Table of Contents
FX Model Editor is currently in beta and should be considered a product undergoing testing. Magnetar assumes no responsibility for lost data. It is recommended to save models often, and occasionally to different files, while testing Model Editor.
Table of Contents
The main Model Editor interface is divided into two panes. The tree view on the left displays the structure of the model, while the pane on the right allows for editing of the selected node in the tree.
Selecting "New" generates a default empty tree which contains all of the building blocks needed to create a MORPH model. This model can also be used to output HLA FOM/SOM models; however any MORPH extensions will be discarded in the saved file.
All save and load operations use XSLT to parse the input or output. Consequently, all data entered into a model must be able to be serialized as XML. This is generally not a problem, but if an XSLT error is encountered, a dialog will be displayed explaining the problem.
Custom save and load modules may be added to Model Editor by copying *.xslt files into the "Translators" directory. All translators must have a <?ModelEditor?> processing instruction at their head. This contains "Name," "Type" (Input or Output), and "Filter" (used in the file load and save dialogs; example: "MORPH-DSL (*.xsd)|*.xsd").
If all else fails, there is a fall-back "Raw XML" format which can be used to load or save a model in the internal format that is used by Model Editor.
To add a node to the tree, the desired parent must first be selected. Right-click the parent, or select the "+" button in the toolbar, to display a list of valid children nodes. After a node is added, it is selected so that it may be edited.
Nodes added by the end user may be deleted using the "X" icon in the toolbar, or by right-clicking the node and selecting "Delete." Placeholder nodes may not be removed from the tree.
Nodes of the same type are automatically grouped. Within these groups, they may be moved up or down in the tree related to their siblings. However they may not be moved out of their grouping.
Nodes may also be dragged-and-dropped using the mouse. This alters the parent of the dragged node. Drop the node onto the desired parent. Only valid parents are highlighted as accepted drop points.
Most nodes can be renamed in one of two ways: by editing the node label in place, or by editing its name in the right pane. Placeholder nodes may not be renamed.
As a MORPH extension, Model Editor allows for detailed documentation to be attached to most nodes. Documentation may use HTML code and the toolbar buttons provide shortcuts to inserting some of the more common HTML tags.
As a model is edited in Model Editor, invalid nodes and items are displayed in red. Validation is determined according to the IEEE 1516.2 specification.
To aid in project management, empty (unedited) nodes are displayed in a grayed out manner. Many file formats save space by omitting output of empty nodes.
Notes are an HLA mechanism of attaching ancillary data onto almost any property. Adding notes to a model is a two-step process. First, the note(s) must be added to the tree under the "Tables" node. After that, add or remove notes to or from an item by selecting the note icon to the right of the item. Any number of notes may be attached to a single item, and more than one item may share the same note.
Model Editor is currently in beta testing. Some features are not fully implemented and some bugs are present. The following is a list of currently-known issues.
We welcome all bug reports. However please do not report flaws listed above in the Known Issues.
In particular, the following items still need to be bug-tested thoroughly:
The following items are planned, but are currently not implemented:
