With the Design Explorer view, you
can view and modify the design of your applications. You can work
on the instances which constitute these applications: create, modify,
import/export instances, search for references, generate instances....
Here is what the
Design Explorer view
looks like, if you have selected
Folders (entities)
as the
top-level elements in the tree (selected
with the white upside-down triangle of the toolbar):
Figure 1. Design
Explorer view displaying the entities as the top-level
elements
The
Design
Explorer view contains trees.
- The first level of each tree is constituted of a location. A location
can be compared to a database. If the location is open, its name is
preceded by the
icon. If the location is closed, its name
is preceded by the
icon.
- If the location is open (to open it, right-click on it and select Open),
you can expand it and see the entity level. The number of the instances
existing in the location is displayed next to the entity.
Note: If
you have selected projects or packages as
the top-level elements, they constitute an additional level, above
the entity level.
- The third level is constituted of the instances, if any. To see
instances here, you must perform one of the following actions:
- Create instances directly in the Design Explorer view.
To do so, right-click and select or any other entity.
- Import a file containing a set of instances. To do so, right-click
and select Import.
- Load, into your local workspace, the contents of a Rational Team
Concert repository workspace filled with Pacbase instances.
To see the physical distribution of the instances into projects
and packages, you must open the Navigator view.
Creating locations or instances
If you right-click
on an open location, on any entity or instance, you can:
- Create a location ().
- Create instances (, or , ... or any other
entity available).
From the creation wizard which opens up, you
can also create a derived instance of a Program, Screen, Data Structure,
or Dialog instance by selecting
Derive. This
instance, which points to a reference instance, does not contain any
design. According to the selected derivation type, you can:
- Generate the reference instance from another Library without duplicating
its design.
- Generate the complete source code (the generated code and the
specific code) of the reference Program or Screen. The complete source
of the reference instance then becomes the generated code in the derived
instance and this generated code is reconciled with the specific code
of the derived instance.
Viewing/Modifying the design build path of the location
This
path is the hierarchy of the projects which is explored in an upward
direction in order to resolve the dynamic links and references between
the instances contained in the various projects of the current location.
To
view and modify this path, right-click on an open location and select Properties.
Importing/exporting, copying/pasting instances
If
you right-click on an open location, on any entity or instance, you
can:
- Import/export a
set of instances, grouped in a file.
- Copy and paste instances,
or delete instances.
Refreshing, rebuilding your workspace
If
you right-click on an open location, on any entity or instance, you
can:
- Refresh the workspace after updates.
- Rebuild your workspace, to make sure that
it is consistent. All the files and projects contained in your workspace
are opened. If the files contain instances, they are parsed and repaired
(the existence of the instances, their references, links to keywords...
are checked and updated if necessary).
- Rebuild the mapping between the designs and the generated
files.
Opening, renaming, moving, comparing an instance
If
you right-click on an instance (whatever the entity), you can:
- Open the instance. The instance is then
displayed in its dedicated PDP editor.
- Open the selected instance with... various
editors.
- The first editor is the design editor dedicated to the entity.
It is the default editor.
- Three other editors are also available by default: text editor,
system editor, and in-place editor. You can also add other editors
in your preferences, accessed from the Window menu, .
- Refactor the instance. You can:
- Rename the instance. The new name is automatically
propagated to all the instance links (references, keywords, instance
calls, lists...). Renaming an instance this way avoids consistency
errors.
- Move one or more selected instances to
another existing project, package, while keeping all their links (references,
keywords, instance calls...).
You can also open the comparison editor on
PDP instances by selecting
Compare in
the contextual menu. You can compare:
- Two or three instances with each other,
- Two or three versions of the same instance. These versions can
be selected from the local history or from a version stored in the
remote repository.
Note: A three way comparison is possible only if you declare
one of the instances or versions as the common ancestor.
In
the compare editor which is displayed in the editor area, you can
browse through the differences. To activate the buttons which enable
you to copy these differences, double-click on the differences in
the top pane of the comparison editor.
Searching for instances or for their references
You
can search for:
- Instances by clicking
in the toolbar, selecting
the Search menu and opening the Design
search tab.
- The instance references by right-clicking
on the instance (whatever the entity) and selecting this choice. You
can search for its super references (the instances
in which it is called), or its sub references (the
instances it calls). Selecting one of these choices makes you switch
to the References view, where the search results
are displayed.
Possible generation types
You can generate:
- The design of a selected Program or Screen:
- A Program if you right-click a Program and select ,
- A Screen if you right-click a Screen and select .
