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How to define a new model and how to save it?
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Within the ADONIS modelling component a new model can be created via the menu item "model" and "new". The following input window appears:
To create a new model:
- Select model type
- Enter model name
- Enter version number (optional)
- Choose Model group where to save the new model
- Confirm with Click "Create"
The model is now saved. In the Explorer the opened models in the database are highlighted in blue colour, unsaved changes are displayed in red to indicate that the editor has unsaved changes.
Hint: Use <Ctrl>+<Shift> to save when several changed files are open.
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How to draw and connect objects in a model?
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Use the modelling toolbar to draw objects on the drawing area. You can find out what toolbar buttons do by holding your mouse pointer over the button and reading the tooltip that opens. The contents of this toolbar change based on the model perspective. Items in the toolbar might be enabled or disabled based on the mode you choose. Right click on the toolbar to alter the different modes for drawing.
Objects are placed according to the "point and click" principle. This means that you first select an object from the Class panel by clicking on it. This causes the object to be highlighted and changes the model Editor into Drawing mode.
Now move the mouse pointer to the location within the drawing area at which you would like to place the object. You will notice that the appearance of the mouse pointer is now a pen. By clicking with the left mouse button the object is placed on the drawing area. You can draw any number of objects of the selected class in this way.
If you keep the left mouse button pressed when positioning a new object you can see the object. By releasing the left mouse button the object will be drawn into the current position. (Note: by moving the mouse when this outline is shown, the object can be positioned elsewhere in the drawing area.) If you wish to abort the drawing of this object, press the left and right mouse button simultaneously. In this way the drawing mode is not deactivated. To deactivate drawing mode, press once with the right mouse button on the drawing area (or select the "Edit" icon from the class panel with the left mouse button). When the object is displayed on the drawing area, the corresponding co-ordinates of the location are displayed in the status bar.
If you wish to place a different object within your model, select it by clicking in the class panel and then continue as described above.
Option: Hold down the <Alt> key while positioning an object to activate the empty space tool. This enables you to make room in crowded model areas.
Hint: If the object is not placed exactly as you wish on the drawing area, the Snap grid is activated.
Connectors are drawn in a similar way to objects. Click on the required relation in the Relation panel within the modelling toolbar. Place the mouse pointer (Drawing mode) on the object from which the new connector should begin.
Click on that object and then place the mouse pointer on the object, which should be joined to the first object by the connector and click again.
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How to move objects in a model?
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After drawing objects and connectors it is possible to edit them. If the drawing mode is still active, you must first change into the editing mode (click once with the right mouse button on the drawing area or select the Edit icon).
Moving objects within a modelling window supports "drag and drop" functionality. To move a specific object click on it with the left mouse button (the object is now selected and has focus) and then move the mouse (dragging the object) while keeping the left mouse button pressed.
While moving an object you can see that its outline is coloured blue and dashed. When you release the left mouse button the object will be moved to the specified place in the drawing area. If you would like to move more than one object at a time you should select them first. Then all selected objects can then be moved together as described above. While moving a single object, the other selected objects will also be moved.
You can also move single objects with the context menu (right mouse button) selecting the menu item "position/size" and then defining the new position.
Selected objects can also be moved using the cursor key on the keyboard. With a deactivated snap grid each time you press a cursor key the object will be moved by a step size of one millimetre, with an activated snap grid the step size corresponds to the snap height or the snap width.
Hint: To move aggregated objects and all objects they contain, press the <Shift> key before starting the moving and keep it pressed while moving the aggregated object.
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How to edit attributes of an object in a model?
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Double-clicking on an object or connector causes its ADONIS Notebook to be opened. Within an ADONIS Notebook, you can edit the attributes of an object or of a connector.
Hint: The ADONIS Notebook will only be opened, if it is defined in the application library of the relevant object or connector. Otherwise an appropriate indication will be shown.
The ADONIS Notebooks are structured like office files with register tabs. The register tabs (chapters) are on the right-hand side of the ADONIS Notebook. By clicking on the tabs, the first page of the selected chapter is displayed. If a chapter contains more than one page, then you will see in the right lower corner of the displayed page the number of the page and the total amount of pages in this chapter (e.g. 1/3).
