The Method ExplorerTM
When you open or create a new Non-Visual or Server-Side application, the Application Builder switches the display to show the Method Tree, Method Explorer and Source and Definition Windows. These windows give you a complete visual representation of your Java source file.
Explorer Display
The method explorer gives you a visual representation of how the constructors, globals and methods of you Java source interact with one another. This technology is the first and only of its kind or the Java developer and will save you substantial amounts of programming time since you no longer have to search manually trough the Java source code to learn its class structure. The Method Explorer does it for you.
By selecting a global in the method tree you can quickly see all the methods that access that global variable. When selecting a method you can see which globals are accessed along with the methods that this method calls. You can also see which methods call this one.
Explorer Functions
The following functions exist for the Explorer:
- Click on a plus/minus sign - show or hide the methods/globals that the method interacts with.
- Click on the text of an icon - locate this method/global in the method tree, load its definition in the definition panel and load it's source in the Source Panel.
- Click on an icon - same as clicking on the text but also centers the Explorer so this icon is the center. This has the effect of quickly be able to see all the places this item is referenced along with all the items it references.
- Clicking anywhere else - displays a popup menu with the following options
- Show/Hide Global Variables - choose whether global variables should be displayed in the explorer. Some applications have many globals and often it simplifies the understanding of the structure of your application if you can see only the methods and not the globals.
- Show/Hide Names - choose whether to display method and global names in the explorer.
- Show/Hide Descriptions - choose whether to display method and global text descriptions. By keeping these descriptions up to date you will more easily be able to understand what you have built at a later date not to mention if you have to pass your work on to someone else.
- Set horizontal spacing - choose the number of pixels to place between nodes of the Explorer. Use this to make the Explorer easier to read depending on the size of your monitor.
- Set vertical spacing - choose the number of pixels to place between nodes of the Explorer. Use this to make the Explorer easier to read depending on the size of your monitor.
- Set minimum height - If the Explorer has been positioned either North (default) or South adjusting the minimum height will affect how much of the screen it takes up and how much of the screen is left for the Source and Definition Windows.