This topic describes the editor area and the canvas of the flow
editor.
The
following sections describe the functions of the editor area and canvas:
Editor area
The editor area is
the viewport through which the flow editor's canvas can be seen. The Overview
Mode of the Outline view shows a zoomed-out image of both viewport and canvas
(see Outline view).
Canvas
The
canvas is the surface on which the nodes and connections are displayed.
The
Overview Mode of the Outline view is very useful for viewing the entire canvas
when the canvas grows beyond the bounds of the editor area (see Outline view).
Marking rectangle
To
mark a group of nodes, use the mouse to draw a rectangle around the nodes
that you want to include in the group. When you have finished drawing the
rectangle:
- The marking rectangle disappears.
- The nodes included within the rectangle are decorated to show that they
belong to a group.
- The Show Distribute Box
icon on the
toolbar is enabled. You can click this icon to display a bounding rectangle
enclosing the group.
To end the grouping, click the mouse anywhere on the canvas.
You
can perform the following operations on a group:
- You can use the mouse to drag the group to a new location.
- If the distribute box is displayed, you can resize the box to include
or exclude nodes.
- You can Align the nodes in the group within the bounding rectangle (see Align options).
- You can Distribute the nodes in the group within the bounding rectangle
(see Distribute options).
The Overview Mode of the Outline view is very useful for viewing
the entire canvas when the canvas grows beyond the bounds of the editor area
(see Outline view).
Appearance
of Invoke screen operation nodes
This option, which is available only
through the
Toggle Terminal Thumbnails/Icons 
icon on the flow editor's toolbar (see
Toolbar)
switches the appearance of Invoke screen operation nodes on the flow editor's
canvas between two styles,
as shown in the following table:
Table 1. Appearance of Invoke screen operation nodes| Style: |
Appearance: |
| Normal style |
The flow editor displays each Invoke screen operation
node as an icon: |
| Embedded host screen style |
The flow editor displays each Invoke screen operation
node using a white-on-black thumbnail of the application screen associated
with the input terminal of the node. |
Remember:
- These two styles affect only Invoke screen operation nodes.
- In the embedded host screen style (the second style in the table above),
the flow editor displays the thumbnail of the application screen associated
with the input terminal of the node.
Note: In the embedded host screen style, the thumbnail of an application
screen associated with the
output node of an Invoke screen operation
node and the
input terminal of some other type of node (such as Output,
Reply, Invoke flow, and so on) is not displayed instead of the other type
of node (Output, Reply, Invoke flow, and so on). However, you can display
a thumbnail of this application screen by hovering the mouse over the output
terminal of the Invoke screen operation node (see
Hovering over a terminal).
Hovering
over an Invoke node
Hovering the mouse pointer over an Invoke nonterminal
node,
an Invoke outbound Web service node, or an Invoke screen
operation node causes the flow editor to display information about the Invoke
node,
as shown in the following table:Table 2. Hovering over an Invoke node| Type of Invoke node: |
Information displayed: |
| Plain Invoke node |
Node name |
| Invoke nonterminal node |
- Node name
- Associated operation and WSDL file
|
| Invoke Web outbound service node |
- Node name
- Associated operation and WSDL file
|
| Invoke screen operation node |
- Node name
- Associated screen operation and WSDL file
|
Hovering over a terminal
Hovering
the mouse pointer over an input terminal or output terminal of a node (

)
causes the flow editor to display information about the message associated
with the terminal:
- For a terminal associated with a regular message (that is, a message that
is edited with the flow message editor), the flow editor opens a popup that
displays:
- The name of the message file.
- The name of the message.
- The names of the message elements in the message.
- For a terminal associated with a screen message (which is edited with
the screen message editor), the flow editor displays a large thumbnail of
the application screen associated with that terminal.
Double-clicking a terminal causes the flow editor to invoke the
appropriate message editor to open the message associated with the terminal
(see Double-click options).
Double-click
options
Double-clicking a terminal or an Invoke node causes the
flow editor to automatically open the appropriate window or an editor. The
following table describes these double-click functions:
Table 3. Double-click
options| Node or part of node: |
Description: |
The editor or window that is opened automatically: |
|
An input or output terminal, when the terminal has been
associated with a message (either a nonterminal message or a screen message) |
The appropriate message editor is opened: either the
flow message editor or the screen message editor. |
|
An Invoke node |
The Select Operation window is opened. |
|
An Invoke nonterminal node that has an associated operation |
The operation editor is opened with the associated operation
selected. |
|
An Invoke outbound Web service node
that has an associated operation |
The operation editor is opened with
the associated operation selected. |
|
An Invoke screen operation node that has an associated
operation |
The screen operations editor is opened with the associated
operation selected. |
|
An Invoke flow node |
The flow to be invoked is opened in another instance
of the flow editor on a separate editor page. |
Drag
options
You can perform some actions much more quickly by dragging
an icon from the EST Project Explorer either to the flow editor canvas or
to a node on the flow editor canvas.
These actions are also available
on the Flow menu (see Flow menu) or
the Contextual menu (see Contextual menu). The
following table describes the drag options:
Table 4. Drag options| Action: |
Icon to drag: |
Destination: |
Corresponding action on Flow menu or contextual
menu: |
| Associating an operation with a flow (see Associating an operation with the flow) |
An operation in an interface definition subproject |
Flow editor canvas |
Select Operation, Select Interface Operation |
Creating one of the following from an existing operation:- Invoke nonterminal node
- Invoke outbound Web service node
- Invoke screen operation node
(see Creating an Invoke node directly from an existing operation) |
- An operation in a nonterminal applications subproject
- An operation in an outbound Web services subproject
- A screen operation in a terminal applications subproject
|
Flow editor canvas |
Add Operation |
Converting a plain Invoke node to one of the following:- Invoke nonterminal node
- Invoke outbound Web service node
- Invoke screen operation node
(see Associating an operation with a plain Invoke node |
- An operation in a nonterminal applications subproject
- An operation in an outbound Web services subproject
- A screen operation in a terminal applications subproject
|
Plain Invoke node |
Select Operation |
| Creating an Invoke flow node from an existing flow (see Creating an Invoke flow node directly from an existing flow) |
A flow in a Flows folder Restriction: The
name cannot contain double-byte characters.
|
Flow editor canvas |
Add Subflow |
| Converting a plain Invoke node to an Invoke flow node
(see Associating a flow with a plain Invoke node) |
A flow in a Flows folder |
Plain Invoke node |
Select Subflow |