Click the buttons and in the right lower corner of the ADONIS Notebooks or stroke the keys <Alt>+<-> or <Alt>+<+> to leaf page by page through the ADONIS Notebooks.
Hint: The paging within a chapter of an ADONIS Notebook depends on the screen resolution and on the font size and can be different from the pictures in this chapter. The contents of an ADONIS Notebook can be saved in a datum (Button 
) or printed out (Button 
).
To edit the attributes of an object, enter the expected values in the fields of the attribute. The values you have entered will be immediately taken over when you leave the corresponding editing field. Close the ADONIS Notebook after the entry by clicking on the close button. To fetch back the original value of the last edited input field of a page, click on the button "put back". If you want to undo changes in several notebook pages, use the function "Undo".
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How to switch to the tabular view in a model?
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Tabular model display enables you to easily edit the attribute values of objects of a specific class or of connectors of a specific relation type for the current model. If you have a lot of information to add to a model - for example you are adding execution times or descriptions to all activities - it is quicker and easier to do this using the tabular view of the model rather than the notebooks.
To call the tabular model display, activate the model and carry out one of the following steps:
- Select the option "Table" from the "View" menu.
- Select the option "Table" from the context menu of the drawing area.
- Click on the smart icon in the quick-access bar.
- Press the hot key <Ctrl>+T.
The tabular model display is shown in the model window on the working area of the ADONIS browser.
Once you have selected a class in the modelling panel, all attributes (in the columns) of the objects of the selected class contained in the module or of the connectors of the selected relation (in the lines) will be displayed. The order of the attributes from the left to the right corresponds to the order of the attributes in the ADONIS Notebook.
The first (grey) column contains either the name of the objects or the starting- and target object of the connectors. To edit attribute values either click on the corresponding cells or steer the cells using the cursor key and press the <Enter> key.
Additionally (through context menu - right mouse button), you can save the attribute values to a file, copy it into the clipboard or print it. You can find attribute values or sort the objects or connectors according to a particular attribute.
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How to open stored models?
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If you wish to open a model, which was previously saved within the ADONIS database, then select the menu item "Open" from within the "Model" menu. Alternatively, use the key combination <ctrl>+<o> or the smart icon from the quick-access bar.
This causes the "Model open" window, which contains a model selection list to be opened. Within the model group hierarchy, all models which have been saved and to which you have access are displayed.
Select one or more models to be opened and click on the button "Open".
By clicking the "References" button, you can fix the References - settings to open models by activating the option "Include referenced models".
By clicking on the button "Model types" you can restrict the display of models in the model selection list to certain model types.
By selecting the button "Search" you can search the model list for specific models. All models, which match the search, are displayed in the "Found entries" window. Selecting one or more of these will then cause them to be highlighted within the "Open model" window. Clicking on the "Open" button can then open them.
Clicking on the "Refresh" button causes the model selection list to be refreshed.
The following options can also be set within the "Open model" window:
- "Include referenced models": the sub processes of each model selected will also be opened. This works recursively.
- "Open write protected": the selected models are only opened for reading purposes, i.e. any changes you make to these models will not be saved.
- "Minimize new windows": the model window will be minimised in the working area.
For a video tutorial on this topic, click here: video tutorial (AVI, 17.9 MB).
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How to copy a model (Save as...)?
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If - by model-related versioning - you wish to save an open model with a different name or with a different version number, without having to overwrite the current model, select in the "Model" menu the "save as" menu item.
By time-related versioning select in the "model" menu the "save as" menu item and the submenu "new model", to save the open model with a different name. To save the open model with a different version number, select the submenu "New Version".
Hint: Whether the model will be versioned model-related or time-related depends on the configuration of your application library.
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How to rename a model?
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A selected model can be renamed by selecting "rename" from the context menu or by pressing <F2>. A selected model group can be renamed by selecting "rename" from the context menu or by pressing <F2>.
Hint: The function "Rename model groups" is available in the view "Models in the database" only.
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How to print a model?
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There are three different ways to start printing:
- By clicking on the Smart-Icon
- By selecting the "Print" option from the "Model" menu.
- By pressing the key combination <Ctrl>+<p>
The window "<model name> (<model type>) - Print" is displayed.
