Difference between revisions of "Customizing the Tabbing order on a Diagram"

(Created page with "( ''new to Analytica 5.0'' ) When you work with a diagram, pressing the TAB key selects the "next" selectable node, and pressing Shift+TAB selects the "...")
 
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( ''new to [[Analytica 5.0]]'' )
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When you press the TAB key in a [[Diagram window|diagram]], it selects the "next" selectable node after the current selected node. Shift+TAB selects the "previous" selectable node. If you haven't select a node yet, it selects the "first" selectable node. Similarly, when you enter a value into an input node and press Enter, it moves to the "next" node. The is handy for someone going through a set of user inputs to specify values. 
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When you work with a [[Diagram window|diagram]], pressing the TAB key selects the "next" selectable node, and pressing Shift+TAB selects the "previous" selectable node, relative to the current primary selected node. When nothing is selected, the "first" selectable node on the diagram becomes selected. Also, when you enter a value into an input node and press Enter, it moves to the "next" node.  
 
  
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This idea of which node come "next" creates a natural ordering in which your user will visit the nodes. By default, Analytica defines this ordering as being from left-to-right, top-to-bottom. In your own interfaces, you might occasionally want to change from this ordering to a different ordering, particularly when you have created a user interface and want the user to visit the inputs in a custom order.
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The default Tabbing order visits nodes from left-to-right and then top-to-bottom. Sometimes, this might not be the most useful sequence, so this page explains how to modify the Tabbing Order.
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An example of this occurs on Analytica's intro screen. The actual customized tab ordering is as follows:
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As an example, here is the Tabbing order on Analytica's intro screen:
  
 
[[image:TabbingOrderOnIntro.png]]
 
[[image:TabbingOrderOnIntro.png]]
  
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As you press the TAB key, you start at the "Search the Analytica Wiki" node, then move thought the options and models on the left, then linearly through the recent models, in an order that feels natural. If this screen had used the default tabbing order, in would be as follows, which feels unnatural as you jump back and forth between the options on the left and the recent models.
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The first TAB takes you to the "Search the Analytica Wiki" node. Subsequent tabs visit the options and models on the left, then down the  the recent models on the right. The default tabbing order would be a bit unnatural with jumps back and forth between the options on the left and the recent models:
  
 
[[image:TabbingOrderLtoR.png]]
 
[[image:TabbingOrderLtoR.png]]
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When no node is selected when the user presses the TAB key, by default the topmost, leftmost node becomes selected. To customize this, create a tiny text node with no title or description, and position it in the top-left corner of your diagram. Because of its placement, this will be the first object in the tab order, but in browse-mode a text node is not a selectable object, so its next node will be selected. You can change the identifier of this text node in its object window, if you want, and then configure its next node, e.g.,  
 
When no node is selected when the user presses the TAB key, by default the topmost, leftmost node becomes selected. To customize this, create a tiny text node with no title or description, and position it in the top-left corner of your diagram. Because of its placement, this will be the first object in the tab order, but in browse-mode a text node is not a selectable object, so its next node will be selected. You can change the identifier of this text node in its object window, if you want, and then configure its next node, e.g.,  
  
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:<code>NextItTabOrder te_StartOfTabbing : Fo8212345321</code>
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:<code>NextInTabOrder te_StartOfTabbing : Fo8212345321</code>
  
 
where <code>te_StartOfTabbing</code> is the identifier of this text node. This node will get selected in edit mode unless you also do the following:
 
where <code>te_StartOfTabbing</code> is the identifier of this text node. This node will get selected in edit mode unless you also do the following:

Latest revision as of 01:14, 28 June 2020

When you press the TAB key in a diagram, it selects the "next" selectable node after the current selected node. Shift+TAB selects the "previous" selectable node. If you haven't select a node yet, it selects the "first" selectable node. Similarly, when you enter a value into an input node and press Enter, it moves to the "next" node. The is handy for someone going through a set of user inputs to specify values.

The default Tabbing order visits nodes from left-to-right and then top-to-bottom. Sometimes, this might not be the most useful sequence, so this page explains how to modify the Tabbing Order.

As an example, here is the Tabbing order on Analytica's intro screen:

TabbingOrderOnIntro.png

The first TAB takes you to the "Search the Analytica Wiki" node. Subsequent tabs visit the options and models on the left, then down the the recent models on the right. The default tabbing order would be a bit unnatural with jumps back and forth between the options on the left and the recent models:

TabbingOrderLtoR.png

NextInTabOrder attribute

To customize the tabbing order, you set the NextInTabOrder attribute of a node to the identifier of the node that should come next. You will need to set this attribute from the Typescript Window -- it does not appear on the Attribute panel or Object Window. Press F12 to access the Typescript Window.

To specify that NodeB comes after NodeA, simply type the following typescript command:

NextInTabOrder NodeA : NodeB

NodeA and NodeB should both be in the same diagram, of course, or this doesn't make sense (this can't be used to jump to a totally different diagram!). The main thing you need to pay attention that you are using the identifiers of the actual user input and output nodes, and not the identifier of the original variable. For example, you might have a variable named X within your model, and then you have a user input node for X, the user input node will have its own identifier, usually a randomly generated identifier such as Fo1483485521. To find the identifier of user input or output nodes, type:

Aliases of X

where X is the actual variable.

Strictly speaking, you only need to specify the NextInTabOrder attribute for those nodes for which the default ordering goes somewhere different than where you want.

The previous node

The "previous" node, which the user jumps to when he presses Shift+TAB. is determined automatically by inverting the NextInTabOrder map.

The first node

When no node is selected when the user presses the TAB key, by default the topmost, leftmost node becomes selected. To customize this, create a tiny text node with no title or description, and position it in the top-left corner of your diagram. Because of its placement, this will be the first object in the tab order, but in browse-mode a text node is not a selectable object, so its next node will be selected. You can change the identifier of this text node in its object window, if you want, and then configure its next node, e.g.,

NextInTabOrder te_StartOfTabbing : Fo8212345321

where te_StartOfTabbing is the identifier of this text node. This node will get selected in edit mode unless you also do the following:

ChangeNodeVisibility( Handle( te_StartOfTabbing ), 'Very hidden' )

See Also

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