ACP Styles Library

This library file helps modelers customize the display of their model in Analytica Cloud Player (ACP). Most of the ACP styles attributes can be applied using this library, and It simplifies the process by using a GUI rather than by having to enter the attributes by typing them out. The library has previews for many of the attributes to give you a better idea of what the model will look like played in ACP. You can configure Navigation styles, Node styles and Frame nodes.

This library is distributed with Analytica, or you can Download it here: Media:ACP style library.ana

HOW TO USE THIS LIBRARY

Add this library to your model in Analytica.

You need to be in edit mode
Click File menu -> Add Library
Select the ACP Style Library from the distributed libraries

The 'ACP Style library' will be added to the diagram.

Open the ACP Style library by double clicking on it in browse mode. The Control panel will open.

Then go through the control panels for Navigation styles, Node styles and Frame nodes. Once the desired attributes have been selected, save your model and upload it into ACP where the styles will be applied.

The library is not designed to be configured in ACP and will be hidden when your model is played in ACP. Once your model is configured with the desired attributes the ACP Styles Library can be remover from the model. The attribute settings in the model will remain. This can save upload time to ACP.

Navigation styles

In this part of the style library you configure how your model is navigated either using toolbar tabs or the hierarchy header as in Analytica. Or using tabs. You can also control the display of some elements such as those in the banner shown above the diagram. Click the 'Navigation styles' button to get started.

The Navigation styles dialogue window opens...

Main style

Set the 'Main style' for playing the model in ACP. Use the 'Main style' pulldown menu depicted here. The preview pane beneath the Pulldown shows a preview of the style as you change the pulldown options.

Currently, we have two styles. The first is 'Analytica model review' which is depicted above. This style is generally used when you want to share your model with another modeler who knows Analytica. The diagrams are basically the same as in Analytica.

The second 'Main style' is 'Web Application', and is depicted below. This is the style you use for creating an application for people who are not familiar with Analytica. In this style, you use a 'tabbed module' UI and the toolbar tabs are removed. Usually you will build a few control panels of input/output nodes which your model users can access via the tabs along the top or tabs along the side. Results are displayed directly on the diagram using 'tall' output nodes or using frame nodes.

Navigation style

Choose the style for navigation of your model in ACP.

If your 'Main style' is 'Analytica model review' then you can choose to use the 'Outline on Left' or 'Hierarchy headers' navigation styles.

If your 'Main style' is 'Web Application' then you choose where you place the tabs used for navigating your models. The tabs can either be located across the top of the diagram or down the left side.

ACP Navigation options

In the ACP Navigation options you can set attributes which control how the banner area above your diagram appears. If your navigation sytle is 'Web application', then only the 'Banner logo and tabs', 'Model title', and 'Auto calc' checkboxes are enabled.

Banner logo and tabs

Unchecking the 'Banner logo and tabs' hides the banner space usually present at the top of ACP. The banner typically contains the Lumina Logo, the Parent Diagram button, tabs, Close Model button, and Save button.

Parent button

Flag to control the display of the 'Go into Parent' button. Currently the button is shown by default.

Toolbar tabs

By clearing this checkbox, you can remove the default ACP tabs that appear at the top of ACP. These are the tabs with titles like "Diagram", "Object", "Edit Table", "Table", "Graph"... Toolbar tabs are not compatible with using 'Tabs across the top' or 'Tabs down the side' navigation styles.

Use Top diagram size for all windows

Sets the size of all diagrams based on the size of the diagram window of the top level when the model was last viewed in Desktop Analytica (in non-maximized mode).

Model title

Shows the title of the model at the top to the right of the Lumina (or other) logo. Note this flag only works properly when you also clear Toolbar tabs because the tabs and title will overlap.

Diagram title

You can control whether or not to display the diagram's title at the top of the diagram.

Auto calc

Checking this causes ACP to calculate any result (table or graph) as it displays a diagram window containing the result, and to immediately recalculate any result when the user changes an input on that diagram that affects the result. (It combines Calculate on open and Auto recalc results.) This behavior is unlike Analytica which does not usually calculate results until the user asks for them by clicking the Calc button.

Once you have the navigation styles set the way you want, click 'Done'. This will close the Navigation panel and take yo back to the Main ACP Style Library diagram.

Node styles

So now click the Node styles button.

In this part of the style library you configure how nodes are displayed including using beveling and shadows. As well as what happens when one places the mouse over a node in terms of the mouse over effect, and if balloon help will be shown.

