GEF Programmer’s Guide
org.eclipse.gef
-
Overview - Description of the "big picture"
-
When to Use - How can GEF and the Eclipse Platform be used
-
EditParts - An introduction to primary building block of GEF
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Graphical View - How to create a Graphical View of your Model
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Editing and Edit Policies - Adding editing support to your Graphical View
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Editpart Lifecycle - Interesting events to know about
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Interactions - the GEF interactions and the players involved
Overview
Draw2d focuses on efficient painting and layout of figures. The GEF plug-in adds editing on top of Draw2d. The purpose of this framework is to:
-
Facilitate the display of any model graphically using draw2d figures
-
Support interactions from mouse, keyboard, or the Workbench
-
Provide common components related to the above
The diagram below shows a high-level view of GEF. GEF can be loosely defined as the region in the middle. The framework provides the link between an application’s model and view. It also provides input handlers, such as tools and actions, that turn events into requests. Requests and Commands are used to encapsulate interactions and their effects on the model.
In MVC (model-view-controller) design, the controller is often the only connection between the view and the model. The controller is responsible for maintaining the view, and for interpreting UI events and turning them into operations on the model. These roles as they apply to GEF are described below:
Model
The model is any data that gets persisted. Any model can be used with GEF. The model must have some sort of notification mechanism. Although not technically the model, commands are closely related. A command is how the model is modified in a way that can be undone and redone by the user. In general, commands should work only on the model itself.
View (Figures/TreeItems)
The view is anything visible to the user. Both Figures and TreeItems can be used as view elements.
Controller (EditPart)
There is usually one controller per visualized model object. The controller is called an
EditPart
. Editparts are the link between the model and the view. They are also responsible for editing. Editparts contain helpers called EditPolicies, which handle the much of the editing task.
Viewers
An
EditPartViewer
is where editparts display their view. There are two types of viewers provided in GEF. A graphical viewer hosts figures while a tree viewer displays native treeitems. GEF viewers are similar to JFace viewers in that they manage an SWT Control. Viewers are also a selection provider, and the unit of selection is the EditPart.
When can I use GEF?
GEF can be used anywhere that you can use an SWT Control inside a Workbench. It could be an editor, a view, a wizard page, etc. Most commonly it is used inside an EditorPart and sometimes in that editor’s outline page.
GEF requires the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) and the "views"
plug-in (org.eclipse.ui.views
), which provides property sheet support.
An Introduction to EditParts
Editparts associate their view and model, but they also form their own structure. An editpart maintains children. Usually this corresponds to a similar containment found in the model. For example, the model may consist of a diagram containing nodes. There would then be a corresponding diagram editpart which contains multiple node editpart children.
The parent-child relationship of editparts carries over into their figures. The parent’s figure will contain the children’s figures. Or, in some cases the parent part’s view is a compound view composed of several figures, one of which is designated as the content pane. The figure of each child is added to the content pane. The end result is that you have three separate hierarchical data structures which are approximately parallel to each other.
Connections are the exception to this simple tree structure. Connections represent a link or association between two objects. A Draw2d connection figure is used as the view. Connections may be stored in any way in the model, but the editparts are managed by the source and target editpart at each end. A connection editpart’s figure containment is also handled specially. The connection figure is added to a special layer in the diagram so that it paints above the primary layer containing non-connection parts.
There are two types of editpart implementations provided with GEF. Graphical editparts use figures as their view. Graphical editparts also add the ability to support connections, which themselves are graphical editparts. The other type is a tree editpart. Tree editparts use SWT treeitems as their view.
The responsibilities of each editpart include:
-
Create and maintain a view (whether figure or treeitem)
-
Create and maintain children editparts
-
Create and maintain connections editparts
-
Support editing of the model
Note that maintaining the view and other editparts implies that the editpart will be notified of changes in the model. Usually, the editpart hooks a listener directly to the model object(s) with which it is associated. When it receives notification, it updates its view or structure depending on the change.
As the name implies, editparts must support editing the model. But first we will focus on the initial steps of building an application, which is to display the initial model.
