View Definitions

A view definition describes a view, which controls how an exploration graph is displayed in Exploration Graph Viewer. A view controls how the graph is rendered, and does not change the underlying exploration graph. To apply a view to an exploration graph, select the view from the Selected View drop-down list box on the Exploration Graph Viewer toolbar.

To create, modify, or delete a view definition, click View Definitions on the Spec Explorer menu, or click Manage Views on the Exploration Graph Viewer toolbar. Spec Explorer then displays the Spec Explorer View Definitions dialog box.

Spec Explorer View Definitions Dialog Box

The Spec Explorer View Definitions dialog box provides the following controls.

• View Definition
  Selects a view definition. The Default view definition cannot be modified.

• Categorized
  Lists all properties and property values for the selected view definition, by category. To expand or collapse a category, click the triangle to the left of the category name.

• Alpabetical
  Alphabetically lists all properties and property values for the selected view definition.

• New
  Creates a new view definition.

• Delete
  Deletes the selected view definition.

• Import
  Restores a previously archived set of view definitions.

• Export
  Archives the current set of view definitions.

Misc Properties

• DisplayRequirements
  True to display the requirements captured in each step; otherwise, False. The default is False.

• ShowErrorPathsOnly
  True to only show paths from initial states to error states; otherwise, False. If this property is True and Spec Explorer displays an exploration graph that contains no error states, then Spec Explorer displays an empty graph. The default is False.

• ShowParameters
  True to display parameter values in step labels; otherwise, False. The default is True.

• StateDescription
  The name of the probe that provides the label for each state. If this property is empty, Spec Explorer uses the default label for each state. If the specified name does not match a defined probe in the model, when it attempts to display the view, Exploration Graph Viewer displays an error message, instead of displaying the graph. The default is empty.

  For more information about probes, see Probe Attribute and Microsoft.Modeling.ProbeAttribute.

• ViewCollapseLabels
  True to collapse all steps with the same source and target state into one composite step; otherwise, False. Such a composite step displays all the labels of the collapsed steps. The default is False.

• ViewCollapseSteps
  True to collapse associated call and return steps into one composite step; otherwise, False. The default is True.

Name Properties

• Name
  The name of the view described by this definition. The Name property is case-sensitive and Spec Explorer does not allow duplicate names. A valid name must start with an alphabetic character, contain only alphanumeric characters, and not exceed 20 characters.

Query Properties

• GroupQuery
  The name of the probe that provides a category for a state. Spec Explorer groups into a single state in the graph all states that have the same category, and connects to the new grouped node all steps to or from any of the included states. If the specified name does not match a defined probe in the model, Exploration Graph Viewer displays an error message when it attempts to display the view.

• HideQuery
  The name of a Boolean probe that identifies a state as hidden if the probe is true. Spec Explorer does not show in the graph hidden states, and displays with a dotted line any path that traverses a hidden state. If the specified name does not match a defined probe in the model, Exploration Graph Viewer displays an error message when it attempts to display the view.

Rendering Properties

• Rendering TimeOut
  Specifies the maximum time in seconds that Spec Explorer spends when rendering an exploration graph. If Spec Explorer hits the timeout before it completes the rendering operation, it displays a partial graph. If the value of this property is negative, Spec Explorer does not set a rendering timeout.

See Also

Concepts

Exploration Graph Viewer
Exploration Manager
Probe Attribute