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2.6.1 Defining new property types
2.6.2 Modifying existing property types
2.6.3 Data types
2.6.4 Widgets for String properties

2.6 Property Tool

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.

Property Tool

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.

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