4.2.1 Matrices
Opening graphs with the Matrix Editor:
To open a Matrix Editor:
| 1) | Select
Edit | Matrix Editor... in the
Launcher. |
Figure 4–30. A dialog for selecting a graph.
| 2) | Select
a graph from the dialog that will appear (Figure 4–30), and click
OK. |
| 3) | Select
the desired representation from the dialog that appears, and click OK. If
you want to make a new representation select ‘Create new Matrix’.
This selection opens the selected graph but allows you to make a different
representation version of it. Thus, you can have a different layout and subset
of the objects in the
graph. |
 | The
dialog for representation selection does not necessarily appear. It depends on
the representations available and the current dialog options (see Section 3.1.3 Options
Tool). |
| By
keeping Shift pressed during the open operation, you can open the graph
without locking it. This is especially useful in a multi-user environment when
you just want to view the graph and allow another user to change it at the same
time. |
The Matrix Editor will open,
sized to show the whole matrix if possible. There are also many other ways to
open a matrix, e.g. selecting a graph and choosing
Open As Matrix... in a
browser, selecting
Graph | View | Open as Matrix... in another editor, or
selecting an object in another editor and choosing to open its
subgraph.
Creating matrixes
To create a new matrix:
| 1) | Select
Edit | Matrix Editor in the
Launcher. |
| 2) | Select
the last item, ‘Create new graph’, from the dialog, and click
OK.
|
| 3) | Choose a
graph type from the list (Figure
4–31), check the Matrix radio button and press OK. A property
dialog opens for the new graph.
|
| 4) | Fill in
the properties and press OK and an empty Matrix Editor will open on the
new graph. |
Figure 4–31. Selecting a graph type to create.
Managing matrices
As in all editors in MetaEdit+, the Graph menu allows
users to create, open and edit graphs. For example, the same function that was
previously used to open a matrix can be accessed from Graph | Open... as
well. Similarly, a new matrix can be created by selecting Graph | New...
and following the instructions above.
To edit the properties of the graph itself select
Graph
| Properties..., and a property dialog for the graph will appear. In the
dialog, the properties of the graph can be edited and modifications accepted by
clicking
OK. See Section
3.3.1
for more information on property dialogs.
The Matrix Editor also includes a menu selection
Graph
| Matrix Info... that opens a dialog showing detailed
information about the matrix. An example of the matrix information dialog is
shown in
Figure 4–32. To access
the Info Tool for the graph, select
Graph | Graph Info... (see Section
3.3.3). For element info, select
Edit
| info....
Figure 4–32. Matrix information dialog.
The Graph
menu also includes functions to view a matrix-based graph in other tools of
MetaEdit+. The functions in the
Graph | View submenu open this graph in
the chosen editor or Graph Browser.
Printing a matrix
To print the matrix select
Graph | Print.... You are
first asked for the printer, then for the scale of the printout or how many
pages you want to print over. By default, printing is of the whole used area of
the matrix on a single page. Printing is described in more detail in Section
5.1.
Often, a better option than printing for large matrices is
to export the matrix to a word processor or spreadsheet, as described below, and
format and print it from there.
Generating code and documentation
To generate code or documentation:
| 1) | Select
Graph | Generate....
|
| 2) | Choose a
generator from the list dialog and press
OK. |
After you have selected a
generator, the tool runs it and opens a window showing the generator output, or
a list of the file(s) to which generator output has been
sent.
Exporting a matrix
To export the matrix as tab-separated ASCII or as an HTML
table select
Graph | Export to | ASCII Table or
Graph | Export to |
HTML Table. These export functions open a generator output tool from which
the matrix can be saved into a file or copied directly into an external program
such as a word processor, spreadsheet or HTML
editor.
Closing a Matrix Editor
To exit the Matrix Editor select
Graph | Exit or use
some other platform dependent closing mechanism: e.g. on Windows, click the X in
the top-right corner of the
window.
