RendererView

The RendererView

TMNav's RendererView is the place where topicmap browsing actually takes place. The RendererView is separated in two areas. In both of them, topicmap data is displayed by a Renderer. What Renderer is actually is setable by the user.

The two areas of the RendererView. In the left area a TreeRenderer is used. On the right, the HypergraphRenderer displays a model of the Extended Abstractor.

Every area has the following characteristics

it has a name
a Renderer is assigned to the area. The Renderer is setable and thus allows to control how data is displayed.
an Abstractor is assigned to the area. The Abstractor is setable as well. It determines what exactly is displayed.
for each area it is defined, where the request to display an element is targeted to.
the area maintains a history of previously browsed elements.

Most characteristics of an area can be changed by right clicking in the area and thus open a contextual menu.

Setting the Renderer

The popup gives you access to a submenu, that lists all currently available renderers for this particular area. Choosing a new renderer should update the display immediately. This fails sometimes. In that case, resize the window a bit, or select another element to force a display refresh.

Setting an Abstractor

The contextual popup lists all Abstractors that are suitable to be used in conjunction with the current Renderer. What Abstractors are suitable, is driven by the actual Renderer, so be prepared to see different lists for different Renderers.

Again, choosing an Abstractor should update the display immediately. In opposite to the setting of a Renderer, this seems to work reliably.

Once an Abstractor is chosen, it remains as the Abstractor for that area, until you choose another one.

Every Abstractor may export setable options to the user interface. Theese Options are displayed in the contextual popup just below the item that let you choose the abstractor.

The example shows you the option that the CompactAbstractor exports to let you specify, how assocications should be grouped in the generated model.

It is also possible to set an abstractor with the settings dialog (see below). The settings dialog differs from the context menu in the point, that it list all abstracors available to TMNav, not only the ones that the Renderer states to be suitable. If you choose an Abstractor from the settings dialog, be prepared to see no results or some that you did not expect.

Choosing a target area

This item allows you to specify, in which area the topicmap element under the mouse shall be displayed.

Consequently, this item is only part of the popup menu when the right-click did occur on an element.

To set the target-area where element selection is sended to permanently, use the settings dialog (see below)

Settings-Dialog

Some of the settings are only accessible via the settings-dialog of an area . The corresponding button is located in the upper right of the area.

The settings dialog allows you to

choose any abstractor, regardless of what the current renderer recommends
choose a renderer.
choose the RendererArea where a topicmap element, that is selected in the current area, shall be displayed.

The History

A RendererArea also maintains a history of the topicmap-elements you have seen so far in this particular area.

The back and forward-buttons are located in the upper toolbar of the view.

The history just saves topicmap-elements. It does not save your renderer- and abstractor- settings. While traversing the history all elements will be transfered to a model by the current abstractor and will be displayed by the current renderer.