Model Page

The Model Page of DEXiWin Model Window provides workspace and commands for editing a DEXi model: its structure, attributes, scales and functions, but excluding alternatives.

Workspace

The Model Page workspace consists of two main areas:

• Model tree view (left): This area displays the structure of the edited model. The first column shows attributes and their status. There are up to three associated columns that display the selected attribute’s Description, Scale and Function summary. The visibility of individual colums can be selected through the View menu.

• Attribute panel (right): Contains fields for editing the name, description, scale and function of the currently selected attribute in the Model tree view. This panel can be visible or not, depending on View menu settings.

  There are four buttons located on the panel, which correspond to commands that activate editing windows:

  • Attribute’s name and description

  • Scale Editor, associated with

    • Scale Selection

  • Function Editor (available only for aggregate attributes)

Commands

Model Page commands can be invoked by:

• Pressing a button shown on the toolbar or Attribute panel

• Invoking some editing command

• Selecting an item from the pop-up menu that appears after right-clicking the mouse

• Selecting an item from the menus:

  • File

  • Edit

  • View

  • Window

  • Help

Model Editing Commands

Edit model name and description: Opens a separate window for editing this model’s name and description.

Edit attribute name and description: Opens a separate window for editing the name and description of the currently selected attribute.

Add attribute: This command creates a new attribute and inserts it into the tree as a sibling of the currently selected attribute. The new attribute is automatically called “New”, so you should consider giving it a more meaningful name.

Add child: Creates a new attribute and inserts it into the tree as a child of the currently selected attribute. The new attribute is automatically called “New”, so you should consider giving it a more meaningful name.

Delete attribute or subtree: The effect of this command depends on the type of the currently selected attribute:

• For an aggregate attribute: it discards all its descendants and its function, effectively converting it into a basic attribute.

• For a basic attribute: it deletes that attribute.

Thus, to completely delete a sub-tree of attributes from the model, you should “delete it twice”.

Cut: Equivalent to Copy followed by Delete attribute or subtree.

Copy: Copies the currently selected sub-tree into the clipboard for further use.

Paste: Inserts previously Cut or Copied sub-tree into the model, replacing the currently selected basic attribute. Pasting is enabled only when positioned on a basic attribute that has a compatible scale with the cut/copied subtree.

Duplicate: Makes a copy of the currently selected attribute or sub-tree and inserts it as a new top-level sub-tree in the model, so that it can be moved around later.

Move down: Moves the currently selected attribute one place down according to what is shown in the tree view.

Move up: Moves the currently selected attribute one place up according to what is shown in the tree view.

Search…: Open a window in which you can define a text to be searched for in the model. You can also select components in which to search: attribute names, attribute descriptions, and/or scales. The search can be case sensitive or not.

Find next: Continues searching from the current position in the model.

Undo: Undo the last tree-editing operation.

Redo: Redo the last undone tree-editing operation.

Edit/Scale

Edit scale…: Invokes the Scale Editor to create or edit the scale of the currently selected attribute.

Select scale…: Invokes the Scale Selector window to select/change the scale of the current attribute from the list of compatible scales.

Delete scale: Deletes the scale of the currently selected attribute.

Reverse scale: The scale of the currently selected attribute is reversed: all scale’s values are put in reverse order, and the scale’s order is changed from ascending to descending or vice versa. The underlying functions, if any, are also changed so that the original function mappings are preserved.

Edit/Function

Edit function: Invokes the Function Editor to create or edit the aggregation or discretization function corresponding to the currently selected aggregate attribute.

Delete function: Deletes the aggregation or discretization function associated with the currently selected aggregate attribute.

Other Model Editing Commands

The following model editing commands can also be invoked on the Model tree view:

F2 or double click on attribute name: Start editing attribute name.

Double click on attribute name or description: Start editing the text.

Drag and drop: Move individual attributes or sub-trees from one position in the model to another. After dropping, the moved subtree is attached as a child to the target attribute. Only those moves are allowed that do not introduce cycles in the model. A subtree cannot be moved to itself.

Join attributes: This is a special case of Drag and drop for joining (merging) two attributes together. It can be invoked by dragging a child attribute to the parent one, but only when the former is the only child of its parent and the scales of the attributes are compatible.

View Menu

Expand all: Fully expand tree view and show all attributes.

Expand one level: Extends the display of the tree by expanding the inner-most collapsed sub-trees by one level.

Collapse all: Fully collapse tree view so that only root attributes are displayed.

Collapse one level: Collapses the display of the tree by one level.

F8 Resize columns: Adapt columns of the Model tree view to the actual width of displayed text.

Attribute panel: Display or hide Attribute panel.

Description: Display or hide the Description column in the Model tree view.

Scale: Display or hide the Scale column in the Model tree view.

Function: Display or hide the Function summary column in the Model tree view.

Tree view…: Open the Tree View window.

Attribute Status

In the Model tree view, attributes are associated with different icons that indicate their status.

Status of Aggregate Attributes

• : Aggregate attribute without defined scale and function.

• : Aggregate attribute with defined scale, but undefined function. A function cannot be created due to incompletely defined child attributes.

• : Aggregate attribute with defined scale, but undefined function. A function can be created.

• : Aggregate attribute with defined scale and function. However, the function is not fully determined.

• : Aggregate attribute with defined scale and fully determined function (the desired state of any function).

Status of Basic Attributes

• : A basic attribute with an undefined scale.

• : A basic attribute with a defined discrete (qualitative) scale.

• : A basic attribute with a defined continuous scale.

• : A linked attribute.

Remarks

Changing the structure and scales of attributes can substantially affect previously defined functions and alternatives. In some cases, for example when adding or deleting an attribute value, DEXiWin tries to adapt the affected function and alternatives so that information is preserved as much as possible. Unfortunately, such adaptation are not possible with some drastic changes, such as when adding or deleting attributes. In these cases, the function is deleted by DEXiWin and should be defined anew. Before deleting a function, DEXiWin issues a warning and asks for confirmation.

Consequently, you might want to develop your tree structure as completely as possible before attempting to define functions and alternatives.