How to? XENO Align Cyclic confusion

[Gwumpy]

After using the align cyclic window to create a shape I like I closed the window to color.
Upon reopening the align cyclic window expecting to continue where I left off, I was confused why the shape changed and I'm confused as to get the values back to were I left off.
I found the only way to get to where I wanted was to start from scratch.
Is there a button I missed?  I tried unchecking reorient after undoing back to the shape I left off on but that wasn't it.

Thanks in advance

[Garth Thornton]

When you reopen Align Cyclic, click the Last button to reload all the settings, then it should carry on from where you left off. Otherwise it automatically calculates Range and Center values but uses defaults for others, and the automatic center values may not be the same for Rotation.

Also, you can keep Align Cyclic open while you adjust color.

[Gwumpy]

Go it. My better understanding opened up more questions.

Upon opening Align Cyclic window again the Last button did reposition everything although I was still confused at first.
The numbers didn't seem right until I realized I needed to change the Align option to where I had left off, pressing the Last button again.
Why were the numbers changed upon reopening?

What still didn't make since was the Add holons had reset to zero. Which makes since because I had already added the holons so It wouldn't show there.
I remembered I could see the total number of holons in the 'sel' and 'of' box but that still only gave me total number of holons instead of the number I had just previously added.
Is there a way to see which holons I had previously added?
I looked up, and found, the Holon Info List but since all the holons I previously added in the Align Cyclic window were the same it left me thinking I would have to remember or keep my own log when using the Add holons function in the future.

[Gwumpy]

I played with the Nearest button a little.
Is this just selecting the nearest holon?
Do the check boxes in a column underneath it correspond to the nearest button or if its to the rows - then what do the checkboxes on and off mean?
Do the check boxes effect any functionality of the randomize buttons?

[Garth Thornton]

Upon opening Align Cyclic window again the Last button did reposition everything although I was still confused at first.
The numbers didn't seem right until I realized I needed to change the Align option to where I had left off, pressing the Last button again.
Why were the numbers changed upon reopening?

What still didn't make since was the Add holons had reset to zero.  Which makes since because I had already added the holons so It wouldn't show there.
I remembered I could see the total number of holons in the 'sel' and 'of' box but that still only gave me total number of holons instead of the number I had just previously added.
Is there a way to see which holons I had previously added?
I looked up, and found, the Holon Info List but since all the holons I previously added in the Align Cyclic window were the same it left me thinking I would have to remember or keep my own log when using the Add holons function in the future.

When you open Align Cyclic, the default action is to assume you haven't already opened it, so it calculates values to suit the default, which is different from whatever you did last. So you have to press Last if that's what you want.

Align Cyclic uses the currently selected holons, or you can start with just the active holon and use the Add control. After you have used Add, all those holons are still selected. If you open Align Cyclic again, it will use the same holons (click Last to use the same settings.) Add shows 0 because those holons already exist now. The holons you previously added are the selected holons. (You can use Selection memory spots to store and recall selections if you want to make other changes in the meantime.)

[Garth Thornton]

I played with the Nearest button a little.
Is this just selecting the nearest holon?
Do the check boxes in a column underneath it correspond to the nearest button or if its to the rows - then what do the checkboxes on and off mean?
Do the check boxes effect any functionality of the randomize buttons?

Choose the Nearest option to keep the holons in the order nearest to their original parameter values, otherwise they are aligned in order of holon number. Nearest makes no difference for holons being added, but it does affect changes to existing holons.

The checkboxes select which parameters will be randomized. They are not connected to Nearest or anything else.

[Gwumpy]

"You can use Selection memory spots to store and recall selections if you want to make other changes in the meantime."
Nice, that's helpful

I actually was going to ask about Selection memory spots today when going through the Cubic symmetries tutorial. For the future should I start a new thread since the subject is changing?
I found the Selection memory spots but don't remember learning about them. I reviewed Adding, selecting, deleting holons and surprised it was there either.
Once I tinkered around I found it in the Holon toolbar and it is pretty much self explanatory.

[Garth Thornton]

You should start a new thread for a substantial new question but not necessarily for a quick question arising in another thread.
The tutorials weren't meant to cover everything and weren't all planned out in advance.

There are limitations with selection spots to be aware of. They store the holon indexes, so if you delete any holons then spots can select different holons from what they had before. So they're most useful in the short term or after you've made a shape. They are included in parameter files so it can be useful to have different selections saved for making changes when the shape has many holons.