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Preferences Manager User Interface


Figure 57 : The Preference Manager window

The items that build up the Preferences Manager window are:

Tree Area

The tree area displays the tools that obey to the preference mechanism in the tools and their respective preference parameters. The notation uses a graphical approach featuring a tree with icons symbolizing the various items that are managed by the tool.

Figure 58 : Node in the tree area

Node Syntax

Each node in the tree represents either a:

Note:

The Preference Manager only supports the SDL Suite tools, and the common tools. See Customizing the TTCN Suite (on UNIX), for information about how to customize the TTCN Suite on UNIX.

Example 13 : A Line in the Preferences Window

Given the following line in the Preferences window, with all View Options turned "on":

Figure 59 : A line in the Preferences window

The information on the line in Figure 59 should be interpreted as:

Item Interpretation

The icon informing that the preference parameter is a boolean parameter (0/1, false/true or off/on parameter.

Editor*SymbolMenu

The name of the preference parameter, consisting of

  • the name of the tool it affects, Editor
  • the name of the parameter, SymbolMenu

Separated with an asterisk

off

The current value for the parameter.

(off)

The saved value for the parameter.

((on))

The default value for the parameter.

[User]

The parameter's source, in this case the parameter is defined by the user.

Show the symbol 
menu

The parameter's description, i.e. what tool property the parameter affects.

The tree is a visualization of the merged preference parameters, supplied from different sources (see Search Order When Reading Preference Parameters), as the tools will perceive them. Furthermore, each node in the tree can be collapsed or expanded (see Collapse) in order to reduce or extend the amount of information that is visible, thus facilitating the work with the tool. It is also possible to filter the information that is displayed with respect to various view options (see View Options).

Dirty Notification

When a preference parameter is modified but not saved, this is indicated by the icon appearance changing from a light color to a gray pattern. The parent tool node and the root node are also marked as dirty when any parameter is changed.

Figure 60 : Nodes marked as dirty

The Interface Area

The interface section located under the tree view is where values are edited in an Edit Area. The type of Edit Area varies with the type of value selected.

There are different types of preference parameters:

Icon Edit Area

Textual Preference

    • The preference parameter is edited as a text string.

Option Menu Preference

    • The preference parameter may be selected from a number of predefined values in the option menu.1

Option Menu Textual Preference

    • The preference parameter may be selected from a number of predefined values in the option menu.a An alternative is to type in the value into the text field, which grants access to not predefined values.

Font Preference (Windows only)

    • The font must be selected by clicking the folder button, which opens a Microsoft Windows Font dialog. It is not possible to edit the text field to the left of the folder button.
    • In the dialog, all fonts in the system are listed. It is also possible to select font style and size, but these values have no effect; only the specified font name is used.
    • Any font name can be entered by editing the Font text field in the font dialog. This possibility is useful when setting a font for printing that is not available in the system, but exists on the printer.
    • The three font names "Times", "Helvetica" and "Courier" are recognized. These are translated into the TrueType fonts Times New Roman, Arial and Courier New, respectively.
    • When using other fonts than the three mentioned above for printing, the preference Print*DestinationFormat should be set to MSWPrint to get the best result for symbols that are adjusted to the text size.

Boolean Preference

    • The value is changed by clicking the corresponding radio button.

Ranged Integer Preference

    • The preference parameter may be assigned any integer value within the range supported by the slide bar.

File Preference

    • The preference parameter may be assigned any file name, entered as a text string into the text field or selected in a dialog issued by the folder button.

Directory Preference

    • The preference parameter may be assigned any directory name, entered as a text string into the text field or selected in a dialog issued by the folder button.

Color Menu Preference

    • The preference parameter may be selected from a number of predefined values in the option menu.
1

When the mouse pointer is moved over a value in the option menu, a short description of the value is printed in the status bar. Values whose description starts with "(UNIX only)" or "(Windows only)" should only be selected on a UNIX system or a Windows system, respectively.

Selecting a parameter and editing its value with the provided UI device changes its value. The parameter's icon is set as dirty (see Dirty Notification).


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