Graphical Displays: Object Viewer

The Object Viewer provides a way to view and alter the contents of the C structures representing the network and the example sets. The entry below the button bar is the name of the object being viewed. This will be empty for the current network. However, if there is no current network, the root structure is the top of the object tree. This is explained a bit more in the section on objects.

Typing a new object path and pressing Enter will go to that object. Alternately, you may click on the buttons for sub-objects or use the pull-down menus for arrays of sub-objects to traverse the network tree. The information displayed in the Object Viewer is not automatically updated, except in rare cases for values that also appear on the main window.

The buttons at the top of the display have the following effects:

Jumps to the current network (or the root if there is no current network).

Jumps to the parent of the currently displayed object. If the path is group(3).unit(2) it will change to group(3).

Jumps to the immediate parent of the currently displayed object. This has the same effect as the previous button unless the object is an element of an array, in which case the actual array will be loaded. Thus, group(3).unit(2) will become group(3).unit.

If the object is an element of an array, this goes to the previous element. Thus, group(3).unit(2) will become group(3).unit(1).

If the object is an element of an array, this goes to the next element. Thus, group(3).unit(2) will become group(3).unit(3).

Reloads the current object. This is frequently necessary as the Object Viewer does not automatically update itself.

Some fields in the network are write-protected, but many can be changed. To do this, just click in the entry box for the field, edit the value, and press Enter. The changes won't take effect until Enter is pressed. Tab will advance to the next entry.

The Object Viewer may be resized vertically. There can be multiple Object Viewers open at once, allowing you to view different parts of the network simultaneously.

The layout of the Object Viewer may not be quite right depending on the font that you use and the resolution of your display. This can be fixed in the .lensrc file.