The context menu in the Code Area
- This article or section documents the current version of Scratch (version 3.0). For this article in Scratch 1.4, see Context Menu (1.4).
A context menu is a menu which provides extra options about an item, which are accessed by right-clicking or control-clicking, depending on the operating system.
Menus
Scratch has the following context menu options for different parts of the User Interface:
Code Area
- Undo — Reverts the last change to the code. Can also be accessed using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z.
- Redo — Repeats the change that was most recently undone. Can also be accessed using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Z.
- Clean up Blocks — Organizes oddly placed scripts. Scratch will order them vertically in the code area, with a slight space in between each.
- Add Comment — Allows for a user to type notes or helpful comments in a convenient area, usually explaining how their scripts work. The user can also adjust the width and height of the comment. Despite all of their help, comments greatly slow a project's speed, so they are sometimes avoided or placed detached from their wanted places in their script.[citation needed] This option was created as a replacement for the comment block in Scratch 1.2 beta. It was removed because it confused users; it had no effect on a sprite's scripts. After much protesting of its removal on the Scratch Website,[citation needed] the current comment feature was introduced in Scratch 1.3.
- Delete Blocks — Deletes all blocks from the code area.
Past Versions
- Save picture of scripts — Allowed for a user to save a picture of all the scripts in the code area. This option opened a file browser, which allowed a user to choose where in their system they would like to place the image, which might be shrunken if necessary. It was a .GIF file.
Blocks
The "edit" option in the Define () block's context menu
- Duplicate — Duplicates all blocks in the stack below that block. If in a C Block, duplicates until the end of the C mouth. Does not appear for Define () blocks, as having multiple definitions for a single block could cause unexpected behavior.
- Add Comment — Adds a comment that is connected to the block by a colored line.
- Delete Block — Deletes the selected block, and any blocks within it.
- The Define () block and each custom block has an "Edit" option to change the parameters of the block.
- Each variable or list Reporter Block has options to replace it with another variable or list.
- Variable and list reporters also have "Rename" and "Delete" options. These only appear if the block is in the Block Palette.
Past Versions
- Help — Opened the "help" dialog for that block. This was the only option while the block was in the block palette.
- Custom blocks had a "define" option that would scroll to the place where the block was defined.
- On some blocks, such as () + (), () - (), () * (), or () / (), the block label could be switched to a different block with the same number of inputs.
Costumes
- Duplicate — Adds a new copy of this costume to the sprite.
- Export — Exports the costume as a file on the user's computer.
- Delete — Removes this costume from the sprite's list of costumes.
Past Versions
- Turn into new sprite — Removed the costume from the current sprite, and added it to a new one, with no other costumes, scripts, or sounds.
Sounds
- Duplicate — Adds a new copy of this sound to the sprite.
- Export — Exports the sound as a file on the user's computer.
- Delete — Removes this sound from the sprite's list of sounds.
Sprite Thumbnails
- Duplicate — Creates a copy of the sprite.
- Export — Exports the sprite as a
.sprite3file on the user's computer. In Scratch 2.0, this was called "save to local file". - Delete — Deletes the sprite.
Past Versions
- Info — Displayed the sprite info.
- Show — Made the sprite visible. In Scratch 2.0, this option behaved like the Show block. In Scratch 1.x, it did multiple things:
- If the hide block had been activated, it showed the sprite.
- If the ghost Graphic Effect was above 70, it set it to 0.
- If the Size was less than 10%, it is set to 100%.
- If the absolute value of the Y Position was greater than 180, or the absolute value of the X Position was greater than 240 (i.e. the costume center was off of the coordinates of the stage), it moved to (0, 0).
- If it was not on the top Layer, it moved to the top.
- Hide — Same as the Hide block.
- Save to server — It is unknown what exactly this did, or how. This feature was added in Scratch 2.0.
Sprites on the Stage
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
The context menu of sprites in the stage was removed in Scratch 3.0. The "info", "duplicate", "delete", and "save to local file" options were here as well.
- Grab screen region for new costume — Allowed an area of the stage or the Scratch user interface to be selected to become a new costume for the sprite.
- Resize this sprite — created a handle to drag and resize the sprite. Dragging left would shrink it and dragging right would grow it.
- Rotate this sprite — created a handle to rotate the sprite.
Stage
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
The context menu of the stage was removed in Scratch 3.0.
- Grab screen region for new sprite — Allowed an area of the stage or the Scratch user interface to be selected to become a costume for a new sprite.
- Save picture of stage — Saves a screenshot of the stage as it is to the user's computer.
Variable Monitors
- Normal readout — Switches to the normal look.
- Large readout — Switches to the large look, only showing the value.
- Slider — Switches to the slider look for variables, which allows the user to change the value by moving the slider.
- Change slider range (variables in slider mode only) — Sets the range of the slider. By default, it is from 0 to 100.
- Hide — Hides the Stage Monitor.
List Monitors
- Import — Imports a
.txtfile as a list, overwriting all previous content. - Export — Exports the list to a
.txtfile, putting each item on a new line. - Hide — Hides the Stage Monitor.
Look
In Scratch 3.0, context menus have a white background and their edges are slightly rounded. They are larger than in Scratch 2.0.
Scratch 2.0
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
The style of these menus changed with the release of Scratch 2.0. They were more rectangularly shaped, without rounded corners. They were also color-coded. For blocks, it showed in the color of the block. For other things, they were gray.
Other Menus
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
Other menus in the Scratch 1.x series shared the look of context menus; for example, menus in the File/Edit/Share/Help menus, and also Shift-Click-R.
Shift-Click
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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
In the Scratch 2.0 pre-alpha and early versions of the alpha, the context menu was only available through shift-clicking. This is because the Adobe Flash context menu opened upon right-clicking. Eventually, the Scratch Team found a way to have the Flash menu hide as soon as the mouse is let go of, but the Scratch menu stay until a further click. They did not want to completely disable the Flash menu as Scratchers might need it, such as to check their version of Flash, or to change settings.[citation needed]
External Links
- Context menus on Wikipedia