Creating a Graphical View of a Model
Once you have a model and some figures with which to view it, the next step is to put the pieces together. This means creating the editparts that are going to work with each model and figure combination. GEF’s implementations are abstract and must be extended for your application. But first, we need to set up the foundation.
GEF includes the class ScrollingGraphicalViewer
. This is a viewer
implementation which uses a Draw2d FigureCanvas
. Most applications
use this viewer unless, for some reason, scrollbars are not needed. The
next step is to decide which root editpart to use. Each editpart
viewer requires a special editpart called the root. This editpart does
not correspond to anything in the model. Its function is to setup the
viewer and provide a uniform context for all of the application’s "real"
editparts. There are two implementations to consider using:
-
ScalableRootEditPart
- provides the standard set of layers and supports zoom should the application decide to expose this to the user. -
ScalableFreeformRootEditPart
- similar to above, but all of the layers conform to the freeform interface, which allows the diagram to additionally extend into negative coordinates (to the left and up). This is the most flexible and commonly used root editpart.
Now we have a viewer and its root editpart, so next we’ll actually set
some contents into the viewer. Contents refers to the base model
object that seeds the viewer with the graphical diagram being displayed.
The viewer’s EditPartFactory
is then responsible for taking the
contents and constructing the appropriate editpart, which is then set on
the root editpart. Its figure gets added to the root’s. At that point
the contents editpart will construct its children editparts, reusing the
viewer’s factory, which in turn then create their children and/or
connections, etc., until all of the editparts and their views have been
created.
Implementing the Contents EditPart
So the first implementation you will need to write is the contents
editpart. You’ll also need to implement a factory which recognizes the
contents model object and constructs this editpart. This part’s figure
provides the backdrop for the rest of the diagram. Usually it doesn’t
even need to paint, but you still need to choose the layout manager and
the figure type based on the root editpart. To control which figure gets
created, override createFigure()
. When using a freeform root, the
contents figure must implement the freeform API. The FreeformLayer
figure will suffice. The layout manager is often the XYLayout
or the
FreeformLayout
, again depending on whether the root is freeform or
not.
During initialization, the contents editpart will construct its children
based on the list returned when calling getModelChildren()
on itself.
Editparts should override this method to return the list of objects in
the model for which child editparts should be created. By default,
editparts go back to the viewer’s factory to create each child.
Implementing the Children EditParts
The children of the diagram, sometimes called nodes, usually display
some information to the user. Their figures may be one of the default
provided figures, a custom figure, or a composition of multiple figures.
During the population of the viewer, each editpart will have its
refreshVisuals()
method called. This method is responsible for
reflecting the model’s properties in the view. Editparts must override
this method based on the model and figure they work with. In complex
cases this method can be factored out into several smaller helper
methods. Later, when we start listening to model changes, this method or
its helpers may be invoked again.
If a child of the diagram is also a parent with its own children, it
needs to override getModelChildren()
in the same manner that the
diagram editpart did.
Adding Connection EditParts
Connections are special editparts that connect any two editparts in a
diagram. An editpart is called a node if it can be the source or
target of a connection. The connections are created and managed in a
shared way by both of its source and target nodes. Each node in the
diagram must override getModelSourceConnections()
and
getModelTargetConnections()
to return the model objects representing
the connections. GEF then checks to see if the connection editpart has
already been created (by the other node at the other end), and if not it
asks the factory to create the connection editpart. The source node is
responsible for activating and adding the connection figure to the
diagram.
A connection editpart’s figure must be a Draw2d Connection
. The
connection editpart attempts to set its figure’s anchors by casting the
source and target nodes to a NodeEditPart
. The source and target must
return the appropriate anchors or default anchors with bogus fixed
locations will be used instead.
In many ways connections are just like other editparts. They typically have properties in their model that must be visualized. They may even themselves have children or be nodes to other connections.
