IBM
Contents Index Previous Next



Objects and Windows


Objects and Attributes

An object in the Type Viewer is either a type or an instance of a type. Both of these may be referred to as a type in the Type Viewer and in this chapter. For each type object, the following attributes can be presented:

You can hide or show each of the last three text items. By default, the type identifier and the type name is shown.

You can open an SDL Editor by double clicking on a symbol in the Type Viewer. If a type symbol is double clicked, an SDL Editor is opened with that type diagram. If an instance symbol is double clicked, an SDL Editor is opened with the diagram that contains the instance.

Type Viewer Windows

The Type Viewer has two windows, the list window and the Tree window, which present the type information in the system in two different ways. The main window lists the type objects without showing inheritance or redefinition relations between them, whereas the Tree window shows such relations for a type object in a tree form. Both windows can display all of the object attributes above, but in somewhat different ways.

The Main window is opened when the Type Viewer is started, whereas the Tree window is not opened initially. The general characteristics of these windows are described in User Interface and Basic Operations.

Updating the Type Viewer

When the Type Viewer is started, it extracts type information from the current system. If, for any reason, there are problems extracting type information, you are warned in a dialog and details can be found in the Organizer log window. You may update the information in the Type Viewer at any time, with the Update command.

The Type Viewer obtains the information about what types are defined in the SDL scope from the Information Server. The Information Server updates its contents each time an SDL diagram is saved. When the diagram is saved, the Analyzer is invoked and produces a mirrored image which is an SDL/PR description of the SDL/GR diagram. That information is then loaded into the Information Server which serves the Type Viewer with information upon request. All of this is done automatically without the user having to bother about performing any actions.

Error Reporting

Note:

In order to extract signal information from a diagram, the diagram needs to be syntactically correct in the sense that SDL/PR code can be generated from the SDL/GR diagram without encountering errors.

Any errors are appended to the Organizer log window. For a reference to error messages that may be produced by the Information Server, see Information Server Error Messages.


http://www.ibm.com/rational
Contents Index Previous Next