| Prev | Next | Start of Chapter | End of Chapter | Contents | Index | (5 out of 14)

Setting Up an NOL Application

To set up an NOL application:

Set up the workspace hierarchy for the application.
Set the user mode.
Add menu choices to the top menu bar to display your top-level workspaces.
Rename the top-level module.

Setting Up the Workspace Hierarchy

Before you can create a schematic diagram, you must set up the workspace hierarchy for the application. You typically create separate workspaces for different parts of the application. For example, you might have several different workspaces for diagrams, which are linked via connection posts, and you might have a workspace for the input variables that the diagram uses, the rules that the diagram invokes, and the G2 schematic diagram that the NOL diagram monitors.

To set up the workspace hierarchy:

Create a new workspace by selecting Main Menu > New Workspace.
Choose KB Workspace > Setup Application Workspace to display the following workspace:
Click on text labeled Enter title here, select the edit menu choice, enter a title, and press Return.
Click on the background of the workspace, and select KB Workspace > Add Subworkspace Button to add as many subworkspaces as you need for your application.
Go into Administrator mode.
Click on the text of each subworkspace button, and select the edit. menu choice to edit the name of the subworkspace.
Go back into Developer mode.
Click on each subworkspace button to display its subworkspace.
Edit the title of the subworkspace to match the subworkspace button.

Typically, the top-level workspace provides access to all the other subworkspaces of the application.

For example, here is the top-level workspace for a pH process application and the Training Data Sets subworkspace, which is initially empty:

Note: The top-level workspace is not a named workspace, therefore it does not appear in the list of named workspaces when you select

Main Menu > 
Get Workspace

. Therefore, you should not hide this workspace. If you do, you can retrieve it by using the Inspect facility and showing all the workspaces assigned to the nolapps module.

Creating an Application Menu Choice

As application developer, you might want to add menu choices to the menus that display the top-level workspaces of your application. In addition, end users will want to access application workspaces through the top menu bar. You can add menu choices automatically to the Applications submenu of the Show menu.

To add a menu choice to the Applications submenu:

Click on the title of a top-level workspace in your application, and select the add to menu menu choice.

Selecting this menu choice adds the name of the workspace to the Applications submenu of the Show menu.

To remove a menu choice from the Applications submenu:

Click on the title of the top-level workspace whose menu choice you want to remove, and select the remove from menu menu choice.

To test the application menu choice:

Hide the top-level workspace whose menu choice you added to the Application menu.
Select the Show > Applications menu choice.
The top-level workspace you just added appears as a menu choice.
Click on the name of the application workspace to display it.

For example, here is the Applications menu with the pH Process menu choice added:

Note: If you delete a top-level workspace whose menu choice has been added to the Applications menu, NOL automatically removes the associated menu choice.

Setting the User Mode

Part of setting up an application is choosing the user mode in which you will operate. You can switch between these modes as you develop your application.

Different types of users interact with NOL in different modes:

End users operate in User mode or Browser mode, which allows users to view diagrams, display menus, and display configuration panels of objects, but it does not allow users to move blocks, clone blocks, or edit attributes. Browser mode is slightly more restrictive than User mode.
Developers of NOL applications work in Developer mode, which provides access to all the basic functionality used for building schematic diagrams.
System administrators work in Administrator mode, which allows access to additional attributes and menu choices used for debugging.

To set the user mode:

Select User Mode on the Gensym menu, and choose the mode.

Here is the User Mode submenu with Developer mode selected:

Renaming the Top-Level Module

When you initially load NOL, you load the knowledge base contained in the file gdaapps.kb. This creates an empty top-level module named nolapps, which requires all of the NOL modules.

You can rename the top-level module for a specific application.

To rename the top-level module for a specific application:

Load the empty KB contained in file nolapps.kb located in the NOL directory.
Select Main Menu > Inspect to display the G2 editor.
Enter show on a workspace the module hierarchy in the editor.
This shows a workspace containing the module hierarchy for the NOL application. The top-level module is called nolapps.
Click on the top-level module to edit its name.
This displays the G2 editor for entering a new name.
Enter a new name for the top-level module.

When you save the NOL application, using Main Menu > Save KB, the top-level module whose name you supplied appears as the default module to save.

| Prev | Next | Start of Chapter | End of Chapter | Contents | Index | (5 out of 14)

Copyright © 1996, Gensym Corporation, Inc.