Summary
So far we have focused on just displaying a model graphically. This
requires that you extend AbstractGraphicalEditPart
and override
behavior based on each part’s model. Here is a summary of the methods
discussed:
-
createFigure()
- this method creates the editpart’s view, or figure. This method does not reflect the model’s state in the figure. That is done in refreshVisuals() -
refreshVisuals()
- this method reflects model attributes in the view. Complex editparts may further decompose this method into several helper methods. -
getModelChildren()
- this method is called to determine if there are model elements for which children editparts should be created. -
getModelSource/TargetConnections()
- similar to children, but model elements returned here indicate connections for which the editpart is the source or target.
Editing and EditPolicies
Once you have some editparts displayed it’s time to start editing. Editing is usually the most complex task an editpart performs. Editing includes not only making changes to the model, but also showing graphical feedback during interactions with the view. To abstract away the source of interaction, GEF uses a request. Tools or other UI interpreters will create requests and then call the various API on EditPart based on the interaction. A subset of the EditPart API is shown below.
Methods on
|
1 |
The first step of editing is to decide which editparts are
involved. Usually, it is some combination of the viewer’s current
selection and an editpart calculated using the current mouse location.
The selection can be trimmed by asking if each selected part understands
a request. The part under the mouse, called the target, is found with
the viewer’s help and the |
2 |
During interactions, especially mouse interactions and dragging, editparts are asked to show feedback based on their role in the interaction. An editpart is considered the source if it is the part being acted on. A target editpart is the part underneath the mouse. For example, when dragging a node around a diagram, the node is the source, and the diagram is the target. The node is asked to show source feedback, which might be a rectangle or some other modified representation of the node. The diagram is asked to show target feedback. When reattaching the end of a connection, a node might be showing target feedback instead. Some interactions only operate on a source. |
3 |
The command is what eventually changes the model. Editparts are asked for a command for a given request. Commands also help determine if the interaction is possible. If there is no command, or it is not executable, the UI will indicate that the interaction is not allowed. If an editpart contributes NULL as its command, it does not prevent the interaction from occurring, unless of course no commands are provided by any of the editparts. To indicate something is not allowed, the editpart must return a command that is not executable. |
4 |
Finally, there is a generic API telling an editpart to just "do something". This is generally something that does not immediately result in a model change. For example, opening a dialog or activating the "direct-edit" mode. |
EditPolicies
Editparts don’t handle editing directly. Instead, they use EditPolicies. Each editpolicy is then able to focus on a single editing task or group of related tasks. This also allows editing behavior to be selectively reused across different editpart implementations. Also, behavior can change dynamically, such as when the layouts or routing methods change. When any of the above editing methods are called (except
During the editpart’s creation, |
Commands
Commands are passed around throughout editing. They are used to encapsulate and combine changes to the application’s model.
An application has a single command stack. Commands must be executed using the command stack rather than directly calling execute.
The EditPart Lifecycle
With respect to lifecycle, editpart implementations typically only have to worry about extending activation and deactivation, which is when the editpart should add and remove its model listeners. Still, an understanding of the entire lifecycle is important.
1) Creation
The first thing that happens is creation. Most editparts will be created by the viewer’s factory, which is invoked by either the viewer or the managing editpart which is typically the parent. Immediately after being created, the following methods are called:
setModel()
- If the constructor does not take the model as an
argument, it should be set immediately. Other events that follow may be
based on the part’s model.
2) Getting Added to the Diagram
setParent(…)
- The very first step is to tell the part its parent.
This gives the part a path back to its viewer, which it might need for
things like accessing the editpart registry.
createFigure()
- Although this is a protected method, the timing of
when it gets called is somewhat interesting. Both the parent and the
model are known at the time the figure needs to be created.
addNotify()
- Signals the completion of the child being added to the
parent. At this point, the child will do the following:
-
Register itself with the viewer using both its view and its model.
-
Create any editpolicies that it needs.
-
Refresh, meaning update first its own view, and then construct any structural elements of its own such as children or connections.
activate()
- Indicates that the editpart should become active for
editing, meaning that the model might change. The parent only activates
its child if it is also active. The root is only active if the viewer
has created its Control. An editpart should do the following on
activation:
-
Start listening to the model. Subclasses should extend this method to add any necessary listeners.
