NetAlive Documentation
NetAlive DocumentationToggles display of the toolbar.
Toggles display of the status bar.
Toggles an editing grid. When the grid is present, the mouse snaps to grid points.
Toggles display of the palette.
The palette has "compact" and "expanded" modes. Compact mode displays icons only; expanded mode includes the task's caption.
The palette appears in compact and expanded mode alternately (i. e. the sequence is off-expanded-off-compact-off-expanded-off-compact...).
Not documented fully at this time.
NetAlive supports up to 5 screen arrangements for each application. This gives some of the effect of the "document/view" architecture that predominates computer applications.
"View Next" switches to the next sequentially-numbered view.
"View-Copy n" creates copy of the current view and designates it as view n. The display switches to view n.
See view tutorial.
Switches to document view.
Document view shows the document/application as it appears to the end user. The document view is constructed from layers as follows:
Mouse actions get interpreted only when applied to widgets in document view. Mouse actions on the background are ignored.
Mouse drops may be accepted in document view. A mouse drop stops program execution and places the dropped object at the drop position.
Switch to option settings view.
Switch to constrained replacement view.
Constrained replacement view shows the application as an information flow diagram. Icons representing objects in the application get drawn on the document's surface. These icons show the type of object with a graphic of fixed-size. The placement of the task is independent of the placement of the widget, although it is good design style for the positions to be similar. Each task has a caption drawn below it indicating its purpose, and the computer the object runs on (if applicable). Arrows get drawn between tasks to indicate the flow of information through the application.
Map regions appear as rectangles in this view. Map regions are not further documented here.
Double-clicking on a task shifts to option setting view with the object indicated by the task selected.
Double-clicking on a caption shifts to the Icon and Caption dialog.
Dropping an object onto a task causes a replacement of the object -- subject to the replacement being legal. The application's designer controls which replacements are legal. Illegal replacements get rejected with an informative dialog.
While tasks cannot be moved within a document in the constrained replacement view, dragging a task onto another application invokes a constrained drag-and-drop replacement. A task may be dragged from a palette as well.
Switches to the edit document view.
Document view shows the application with end user geometry, but permits resizing and placement of objects.
The document view is constructed from layers as follows:
Mouse actions applied to widgets in edit document view effect the widget locally. Edit document forces the application to stop, so mouse actions on widgets do not get accepted by their environment.
Plain mouse drags in a resizing border move the border.
Control + mouse drags in a resizing border move the widget while keeping the size fixed.
Shift + mouse clicks in a resizing border invokes the Edit coordinates dialog.
Other mouse actions on the background get ignored.
Mouse drops may be accepted in edit document view. A mouse drop places the dropped object at the drop position.
Switch to InterTask view.
Intertask view shows and permits editing of the application' information flow diagram.
Intertask view is constructed of the following layers:
Double-clicking on a task shifts to programmer's view with the object indicated by the task selected.
Double-clicking on a caption invokes the "Icon and Caption Dialog" for the task.
Tasks and arrows may be moved by dragging them with the mouse.
Control-click in the design space creates an empty task.
Dropping an object onto a task causes a replacement of the object. Confirmation is requested if the replacement would be illegal in the constrained replacement view. Dragging a task onto another document makes it a candidate for drag-and-drop.
Switch to task definitions view.
Task definitions view displays the definitions of tasks using one of two dialogs. Refer to documentation on those dialogs.
Functional task (in progress)
Widget task (in progress)
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