Node effect on mouse-over

Select a highlighting effect for nodes when you move the cursor over the node. The default setting is 'Outline', with 'Glow' and 'None' as the other choices. As you select an effect from the pulldown menu a preview is shown.

Node edge appearance

In this pane, the 2 checkboxes set flags controlling the appearance of the edge of the nodes. Bevels adds a 3 d bevel to the node. Shadows adds a drop shadow effect. You can select either of these effects or both.

Balloon help

This pane has 2 checkboxes to set whether the identifier and/or the definition is also shown in the balloon, and a pulldown menu which sets the delay before a balloon appears.

By default, ACP displays the description - if any - the units, and the title of an object in a balloon as you place the mouse over it. If there is no description the balloon will not appear.

Identifier in balloon. This can be useful when a node is titled 'Net present value' and has an identifier 'Npv' for example.

Definition in balloon. When checked, it shows the Definition of a variable in the balloon when you move the mouse cursor over its node.

Both Definition and Identifier boxes checked

Balloon delay When you mouse over a node, there's a short delay of about half a second before it displays the balloon (to prevent wild balloon appearance when you move the cursor rapidly over a diagram.) You can tweak this delay time measured in seconds.

Uncertainty icon in outputs

In Analytica, normally just to the right of an output node is a little icon indicating the uncertainty view last displayed e.g. mid, mean, prob bands, pdf ...

You can suppress the display of these icons. This might be desirable, for instance, if your model is not probabilistic or if the end users will not know what these icons represent.

Flash buttons

For button nodes, instead of drawing a button that looks like a button node in desktop analytica, use a Flash button. A Flash button component looks and feels a little bit more like a GUI button used in software applications.

If you are building a web application which uses 'Submit' or other buttons, you might find it looks better using the Flash button component rather than a traditional Analytica button node.

However, if you are using multi-line text or have images embedded in any of the button nodes, then you should not use Flash Buttons since they don't support these features.

*Once you have the Node styles set remember to click 'done'. This will apply the node style attributes you have selected to the model and return you to the ACP Style Library diagram

Frame nodes

WHAT IS A FRAME NODE? If you are creating a Web Application which does not use the toolbar tabs, then you probably will want to display tables and graphs on the influence diagram. You can specify the location and size of the tables and graphs on the diagram using a Frame node. A module frame node is just a text node in a module that one tells ACP to use as the location for displaying tables and graphs in that module.

These are used with Web Application navigation styles where the toolbar tabs are not present. If you are not using one of the Web Application navigation styles, then you can skip this step.

HOW TO MAKE A TEXT NODE BE A FRAME NODE

First, create a text node in the module you want to display tables and graphs. Here is a Model with a text node on the top diagram.

Select frame

In the Frame Nodes control panel, select the module where the text node is located from the 'Select module' pulldown menu.

Select the frame node's identifier from the 'Select frame node' pulldown menu.

(If the text node is newly added to the model, it may not be listed if this variable has not been 'dirtied'. If it is not listed, you need to click the refresh button.)

Once you have the correct node selected, then check "Use as a module frame node".

Once you check this checkbox the options in the field below will be displayed and enabled..

Select frame node styles

Index Menus Controls the display of the Index pulldown menus on the diagram. Unchecked by default, since this saves diagram space, and it is assumed that a modeller will usually choose how he wants people to view the orientation and dimensions of a table/graph in his model on the web. If you want people to be able to view and use these menus in ACP, check this box.

Title This checkbox controls whether or not the title of the node is shown above the table or graph on the diagram.

Description This checkbox controls whether or not the description of the node is shown above the table or graph on the diagram.

Description length Length of description of variable as a percent of Frame height. Not enabled if the 'description' check box is unchecked. If the Description is too long to fit the allotted space, it will be truncated and a scroll bar will be used to view the entire description. (This feature will only display correctly if you have made the frame node large enough to accommodate the scroll bar within the allotted space).

Table and or graph When the results of a node are shown, you have the following options, to show just the graph, just the table, show both the table and the graph. If you want the table or graph to be shown based on what was viewed last in Analytica, you can choose 'As saved in Analytica'.

For edit tables, the table will always be displayed regardless of this setting.

Once you have chosen the settings for your frame node, you can make another frame node, either in a different module or in the same module. If there is more than one Frame, each time you click on a node, it will show its table or graph in the Frame whose contents was displayed the longest ago. Thus, as you click on different nodes, it cycles through the Frames. In this way, you can see and compare edit tables or results from multiple nodes -- all in the same diagram window.

Click 'Done' when your settings are complete.