The field "Print" contains a list of all available printers. Select a printer from the list (default printer is pre-selected). The printer settings may be displayed and if necessary changed by clicking on the smart icon. If any problems with printers occur, contact your system administrator.
Select your settings for "Page layout", "Layout parameters" and "Scale". Check the "Layout parameters" chapter for details.
By default, the active model will be printed. By pressing the button "Select model" you can select additional models for printing.
The window "Preview and page selection" is updated with each change. This print preview helps to choose pages for the printout.
Hint: For very large models (drawing area wider than 15x15m or more than 4000 pages using factor 100%) the page boundaries in the preview cannot be displayed. In this case the text "<no> pages - page boundaries cannot be displayed!" will be shown above the preview, the page selection is not available then.
For displaying the page boundaries again you can reduce the scaling factor and/or enlarge the print window.
In the status line, you will find information about the printout of several pages depending on the current layout and scale (total number of pages, number of selected pages, numbering of selected pages).
Hint: The numbering of pages is done by the line from the left to the right.
To start printing, click on the "Print" button. In the status window, you will find information about current printing status. By clicking on the "Cancel" button, the printing process will be cancelled immediately.
Hint: Depending on your system configuration, the information window may appear after starting the printing operation.
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How to generate graphics from a model?
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If you want to generate a graphic from a model area, you must select the part of the model from which the graphic should be generated before you call the function "Generate graphics". Otherwise, a full model graphic is exported.
Determine a section by dragging a frame around the desired area by holding down the <Alt> key and moving the mouse with the left mouse button pressed down. A blue-green rectangle frame appears, indicating the area:
After releasing the mouse key you can adjust the frame size and position by clicking one of the borders and dragging it into another position.
Select the option "Generate graphics" from the "Edit" menu or click the smart-icon in the quick-access bar. The window "Generate graphics (Region)" appears.
You can then import these graphics into other applications (word processing, graphic programs etc.) ADONIS supports the following formats when saving graphics: BMP file (1-bit or 24-bit), a PCX file(8-bit or 24-bit) or a JPG file (24-bit), PNG file (24-bit) or EMF file (24-bit)
Select the destination where the graphic should be copied to. If the clipboard is selected, no more options need to be set.
If copying to a file, then you must enter a path and filename in the field "Filename". Additionally, you can select the size of the graphic to be generated in the field "Scale" and the type of graphic in the field "Graphic format".
Click on the button "Generate" to actually generate the graphic.
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How to copy and paste objects?
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You can copy objects and connectors by selecting them and then using the "Copy" function. This function can be called in a number of ways:
- Select the menu item "Copy" from the "Edit" menu.
- Use the key combination <Ctrl>+<c>.
- Select the menu item "Copy" from the context menu of a selected object". If you only wish to Copy one object, it is not necessary to select it beforehand.
- Click on the smart-icon in the quick-access bar.
Object and connectors copied remain in the clipboard until other objects or connectors are copied or cut or until you exit ADONIS. Objects and connectors can be copied into any model of the same type, i.e. which has the same classes and relations.
Hint: A connector will only be copied if it is selected with the two objects it connects.
Hint: When you copy and then paste referenced objects you can choose to take over the references into the pasted object or leave them in the original object.
You can insert copied or cut objects and connectors into models of the same type, i.e. with the same defined classes and relations, by calling the "Paste" function. This function can be called in a number of different ways:
- Select the menu item "Paste" from the "Edit" menu.
- Press the key combination <Ctrl>+<v>.
- Select the menu item "Paste" from the context menu (Key <F12> followed by <p>).
- Click on the appropriate smart icon in the quick-access bar.
Once the "Paste" function has been called, place the mouse pointer on the position within the drawing area at which you would like the clipboard contents to be inserted. If you move the mouse pointer over the edge of the window or the drawing area, scrolling starts.
Click on the spot where you would like the objects to be pasted. The pasted objects and connectors are selected. Instead of confirming the position, you can cancel the paste process by right-clicking your mouse.
Hint: Copied or cut objects and connectors can only be pasted into models of the same type, i.e. in which the classes and relations for the object or connector to be pasted are defined!
Hint: When you paste referenced objects you can choose to take over references to the pasted object or leave them to the original object.
within the quick-access bar.