- A Server if you right-click a Server and select .
This generation produces a .cbl file, nested
under the instance in the Design Explorer view.
Right-click it and select to access the COBOL
editor and views. You can then work on the code and the design of
the instance.
- The design of a selected Database Block. To do so, right-click
on a Database Block and select . You
can then indicate where the generation result file (a .txt file)
is to be located.
- The error messages of your applications. You generate the:
- Batch error messages if you select from
a location or a Data Structure (entity or instance level).
- Online error messages if you select from a selected Dialog or Screen.
This generation produces a .txt file which
you must integrate into the error messages file used by the applications
- The COBOL descriptions of Data Structures in a file (Copybook)
if you select from a location or a Data Structure
(entity or instance level).
This file is then available for a subsequent
insertion in programs, through the use of the COPY statement.
A
single Data Structure can be used to generate several descriptions,
each one adapted to a particular need in the programs. (in the FILE
SECTION or the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION,
taking the internal and input formats into account). This generation
produces a .cpy file. To see its content, open
the Navigator view, select the appropriate project/package,
right-click on the file and select .
- The files which are to contain the code lines of one or more Macros
if you select from a location, or on a Macro
(entity or instance level). You must select this choice if you want
to:
- Enter the code lines of a Macro and if they do not exist yet.
- Overwrite the existing code lines of a Macro. These code lines
were either entered in Pacbase and
imported into RPPz (with a drag or a copy/paste) in the Navigator view,
or directly entered in RPPz. If the code lines of the Macro exist,
a message warns you that the content of the .cblgen file
is to be reinitialized.
This generation produces .cblgen files
in the Navigator view. To see the content of
a .cblgen file, open the Navigator view,
select the appropriate project/package, right-click on the file and
select or . You access the .cblgen editor
and the Macro tags tree view, in which you can
enter the Macro code lines.
Dispatching Macros
The dispatch
Macro choice is available from the location and the Macro
levels (entity and instance levels).
You select it if Macros
exist in Pacbase and
if the file produced by the Macro migration batch procedure contains
the code of more than one Macro.
If you do not select this
choice, you must put this file in the Navigator view
(with a drag or a copy/paste). Give it a .cblgen extension.
It means that this file contains the code lines of all the generated
Macros.
However if you dispatch the Macros, one .cblgen file
is automatically created for each Macro included in the Pacbase generated file.
The cblgen files are created in the packages
of the Navigator view, according to the Pacbase generation Library.
You
can right-click on one of these cblgen files
and select . Then you access the Macro tags tree and
the Macro editor, in which you can view and modify
the Macro code.
Using the migration help
The migration
help choice is available from the Program or Screen instance
level.
This function is useful when you migrate the code generated
in Pacbase to RPPz.
It sets warnings on the lines which are generated from the design
wherever it detects differences between the code generated in Pacbase and the locally
generated code.
The toolbar
The
Design Explorer view
has its own toolbar, from which you can:
- Go back (
icon). This command navigates
to the most recently displayed state of the view with a different
element at the top-level. This button becomes available when you double-click
an entity line and consequently see its instances alone in the Design
Explorer view. Clicking this button then returns the view
to the same hierarchy from which you double-clicked the entity line.
The hover help for this button tells you where it will take you.
- Go forward (
icon). This command navigates to the state of the view with
a different element at the top-level that was displayed immediately
after the current state. For example, if you have selected the back command,
then selecting the forward command in the resulting
display returns the view to the same hierarchy from which you activated
the back command. The hover help for this button
tells you where it will take you.
- Go up (
icon). This command navigates to the location level. The
hover help for this button tells you where it will take you.
- Expand all (
icon). This command expands all the tree nodes in the Design
Explorer view
- Collapse All (
icon). This command collapses all the tree nodes
in the Design Explorer view
- Link with Editor (
icon). This command links the active editor to
its corresponding instance in the tree of the Design Explorer view.
If this button is not clicked, changing the active editor does not
update the selection, in the tree of the Design Explorer view,
to the instance being edited.
- Change the sort and display of instances in the Design
Explorer view. Click the white upside-down triangle icon
and select:
- Top-level elements to indicate which element
type is to constitute the top of the hierarchy in each location tree:
folders (default value, represented by the entity types), packages
or projects.
- Sort to specify a new sort criterion: by
name (default), package or project.
- Display to display additional information
about each instance line in the tree: package, project, label. You
can combine the three choices. If you want to remove one of the selected
information from the line, select it again in the menu.
This new setting is then automatically saved and associated with
the Design Explorer view, until you change it
again.