Table of Contents
Graph window
The graph window shows a graphical representation of the blocks in the model for the current project using a box diagram. Note that this window is still under development.
To display this window select Window | Graph from the menu bar.
Building a model
Blocks are defined by right-clicking an empty area of the window. The pop-up menu will present a list of available blocks.
To connect blocks, move the mouse cursor to the label in the center of the source block. The block should now be outlined in green. Keep the left mouse button pressed, and move the mouse cursor to the target block.
Blocks can be moved by “dragging” them with the mouse. To bend an arrow, first select its label and then move the label.
Grouping blocks
Groups or sub-systems can be used to group blocks and make the graph more manageble. To create a group or sub-system, right-click on an empty area of the screen and select either Group or Sub-system from the menu.
The sub-system block can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the small ”+” or “-” sign in its corner. Expanding sub-systems in the graph can easily create a mess and it can be difficult to see which block belongs to which sub-system. An easier way is to select the sub-system from the title bar, so that only the sub-system is shown in the graph.
Title bar
The title bar has short-cuts for common tasks:
 | The drop down list is only available when the model contains sub-systems, and lets you select which sub-system to display in the graph. |
 | Zoom all. Adjusts the size of the graph to show all cells. |
 | Zoom in. Enlarges the size of the graph. |
 | Zoom out. Shrinks the size of the graph. |
Menu
The menu displays slightly different options depending on what object (if any) is selected. The table below describes all possible pop-up menu options.
| Blocks | The first buttons in the menu lets add blocks to the graph. Only buttons for blocks that are available for the specific location are presented. | |
| Edit… | Opens an edit dialog window for the selected block. Note that you can double-click a block to open the same dialog window. | |
| Connect to | … | Lets you connect the selected (source) block with another (target) block. |
| Group | Creates a group. | |
| Sub-system | Creates a sub-system. | |
| Get from library | Inserts a module from the library. See module library for more information. | |
| Add to library | Inserts the selected sub-system into the library. See module library for more information. | |
| Replace with library item | Replaces the selected sub-system with another sub-system from the library. Connections to/from the sub-system will be preserved if possible. | |
| Apply | ||
| Set background | Select a background picture for the graph. | |
| Convert… | Convert the selected blocks to related types. | |
| Enable/Disable | Enables or disables the selected blocks. | |
| Player Hide/Show | Make or unmake the selected blocks available in Ecolego player | |
| Editable/Not editable | Make or unmake the selected blocks editable | |
| Pin/unpin | Pin or unpin the selected blocks. Useful in combination with the “Pinned” search option in the title bar | |
| Toggle visibility in graph | Show or hide the selected blocks in the graph. | |
| Find/Replace references to… | Allows you to list all objects that (through their equations) reference the selected object, and also allows you to re-direct these references to another object. See replacing references for more information. | |
| Merge | Merge all the selected blocks into one. You can use this feature if you, for example, have two duplicate parameters in your model. By merging them, the first parameter will update all its empty properties with the properties of the second parameter. The second parameter will then be removed from the model, and all references to it will be changed towards the first parameter instead. | |
| Extract general variable | Creates a general variable where the selected blocks are set as available options in the variable. All references to the selected blocks are replaced by a reference to the general variable. | |
| Delete | Delete all selected cells. | |
| Convert to Group/Sub-system | Converts between group and sub-system. | |
| Destroy Sub-system | Deletes the selected group/sub-system and moves all the blocks it contains to the parent sub-system. | |
| Toggle grid | Turns on or off a grid which can help positioning blocks on the graph | |
| Print… | Prints the currently visible graph. | |
| Zoom | ||
| Zoom in | Enlarges the size of the graph. | |
| Zoom out | Shrinks the size of the graph. | |
| Restore zoom | Restores the zoom to 100% | |
| Layout | ||
| Tree | Applies a tree layout to the graph, or if the mouse cursor is within an expanded sub-system, to the sub-system graph | |
| Organic | Applies an organic layout to the graph, or if the mouse cursor is within an expanded sub-system, to the sub-system graph | |
| Hierarchical | Applies an hierarchical layout to the graph, or if the mouse cursor is within an expanded sub-system, to the sub-system graph | |
| Stack | Applies a stack layout to the graph, or if the mouse cursor is within an expanded sub-system, to the sub-system graph | |
| Navigate | ||
| Enter | Displays the graph of the selected sub-system | |
| Exit | Displays the graph of the parent of the selected sub-system | |
| Home | Displays the graph of the top level sub-system |
See also
