SCT: Multiple Series Slot Sub-Tabs / RiverWare 6.6
Bug Number: n/a
Release notes (y/n): Yes
For Release Nums: 6.6
See Document [10-28-2014]:
SCT: Multiple Series Slot Sub-Tabs / RiverWare 6.6
Word: R:\doc\sct\2014\SerSlotSubTabs\SerSlotSubTabs-Oct2014.docx
PDF: R:\doc\sct\2014\SerSlotSubTabs\SerSlotSubTabs-Oct2014-Phil-28.pdf
The SCT now supports distributing its series slots among multiple "sub-tabs", all within the SCT's "Series Slots" tab. The user defines each series sub-tab's slot content by placing new Series Sub-Tab Dividers (pink, by default) within the list of slot and slot-divider items shown on the "Edit Series Slot List" tab. As with the previously implemented Slot Divider tabs (light blue, by default), Series Sub-Tab Dividers are presented as top-level tree items, with the contained slot items as its children. This hierarchical view applies only to the Edit Series Slot List presentation -- for the purpose of moving whole blocks of related slot items. The entity being edited in the Edit Series Slot List tab is actually a flat list containing three types of items:
If the first item in the SCT's slot list is not a Series Slot Sub-Tab Divider item, such an initial item is "implicit" -- using a generic label of "Series Slot Tab". (In some contexts, an initial default Series Slot Sub-Tab Divider is automatically defined). The row of sub-tabs is shown (under the Series Slots tab series data table) only if at least two Series Slot Sub-Tabs are defined. In that case (when there are at least two defined Series Slot Sub-Tabs), a final "All Slots" tab is automatically provided; this shows all series slots defined in the SCT. (Read more about this in the "All Slots" tab section, below).
All four SCT views -- horizontal and vertical time / aggregated and non-aggregated -- support Series Sub-Tab Dividers. As before, the slot/timestep cell selection remains stable when switching views. Also, full-timestep row or column selections remain stable when switching sub-tabs.
"Go To" Menu Support for Sub-Tabs:
In many respects, the new Series Slot Sub-Tab Divider items (pink, by default), are supported in the same way as the previously implemented Slot Divider items (light blue, by default). This applies to the SCT's "Go To" menu, which presents one slot item for each divider in the SCT. If the divider has text (which is conditionally visible in the SCT only in horizontal time views), the corresponding "Go To" menu item has that text. Otherwise, the "Go To" menu item has the slot label of the subsequent slot item. This is true for all views, including in horizontal time views where thin (text-less) slot divider rows are shown.
Note: Relative to the two previous screenshots, as before, the height option (and divider text visibility) of slot dividers in the horizontal time views is configured on the "Horizontal" tab of the SCT Configuration dialog with two radio buttons:
Slot Divider Rows: (o) Show Text (o) Thin
The color of SCT Series Slot Tab Dividers -- importantly in the Edit Series Slots List tab, but also shown within the SCT Series Slots tab -- is configured in the "Color" tab of the SCT Configuration dialog.
Relationship between Slot Dividers and the new Series Slot Sub-Tab Dividers:
As previously mentioned, these two types of slot-domain dividers have analogous behaviors in many contexts. (In fact, in the implementation process, the first step was bifurcating the previously implemented Slot Dividers into two distinct divider types with identical behavior -- with the exception of having distinct color configurations). When multiple Series Slot Sub-Tabs are configured, any defined (conventional) Slot Dividers appear on the appropriate sub-tab. In this sense, the hierarchical view of slot items in the Edit Series Slots List tab could be presented as a three-level tree hierarchy, rather than just a two-level tree hierarchy. However, this was not done in the initial implementation; both types of dividers are top-level tree items.
"All Slots" Series Slot Sub-Tab:
As mentioned above, when Series Slot Sub-Tabs are used (i.e. when there are at least two defined Series Slot Sub-Tabs), a final "All Slots" tab is automatically provided.
This tab shows all series slots defined in the SCT. This provision is, and will be important for testing and diagnosing any problems related to this new feature; it causes all slot items to be visible, regardless of the "current series slot sub-tab" state.
Additional Notes:
The separation of slots having different unit types onto distinct tabs (as with the example shown in this document) improves the usability of the selection statistics shown at the bottom of the SCT. When all of the slots on the sub-tab have the same unit type, selecting a whole timestep row or column results in a potentially coherent display of summary statistics. When such a selection includes slot values of different unit types, no statistics are shown; instead, only the message "[multiple unit types]" is displayed.
Note that a full timestep row or column selection remains stable when switching Series Slot Sub-Tabs.
Although use of Series Slot Sub-Tabs potentially improves support for multiple unit types in a single SCT (as discussed above), it's still true that all series slots within an SCT must all have the same timestep size. That is, the slots on all Series Slot Sub-Tabs within an SCT must have the same timestep size for their numeric data to be displayed.
The "Resize Columns" toolbar button function -- which is active when a single column is selected -- applies to slot columns on all Series Slot Sub-Tabs. (This is relevant for the vertical time views, where slots are display columns). This operation sets the width of all columns to that of the selected column. The fact that this applies to columns across all sub-tabs is useful for creating vertical time views where the various sub-tabs have analogous sets of slots -- differing either in the simulation object or slot entity (Inflow, Outflow, Storage, etc). When this provision is used, columns remain "stable" when switching to different sub-tabs.
Conversely, numeric editing and transformation operations on the currently selected set of slot/timestep cells are guaranteed to affect only values on the currently selected Series Slot Sub-Tab.
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