The JGrafchart editor consists of a graphical user-interface through which the user creates, compiles, executes, and stores function charts.
Function charts are created by adding and connecting elements. Drag-click the connection stubs or ports of elements to create connections. It is only possible to create valid connections, e.g. connecting a step directly to another step is not possible.
Palette
The palette contains the different language elements in JGrafchart. Elements are added to a workspace by drag-and-drop from the palette.
The FC tab contains the basic JGrafchart language elements, e.g, steps and transitions.
The Var tab contains variables.
The IO tab contains inputs and outputs.
The XML tab contains objects for XML communication. The objects in this menu assume the availability of the CCOM infrastructure. This is not available in all distributions.
The GUI tab contains graphical objects, e.g., texts and rectangles. It also contains plotters, browsers, and buttons. In addition to the drag-and-droppable objects the GUI palette also contains two mode buttons: the line mode button and the spline mode button. Clicking one of these buttons changes the mouse behavior to line drawing mode.
The menu in JGrafchart works like an ordinary menu. All menus and menu choices have mnemonic hotkey support, i.e. Alt+<UnderScoredLetter>. Many menu choices also have ordinary hotkeys which are displayed in the menus.
These menu choices also have the following additional ordinary hotkeys:
Toolbar
The toolbar in JGrafchart works like an ordinary toolbar. A useful button in the toolbar is the Object Help.
Message List
The message list contains various messages, most importantly the compilation messagess. An application can manipulate the message list through the functions writeMessage() and clearMessages().
Workspace Area
This is where the application workspaces are shown.