-
Activate all of the editpolicies.
-
Activate all children and outgoing connection editparts.
3) Normal Use
At this point the editpart is in its normal editing state. It gets selected, shows feedback, and returns commands, etc., until it is no longer needed, meaning it is either removed from the diagram or the viewer is being disposed.
4) Becoming Garbage
deactivate()
- The opposite of activate. Once again, subclasses should
extend this method to remove the listeners added during activation.
The remaining steps only occur when the editpart gets removed, meaning its model was removed from the diagram. If the viewer is being disposed, then deactivation is the only thing that is guaranteed to occur. For this reason, activate and deactivate are the commonly extended methods while the remaining methods can usually be ignored. |
removeNotify()
- Signals that the editpart is about to incur removal.
The following must happen while the editpart still has access to its
surroundings:
-
Make sure the editpart is no longer selected or has focus.
-
Call removeNotify on children so that they can do the same.
-
Un-register the editpart from the viewer’s registries.
-
Remove self as source or target of any connections. Connections don’t go away unless both source and target get set to null.
setParent(null)
- The last step of removal. The parent and viewer are
no longer reachable at this point.
Editparts do not come back from the grave. When a change in the model is undone, a new editpart is created. For this reason, commands should not reference editparts, and editparts should not contain any important state that must be restored on undo. |
Tools and the Palette
A tool handles most events from a viewer. The EditDomain
keeps track
of the currently active tool. Applications may use the palette
(PaletteViewer) to display multiple tools, allowing the user to change
between modes such as selection, creation, etc.
How Tools Work
Tools are implemented like state machines. SWT events provide the input to the state machine. Based on the event and current state, a tool will perform certain actions. These actions could include:
-
Asking editparts to show or hide feedback.
-
Obtaining commands from editparts.
-
Executing a command on the command stack.
-
Updating the mouse cursor.
A tool is activated by setting it on the EditDomain. There is only one active tool for all viewers in the domain. If a palette is being used, selecting a tool in the palette will activate that tool.
The Selection Tool
The Selection Tool is the primary tool used in GEF and is often the
default for an application. The selection tool is unique in its ability
to delegate. It obtains a helper called a DragTracker
from an editpart
or handle below the mouse when a drag occurs. A drag is defined as a
mouse button being pressed, its being released, and any events that
occur in between. Events are forwarded to the delegate so that the drag
can be handled differently based on where and how the drag originated.
For example, clicking on a handle may result in resizing a shape, or
moving the end of a connection. Clicking on an editpart typically drags
that part to a new location or parent.
Ironically, the Selection Tool doesn’t select editparts. All mouse clicks are handled as drags. When the Selection Tool receives a mouse down event over a selectable editpart, it asks for a drag tracker. The editpart returns a tracker derived from SelectEditPartTracker. The tracker also receives the mouse down event, as well as any other events, until the mouse button is released. When the tracker interprets a selection gesture, it modifies the viewer’s selection. Trackers even handle events like double-click.
For more on the selection tool and trackers, see the section on Selection Interaction.
Palette
GEF’s PaletteViewer
provides an SWT Control allowing the user to
select which Tool is active. It can also be a drag source for dragging
objects from the palette directly into the diagram. Use of the palette
is optional, but common.
The palette can be placed anywhere, including inside the editor. GEF
provides a Workbench View for hosting the Palette. Also, a custom
Composite, the FlyoutPaletteComposite
, will manage the placement of
the PaletteViewer beside a primary Control. This composite is used as
the editor’s primary control in the Logic Example, shown below:
The PaletteViewer displays a Palette model, which starts with the
PaletteRoot
. The root organizes the contents using either drawers,
which open and close, or groups, which do not. Each grouping element
then contains Palette Entries. An Entry defines either a tool or
template for the User. Templates are described below in
Creation.
The Palette provides several display modes, such as icon-only. You can also provide a customizer to allow the user to modify or create palette content.
