Purpose
The Class Browser is designed to display and edit UBIK® objects in a hierarchical manner.
It is also meant to be the superior of all other controls and the only one where at least one instance of it is actually mandatory in a UBIK Studio session. So it can be considered as the root of object manipulation in UBIK.
In addition, it makes use of Namespaces and uses them for structuring the displayed objects even further.
Basics
Appearance
Icons
Depending on the current view style, the control displays different types of UBIK® classes.
Each major class type is by default associated with a unique icon in order to provide a visual distinction of the class types. However, these icons can be replaced by more specific ones during the customization process, which means that it is not a reliable indicator whether an object is of a certain type.
The coloring of an icon indicates another object status:
- If the icon appears grey instead of its regular coloring, the respective object is considered a System Object.
- A blue triangle in the upper left corner of an icon indicates that the object is an instance of another object in the same view.
Tooltips
Hovering with the mouse over a tree node will bring up a tooltip showing:
- The system type of the respective object.
Depending on the actual type of the object, additional information may be presented in the tooltip.
Node Styles
- Bold text means that the corresponding UBIK object has been changed but not yet saved.
Strikethrough textmeans that the corresponding UBIK object was deleted somewhere outside of this control. Once you refresh the node, for example by collapsing and expanding its parent node, it will disappear.- Italic text means that the corresponding UBIK object does not derive (or instance, depending on the view mode) directly from the hierarchical parent but is inherited.
- Gray text means that the corresponding UBIK object is locked against modifications.
- Red text means that the corresponding UBIK object violates one of the rules assigned to it.
Node Texts
The nodes always display the string representation of the respective object.
By default:
MetaClasses
Name Description
Content Objects
Description (Name)
As this behavior can be customized, nodes may display different text.
Drag & Drop
The Class Browser is a source for drag-and-drop operations.
Any object, with the exception of namespaces, can be dragged from here.
Toolbar
| Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| View Style | Indicates or changes the view style of the control. Changing it reloads the control. |
| Search | Allows a visual search through the labels of the tree nodes. Found objects are highlighted accordingly. |
Context Menu
class-browser-context-menu.png
Right-clicking a node opens a standard context menu for each node except namespaces.
Depending on the selected view style, additional options may be available. All nodes provide at least the following menu items:
| Menu Item | Object Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Derive New Object | MetaClass | Creates a new derivative of the context MetaClass. |
| Navigate To | All | Opens the navigation menu. |
| Save | All | Saves changes on the object to the database. |
| Delete | All | Deletes the object from cache. It is only removed from the database after a save operation. |
| Start Workflow... | All | Provides all workflows assigned to this object, categorized. Clicking an item starts the workflow and passes the current context object. |
| Switch Branch To... | MetaClass | Opens a submenu to transfer a MetaClass, including all sub-objects, into Live Mode (Released) or back into Sandbox Mode. This option is only available for administrators in the Release State view style. System objects and objects already in the target mode are not affected. |
| Switch to Sandbox Mode / Live Mode | MetaClass | Transfers the MetaClass into Live Mode (Released) or back into Sandbox Mode. This option is only available for administrators in the Release State view style. |
View Styles
class-browser-view-styles.png
The Class Browser has three different view styles, each providing different views and functionality.
Hierarchical
In this view mode, the Derivates relation from every MetaClass deriving directly or indirectly from BaseClass is evaluated.
This is also the view style where new MetaClasses should be created by deriving from existing ones.
Inheritance
In this view mode, the Inheritance relation of all MetaClasses is evaluated.
Expanding a node displays its inheritance owner below it, which implies that there can only ever be exactly one node below another in this view.
Content
In this view mode, the Instances of all MetaClasses are evaluated.
Other Functionality
Editing Name and Description of an Object
Edit the label of any node except namespaces using F2 and press Enter when finished.
The text left of the first blank is assigned to the Name property (NAME) of the object, while the text right of the first blank is assigned to its Description property (DESCR).
If the object does not possess the NAME or DESCR property, or if it is locked, editing is not possible.
Bulk Editing Namespaces
Edit the label of a namespace node using F2 and press Enter when finished.
This attempts to set the namespace property (NAMESPACE) of all direct child objects (first level only) to the new value.