ImageBox, LabelBox, PlotBox, ChartBox, Slider — arranged anywhere by drag & drop. Worksheets are saved as .rcx files (a JSON-based format) and can be printed in full or as a selected region.

2. Saving the Worksheet (.rcx)

Use the application menu (the round button in the top-left of the ribbon) and choose Save. A Save File dialog appears with the filter RCX Workspace (*.rcx) and the default file name workspace.rcx. The file extension .rcx is added automatically.

All boxes on the worksheet are serialized including their:

• type, position and size,
• contents (expression, text, rich-text XAML, image data, plot/chart settings),
• display options (output format, decimal places, degrees/radians),
• fonts, colors and rotation (for labels),
• anchor links between boxes and their offset.

Note: Image data is stored as Base64 directly inside the .rcx file, so worksheets remain self-contained even if the original image file is moved or deleted.

3. Loading and Recent Files

Open the application menu and choose Open. The dialog filter accepts *.rcx and falls back to All files. After loading, every box is re-created with its full state, including anchors and rich-text formatting.

The application menu also has a Recent sub-menu that lists the worksheets most recently saved or opened. Click an entry to reopen it directly.

Choose New to start an empty worksheet. Select "New" to create a blank worksheet. The current worksheet is saved as Workspace.rcx. Workspace.rcx is overwritten every time the worksheet is cleared or the program is exited..

4. The .rcx File Format

An .rcx file is a UTF-8 JSON document. The high-level structure is:

{
  "version": 1,
  "items": [
    { "type": "math",  "x": ..., "y": ..., "width": ..., "height": ...,
      "expression": "...", "outputFormat": "...", "decimalPlaces": ..., "useDegrees": ... },
    { "type": "text",  "x": ..., "y": ..., "width": ..., "height": ...,
      "text": "...", "richText": "<Section ...>...</Section>" },
    { "type": "image", "x": ..., "y": ..., "width": ..., "height": ...,
      "imageBase64": "...", "imagePath": "..." },
    { "type": "label", "x": ..., "y": ..., "width": ..., "height": ...,
      "mode": "Text", "inputText": "...", "fontFamily": "...", "fontSize": ...,
      "rotation": ..., "foregroundColor": "#FF000000",
      "backgroundColor": "#FFFFFFFF", "backgroundTransparent": false,
      "anchorTargetIndex": ..., "anchorOffsetX": ..., "anchorOffsetY": ... },
    { "type": "plot",  ... },
    { "type": "chart", ... }
  ],
  "extensions": { }
}

The extensions object is reserved for forward-compatible additions; unknown fields are preserved on round-trip so older files keep working with newer versions.

Tip: Because .rcx is plain JSON, it can be diff’ed and version-controlled. This is convenient for shared template worksheets.

5. Printing

The application menu offers two print actions:

The same actions are available in the Print ribbon group on the Tools tab.

6. Print Area Selection

By default, RedcrabX prints the rectangle that bounds all visible boxes. To print only part of the worksheet, define a print area:

1. On the Tools tab, in the Print group, click Select Print Area.
2. The cursor changes; drag a rectangle on the canvas over the region you want to print.
3. Release the mouse. The selected rectangle is shown as an overlay.
4. Use Print Preview or Print — only the selected area is rendered.
5. To remove the overlay and return to full-page printing, click Clear Print Area.

Note: The print-area overlay is purely a print hint — it is not saved with the worksheet and disappears when you create a new worksheet.

7. Workspace Layout

The worksheet is a free-form canvas, not a flowing document. Each box has an absolute position (x, y) and size (width, height).

Inserting boxes

Use the Workspace and Workspace ribbon groups on the Home tab to add MathBoxes, TextBoxes, ImageBoxes, LabelBoxes, PlotBoxes and ChartBoxes.

Moving and resizing

• Drag the border of the box to move it.
• Drag the resize thumb in the lower-right corner to resize.
• The Z-order is the order in which boxes were created — later boxes appear on top.

Selection and deletion

• Click a box to select it; its toolbar appears in the status bar at the bottom of the Ribbon Menu.

8. Anchored Boxes

A LabelBox can be anchored to any other box. The label remembers the offset to its target and follows the target whenever it is moved. This is useful for axis labels on plots, callouts on images and live readouts next to MathBoxes.

Anchors are part of the worksheet state and are restored when the file is reloaded.

9. Ribbon Groups

The ribbon at the top of the window groups related actions:

Tip: Changing values in the Font (MathBox Default) group only affects MathBoxes created after the change. Existing boxes keep their settings; edit them through their own toolbar.

10. Tips and Best Practices

• Save early and often — .rcx files are small and can be kept in version control.
• Use Print Preview before printing to verify the page layout, especially with a print area selected.
• For long calculations, group related MathBoxes vertically and add a TextBox header for context.
• For plots and charts, use anchored LabelBoxes for axis titles and result readouts.
• Use New to start a clean worksheet.

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