Types of Interactions in GEF
This section discusses the various types of interactions that are included in the framework, and which parts of the framework are involved in supporting the interaction. An interaction can be anything that affects the model or the UI state. Many interactions are graphical but some are not. An interaction may include:
-
Invoking some Action (usually displayed on the toolbar, menubar, or popup).
-
Clicking on something.
-
Clicking and dragging something.
-
Hovering over something (pausing the mouse for a certain time).
-
Dropping something dragged from another source (native Drag-N-Drop).
-
Pressing certain keys.
This section discusses the participants involved in each interaction and what they do. This can include:
-
Tools which process input.
-
Actions which are invoked.
-
The IDs and instances of Requests that are sent to editparts by tools or actions. ID’s are defined on the
RequestConstants
class. -
The EditPolicy roles designated to handle specific types of requests. These are just constants defined on the EditPolicy interface.
-
Any EditPolicy implementations provided in GEF for use with the interaction.
Selection
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
SelectionTool |
SelectionRequest |
SelectionEditPolicy |
SelectAllAction |
No interaction is more basic or universal than selecting items in a viewer. Most of the interactions discussed here operate on what is currently selected. Yet, selection is a complex topic and there are several steps involved. The Selection Tool was briefly discussed in the above section on tools.
Let’s first define selection. Selection is a List of EditParts maintained by an EditPartViewer. Changes to the selection are made by invoking methods on the viewer, and not by modifying the list directly. The selection is never empty. If the selection is cleared, the viewer’s contents editpart becomes the selection. The last editpart in the list is considered the primary selection.
Closely related to selection is focus. Focus is a single editpart maintained by the EditPartViewer. Focus is used when manipulating selection via keyboard. By moving focus, the user can navigate from one editpart to another without changing the current selection. The user can add/remove the focused editpart from the selection. If focus is not explicitly set, it is the same as the primary selected part.
|
The editpart is responsible for showing its selected and focused state
to the user. The viewer tells editparts when they are selected, focused,
or have primary selection. Typically, selection is shown by one or more
EditPolicies adding selection handles. The handles shown here on the LED
and circuit parts were added by Because selection handles are related to how a part can be dragged or sized, which in turn is related to the containing figure’s layout manager, it is usually the parent part’s editpolicy that installs a policy on the children for displaying the appropriate handles. For example, an XYLayoutEditPolicy would install a ResizableEditPolicy on each child of its host editpart. Connections may ( |
Selection Targeting and Feedback
For selection to occur, the Selection Tool must first target an editpart
using a SelectionRequest
. In rare cases, an editpart is not selectable
and targeting "falls through", hitting the editpart below. During this
continuous mouse targeting, the Selection Tool invokes showFeedback() on
the current target editpart by passing it a SelectionRequest
of type
REQ_SELECTION. It is recommended that most applications ignore this
request since showing and hiding feedback as the mouse moves across a
diagram can be very distracting to the user. For this reason, there is
an additional feedback request sent with the type REQ_SELECTION_HOVER
whenever the user pauses the mouse over an editpart. Often an editpart
will display a popup shell similar to a tooltip displaying additional
information about the part. The SELECTION_FEEDBACK_ROLE identifier can
be used when installing policies which show such feedback.
A benefit to using these feedback requests is that the Selection Tool is smart about asking parts to erase feedback. For example, if the user starts dragging, you would not want a popup message to stay around. Also, selection feedback will not occur when other tools are active.
Selection via a DragTracker
Once the user actually presses down on the mouse, the selection target
will be asked for a DragTracker
. To allow selection, return a
SelectEditPartTracker
or its subclass DragEditPartsTracker
,
depending on whether dragging is permitted. These trackers will modify
selection at the appropriate time, taking into consideration the SHIFT
and CTRL modifier keys.
The contents editpart should never be selected by a tracker. The
reason being that it should never be part of a multiple selection.
Therefore, it should return either a DeselectAllTracker
, or the
MarqueeDragTracker
. Remember, the selection is never empty so the
contents part will be the selection when all other parts are not
selected.
