If you are a newcomer to Workbench, the following tips may be helpful when exploring and working with Sedona apps.
Woven throughout the Workbench GUI are right-click menus for items, whether items are in views like wire sheets and property sheets, or in the Nav tree. This is in addition to standard menu bar and tool bar options—which may change, depending on the item currently selected in the main view.
For this reason, know that often multiple ways exist to perform the same operations, when either working in the main (views) area or working in the Nav tree pane.
When using Workbench to make changes to any connected Sedona app, note that those changes are not persisted in Flash memory
of the node (SED-M0x
module) until you expressly invoke the Save action on the top-level App component. Any unsaved changes are in device RAM only, and are lost on a reset.
The button
at the bottom of property sheets and other views only commits changes to RAM.
Examples of app changes would be any changes from property sheets or other special views, as well as adding, deleting, moving, or linking components. Therefore, it is wise to periodically invoke an app Save.
To do this, right-click the top-level App node (either in the Nav tree, or in the property sheet of the App component), and select -> . This writes changes in RAM to the node’s Flash memory.
A related (but different) type of Sedona app save is to “get” the connected app on your Sedona Workbench PC using the Sox Manager, saved as a “.sax” file (Sedona Application XML format). For related details on this view, see Sox Manager.
The Workbench GUI is like a “super browser”. Use the tool bar buttons and
to retrace or advance your steps. Both of these buttons also offer a “visited” drop-down
menu.
Also, an is available when you are at some child level, say under the App node (also with its own drop-down visited menu).
Open new tabs in the view pane, as needed, using the -> option, or simply with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-T. Using tabs allows you to quickly switch between views, for example, between the property sheet of a component, and the wire sheet of its (folder) container.
Also, open new windows with the -> option, or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-N.
Instead of a normal “text only” URL address bar, Workbench has a graphical locator bar to show the path (ord) of the item in the view. Each path level has a drop-down menu to show available children.
At the right end of the locator bar is the view selector, another drop-down menu that lists all available views for the item currently shown in the view pane.
Revisit any previous view, selecting from a history of “ords”, using the Alt-Space. The most recent views are listed at the top.
-> command, or simply with the keyboard shortcutThe Nav tree provides quick tree navigation (expand, collapse) of a Sedona app, with double-click access to the default view for any component shown.
The right-click menu for each item in the Nav tree includes all available views, as well as actions (if any), plus numerous editing options (Cut, Copy, Paste, Duplicate, Delete), link marking, rename and reorder, and other possible operations.
Note the top-level App component provides several right-click actions, of which the action is regularly recommended. See Saving app changes for related details.
In the Nav tree, you can copy (drag and drop) components from one container to another, and also copy components from the Sedona Palette to target containers in the Nav tree (in addition to wire sheet and property sheet views). Adding components in the Nav tree this way can save time.
However, know that the default “position” for all components copied from the palette this way is in the upper left corner of the container’s wire sheet—such that some may not be immediately visible. To remedy, in the container’s wire sheet, reposition (drag) such components away from the top left corner. Or, if there are many such components, you can try the
right-click menu option.Use the Nav tree to move a component, if necessary, from one container to another container. To do this, “right-click drag” the component to the target destination, and chose from the shortcut menu. Note this method keeps links intact (to/from the moved component), unlike a “cut and paste”.
Use the Nav tree when linking components in different containers. See Making links for details.
Links between components in an app define the flow of control logic. Links can move sensor inputs into control logic, where logic results act on outputs, such as actuators or DOs. A link is typically made from a source “Out” slot of one component to the target “In” slot of another component.
Link validation rules:
Data (primitive) types of slots on both sides of a link must match—for example, both must be either “bool” (boolean), “float”, “integer”, and so on.
A target (“to”) slot can only be linked to one source (“from”) slot.
However, note that a source slot can be linked to many different target slots, typically each one on a different component.
Workbench provides different methods to make a valid link between components, as follows:
Both components in same parent container
Typically you work in the wire sheet view of the parent Folder. Workbench allows you to simply drag a link from the right-side of a slot of one component (the source) to the left-side slot of another component (the target). As you do this, the cursor changes to indicate status as follows:
“arrow” when you hover over the source slot, changing to a:
“hand” at the end of a temporary line as you drag to another slot, where it changes to an:
“arrow” as you hover over a valid target slot (or at the bottom of the shape), or a:
“NOT sign” if you hover over a invalid target slot. If you drop then, nothing happens.
To make the link to a valid target slot, simply drop, and a “link line” automatically routes between the component shapes. Note that sometimes if a “busy” wire sheet with many components and links, instead of a link line, the link may be shown with “knobs” on both components.
If you dropped the dragged line onto the bottom of the shape (versus a specific target slot), a popup Link dialog appears, with the left-side source slot pre-selected. In the right-side, click to select the target slot (only a valid selection enables the bottom OK button).
Components in different parent containers
Working in the Nav tree provides the easiest method to link components in different folders, using right-click menu options. In the Nav tree, expand the different containers (folders) as needed to expose components. For example:
Right-click the source component CmpName
, choose .
Right-click the target component, choose
.The Link dialog opens: select (click) the source slot on one side, the target slot on the other other side, and click . Such a link shows as a “knob” on the slot of both components’ shape.
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