All other types (graphs, objects, ports, roles and
relationships) have properties that specify what information can be attached to
them. The Property Tool
is a tool for creating and
modifying these properties. The Property Tool can be opened by selecting
Metamodel | Property Tool in the MetaEdit+ Launcher, by pressing the
Property Tool button in the launcher toolbar, or by adding and viewing property
definitions in other metamodeling tools.
Figure 2–16. Property Tool.
Figure 2–16 shows a Property Tool. On
top we have the Name, Ancestor and Project fields that are familiar to us from
other metatools. Below them there is a
Data Type
pull-down list, which enables the selection of the type of
the contents of the property. The data types are discussed in more detail in the
next section. The
Widget pull-down list is enabled only for string
properties and defines how the string field will appear in property windows.
With string and number data types you can enter a default value for the property
in the
Default Value field. In the
Value Regex field you can enter
a regular expression
against which the property’s
value will be matched. Non-matching values entered by modelers will be rejected
and a warning about this will be shown. For more information about regular
expressions in MetaEdit+, see Appendix A: Regular Expressions.
The Property Tool also has a
Set Open Filter
toolbar button that allows you to restrict type selection for the
Open
command to property types with a specific data type or widget. If no filter is
given, the type selection list dialog shown by
Open includes all property
types.