Other Selection Requests
Editparts may be asked to perform two additional Requests that are related to selection. These requests are related to selection in that they are interactions associated with clicking the primary mouse button. The first is a double-click, which is called an open (REQ_OPEN). This interaction can be used for editparts that can be opened, expanded, or may display a dialog. The other interaction is called a direct edit (REQ_DIRECT_EDIT). An example of direct editing is when the user wishes to modify the text of a label. The user must first select the part, and then click on it again after it is selected. After a brief delay (used to rule out a double-click), the request is sent.
Selection Actions
GEF provides a SelectAllAction
. Given a viewer, this action selects
all of the contents part’s children when invoked.
Selection using the Keyboard
Keyboard selection is supported in graphical viewers by installing a
GraphicalViewerKeyHandler
. The key handler only receives key events
sent to it by the current tool. The Selection Tool forwards key forwards
the events necessary for selection.
Drag trackers are not needed inside GEF’s TreeViewer. The native tree handles selection already, and dragging of treeitems is processed internally using native DND. |
Basic Model Operations (Delete)
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
REQ_DELETE |
COMPONENT_ROLE |
DeleteAction |
The only universal interaction that all GEF applications should support is delete. The workbench places a global delete action on the edit menu. All applications should register a handler such as the included DeleteAction.
The DeleteAction sends a GroupRequest
of type REQ_DELETE to the
viewer’s current selection. All editparts should have an editpolicy
which either supports or prevents delete from occurring.
Every editpart is either a component or a connection. A component is a basic editpart that is the child of a parent. A connection is slightly different because it is owned by its source and target.
The COMPONENT_ROLE key is used when installing an editpolicy on a
component editpart. Applications can extend the provided
ComponentEditPolicy
to fill in the commands for deletion. The
RootComponentEditPolicy
should be used on the contents editpart. This
policy prevents the diagram itself from being deleted. Here, "root"
refers to the model root and is not related to the viewer’s root
editpart.
The CONNECTION_ROLE key is used when installing a policy on a connection
editpart. Applications can extend the provided ConnectionEditPolicy
to
fill in the command for deletion.
These editpolicies should handle the tasks most closely associated with the model. In the logic example, this role is responsible for the LED’s increment and decrement behavior, which adds or subtracts one from the LED’s value.
Implementing the command that performs delete can be difficult, especially when connections are involved. The command must consider whether the object being deleted has connections, or if children of the object being deleted have connections, and delete the connections as well. But, you don’t want to delete the same connection twice in cases where both source and target nodes are being deleted as part of multiple selection. The logic example’s delete command addresses all of these concerns. |
Creation
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
CreationTool |
REQ_CREATE |
CONTAINER_ROLE |
CopyTemplateAction |
TemplateTransferDropTargetListener |
A CreateRequest
is used to ask an editpart to create a new child. The
request is identified by the ID REQ_CREATE. Creation can occur through
three different methods: clicking, dragging, or pasting. The request
provides the location, object, and object type being created. The object
and its type are provided by a CreationFactory
. The request hides the
factory and provides access to the created object directly, caching it
in case multiple editpolicies all need access to the created object. In
some cases, the request will contain a size attribute.
Producing CreateRequests
The creation tool provides a "loaded cursor" mode which will attempt to
create an object at the mouse location when clicking. If the mouse is
pressed and dragged, the tool will track the size of the rectangle
defined by the user. The creation tool can be placed on the palette
using a CreationToolEntry
. When the mouse is released, the tool will
either repeat the process or switch back to the default tool.
Creation can also be performed using native Drag-and-Drop. The drag
source can be anything, but it is typically the PaletteViewer. A palette
entry taking a template is added to the palette. The
TemplateTransfer
is used to transfer the template, which is just an
Object, from the drag source to the drop target. A
TemplateTransferDragSourceListener must be added to the PaletteViewer.
Similarly, the viewer must have a TemplateTransferDropTargetListener.
Since a template is model-specific, the application must extend the drop
target listener to convert the template into a CreationFactory for the
request.
