Appendix A Using an Xmath GUI Tool
Xmath Interactive Control Design Module A-4 ni.com
•A list is a vertical list of items (strings) that can be selected
(highlighted). Depending on the application, a list can be configured
to allow various types of selection:
– A single-selection list allows only a single line to be selected.
Clicking the left mouse button selects a line. This is the type of list
that appears in the window shown in FigureA-1.
– A multiple-selection list allows multiple lines to be selected. The
selection of a single line is toggled by clicking with the left mouse
button.
– An extended-selection list also allows multiple lines to be
selected. A contiguous range of items can be selected by pressing
the left mouse button, dragging the mouse, and releasing. Pressing
<Shift> and the left mouse button selects all the items from the
current item to the previous item that was selected with the left
mouse button. Pressing <Ctrl> and the left mouse button
augments (rather than replaces) the existing selections. This
allows discontiguous ranges of items to be selected. This type of
list is used in the history sorting and history column dialogs in the
leadlag demo.
When you select one or more items from a list, you then choose some
action such as Delete or Display.
• GUI tools can display a dialog. A dialog is a small window that could
contain a message and one or more buttons. For example, a dialog may
have a single button and a message giving a warning or indicating an
error.
Usually a dialog is modal: you cannot interact with any other GUI or
Xmath windows until the dialog has been removed. If you find you
cannot interact with Xmath or other GUI windows, then look for a
modal dialog that might have been accidently covered by another
window.
• GUI tools allow detailed Help messages to be displayed. These are
often listed under a Help pull-down menu at the top-right of the GUI
window. The Help message appears in a new window that provides
scrollbars as needed. The scrollbars are operated with the left and
middle mouse buttons. The window is dismissed by clicking the Close
button.