Frame Graph
The frame graph allows you to visualise your frames, their constraints and the variables involved in the constraints giving you a complete overview and control of your model. Other features in the frame graph include; highlighting of variables, navigation to frames, inter-frame constraints and constraint tables, zoom controls, and a viewer for screen navigation.
Open the Frame Graph
The frame graph is accessible through both the main menu and the frames listed in the navigator. As all menus are contextual, there needs to be at least one frame for the frame graph menu to be enabled.
To open the frame graph, select Frame > Show Frames Graph. Or, from a frame listed in the navigator: right-click a frame and select Visualise frame constraints to view all frames or select Visualise selected frame constraints to view only the constraints associated with the frame selected.
The frame graph window will display either all frames and constraints or a selected frame and its constraint. By default only the frame titles and constraints names are shown. Depending on how many frames and constraints have been created, the full frame graph image may or may not fit in the window.
Viewer
The viewer is the small, embedded window in the bottom left corner of the frame graph. In the viewer you can see the frames that do not fit on the screen. The white rectangle is the navigator.
Click on the navigator and move it around the viewer to adjust the frame graph view.
Expand and collapse frames
The view of the frames can be changed in two ways:
- Right click an empty part of the screen and selecting Expand all or Collapse all (depending on the current state).
- Double click on any frame title, this will expand the frame and show all variables and any inter-frame constraints.
Navigate to frames, instances and constraints
Editing a frame, instances or its constraints has to be done from the frame, instance table or constraint properties dialogue itself. You can easily get to all three from the frame graph.
Go to a frame:
To go to a frame; right-click on any frame (from either state -- expanded or collapsed) and select Open frame.
Edit the frame as required. To view changes in the frame graph, close the graph if it is still open and reselect Show frames graph from the main menu under Frame.
View or edit instances:
To view or edit instances of frame variables > select View/edit instances from the context menu.
View or go to constraints:
A frame set can have multiple constraints. However, only one constraint name is shown on the frame graph at a time.
- Right click on the constraint name. Below the Open constraint properties option will be a list of constraints. Click on the constraint you want to show on screen.
- To go to the constraint properties select Open constraint properties from the context menu or double-click the constraint name in the box on the frame graph and the constraint properties dialogue will open.
- If the constraint has a constraint table associated with it, then an extra menu item will appear.
- Select Open constraint table to go directly to the constraint table.