A special palette entry called the CombinedTemplateCreationEntry
supports both the creation tool and drag-and-drop style of creation.
Consuming CreateRequests
The target editpart is responsible for showing feedback and returning the command for creation. GEF provides two types of policies for handling creation. One type of policy is specific for the view in which creation occurs, either graphical or tree-based. This edit policy corresponds to either the LAYOUT_ROLE or the TREE_CONTAINER_ROLE.
The other type of edit policy is specific to only the model, should applications wish to separate out the portion that is shared between graphical and non-graphical creation. In most cases, any kind of shared logic is in the command implementations, making this type of policy unnecessary.
A LayoutEditPolicy
handles the process of creation based on the
container’s layout manager. For example, if the XYLayout is being used,
then the resulting Command will need to associate an (x, y, w ,h)
constraint with the created child. Layouts that don’t use constraints
would require that the index of the drop location be determined. GEF
provides abstract policies for the basic layout types.
The TreeContainerEditPolicy
is used for supporting creation in a
tree-based viewer. The policy is responsible for determining the index
of creation and showing feedback.
The PasteTemplateAction
can be used to create objects without the
mouse. This is important for accessibility. The CopyTemplateAction
is
added to the Palette. When the user invokes this action, an internal
mechanism copies the transfer so that it can be pasted in a viewer. When
paste occurs, the PasteTemplateAction retrieves the template object,
constructs a CreateRequest, and sends it to the selected editpart. Mouse
location is not available in this interaction. Paste is only enabled
when the selection is exactly one editpart.
When a creation command is redone, it must restore the original child that was created the first time it was executed. If it creates a new object, then subsequent commands will fail on redo when they try to modify the originally created child. |
Moving and Resizing
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DragEditPartsTracker |
ChangeBoundsRequest
|
LayoutEditPolicy |
AlignmentAction |
|
|
The DragEditPartsTracker extends basic selection behavior to allow the
selected parts to be dragged within their graphical viewer. Dragging the
selected parts can result in three potential interactions: move,
reparent, and clone. All three use the ChangeBoundsRequest
, which
extends GroupRequest to include a size delta, move delta, and mouse
location.
While dragging the selection, if the tracker targets the part’s original
parent, the request is typed as REQ_MOVE
. If the target changes, the
interaction becomes a reparent. For a reparent, a request of type
REQ_ORPHAN
is sent to the old parent, while the new target is sent a
request of type REQ_ADD
. When the CTRL key is pressed (ALT on the
Mac), the operation is always a REQ_CLONE
, which is only sent to the
target part.
All of these requests are related in that they require the target to process a rectangle and a mouse location. The LayoutEditPolicy is responsible for handling each of these request types. For layouts which use constraints, each part’s original bounds is taken and modified by the size and move deltas to determine a new bounds, for which a corresponding constraint is found. For index-based layouts, the mouse location is used to establish the new index.
A ContainerEditPolicy
can optionally be used to contribute additional
commands (not related to the layout) during ADD, ORPHAN, and CLONE
requests.
Resizing
Resizing falls under the same category as changing bounds. Note that
when resizing either the top or left sides, the location of the part is
also changed. Resizing only makes sense for layouts with constraints,
such as XYLayout. The ResizableEditPolicy
adds up to eight resize
handles to its host. When the Selection Tool is clicked on one of these
resize handles, a ResizeTracker
performs a resize on the selected
parts understanding "resize". SHIFT and CTRL key modifiers can be used
to constrain the resize operation.
The types of handles available on an editpart depend on the layout manager in which its figure is placed. For example, parts inside a table might have handles for adjusting insets, padding, column span, or other attributes. Some layouts don’t need any handles, but four corner handles should be added just to indicate selection. Dragging these handles would be the same as dragging the part itself.
Because of the relationship between handles and layouts, it is
recommended that the PRIMARY_DRAG_ROLE
editpolicy be installed by the
parent’s LayoutEditPolicy
, which defines abstract methods for this
purpose. If a container changes layout managers during editing,
typically the layout policy gets swapped with one for the new layout
manager. The new policy then replaces the stale PRIMARY_DRAG_ROLE
policies on each child.
The MatchSizeAction
matches the size of the selected parts to that of
the primary selected part’s size. This action is implemented in a way
similar to manually resizing the individual parts, and it uses the same
request and type.
The AlignmentAction
uses an AlignmentRequest
, which extends
ChangeBoundsRequest. When using a ChangeBoundsRequest, the part’s
current placement in the Control (in absolute coordinates) is passed to
the request, which then returns a modified version. Using this pattern,
alignment is able to adjust each part’s rectangle by different amounts.
In most cases, alignment can be treated no differently than a move. This
action aligns all selected parts with one of the edges of the primary
selected part.
Connection Creation
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
ConnectionCreationTool |
CreateConnectionRequest |
GraphicalNodeEditPolicy |
|
The ConnectionCreationTool
is used to create a new connection between
nodes. This interaction requires the user to activate the tool
(typically using the palette), and then click on two editparts
supporting connections. The creation can be aborted by pressing the ESC
key. The ConnectionDragCreationTool
is similar, but the interaction is
a single mouse drag. This tool can be returned as the drag tracker from
a handle or even an editpart in some cases.
The process is separated into two parts. The first part is defining the
source of the connection. The source is a node, but it may also
include a specific "port" on that node. The tool uses a
CreateConnectionRequest
identified by REQ_CONNECTION_START to
determine the target editpart and ask it for a command. However, this is
only the first half of creating the connection, so the command is not
complete yet. The tool will not attempt to execute this command or even
ask if it is executable. This command is only used to pass information
to the target editpart.
The second part is to define the target node for the connection. The tool uses the same request but retypes it as REQ_CONNECTION_END. The command returned by the source node is now stored on the request and passed during the second part of the interaction. The target is asked for the final command that performs the entire creation of the connection. Any command can be returned at this point, including the command provided on the request, updated with the target node information. At this point, enablement will be determined by asking the command if it can be executed. Creation ends by executing the command.
During the first and second steps, the editpart being targeted as the source or target node is asked to show target feedback. The editpart might visually highlight various attachment points or simply indicate that it is the target.
The source node editpart is also asked to show source feedback during
creation. The provided GraphicalNodeEditPolicy
can be used to display
creation feedback. This policy will create a connection feedback figure,
and set its anchors using the NodeEditPart
interface. This mix-in
interface for GraphicalEditPart
is used both during creation feedback,
and when the connection’s editpart is created, to provide anchor points.
The "source" and "target" nodes should not be confused with "source" and "target" feedback. For feedback, "source" simply means show the feedback for the connection, while "target" means highlight the mouse target.
Editing Connections
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
ConnectionEndpointTracker |
ReconnectRequest |
ConnectionEndpointEditPolicy |
|
By dragging the endpoints of an existing connection, its source or target can be changed. This includes changing "ports" on the same node editpart. This interaction is called reconnecting.
A connection adds handles at its endpoints by installing a
ConnectionEndpointEditPolicy
with the ENDPOINT_ROLE. Each of these
handles returns a tracker for reconnecting the corresponding end of the
connection. This policy is also responsible for showing the connections
feedback during the interaction. This policy does not return commands
and therefore is not abstract. The reconnect command comes from the new
target node.
As the source or target endpoint is dragged, the tracker sends source
feedback requests to the connection, and target feedback requests to the
current target if there is one. The tracker uses a ReconnectRequest
typed as either a source or target reconnect.
The target node’s GraphicalNodeEditPolicy is responsible for showing
target feedback and returning the actual command to perform the
reconnect. As with creation, the target editpart should implement the
NodeEditPart
interface, which allows the ConnectionEndpointEditPolicy
to snap the feedback to the nodes anchor(s).
Bending Connections
Tools | Requests | Edit Policies and Roles | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
ConnectionBendpointTracker |
BendpointRequest |
BendpointEditPolicy |
|
Certain connection routers accept
routing constraints (typically a list of |
This picture shows a selected
connection in the Logic Example with a single Bendpoint. The
|