7.2 Type Manager
The Type Manager
is a tool for
exporting and deleting modeling language specifications. It can be opened from
the Launcher by choosing
Metamodel | Type Manager.
The Type Manager window consists of two lists (
Figure 7–3). The list on the left
shows the graph types currently loaded into the MetaEdit+ client. The check box
below the list allows you to choose whether all subtypes are shown in the list.
The list on the right shows the types currently loaded into the MetaEdit+
client. If you want to select all graph types in the list or invert the existing
selection, use the
Select All and
Invert Selection
buttons.
Figure 7–3. Type Manager.
Exporting modeling languages and types
Modeling languages (i.e. graph types and the other types they
use) can be exported to a file to be transferred to another MetaEdit+
repository.
Types can be exported either as just the set needed for
some selected graph types, or as the full set of types defined in a given
project. To export a set of graph types:
| 1) | Make
sure that you do not have uncommitted changes. If necessary, press the
Commit button in the main MetaEdit+
launcher. |
| 2) | Select
the desired graph types in the list on the
left. |
| 3) | Press
the arrow button between the lists to update the selections in the list on the
right. All types necessary for the selected graph types are selected in the list
on the right. Loading and calculating the types may take a while.
|
| 4) | To export
types in binary format, press the Save as Patch button and enter a file
name *.met for the exported types. Alternatively, if you want to export types in
XML format, press Export to XML and enter the file name
.mxt. |
| 5) | Enter
the name of the source database if prompted. This name is used as the reference
for the original repository if you are exporting types repeatedly from one
repository to another. See the User’s Guide and System
Administrator’s Guide sections on the Graph Manager for more
details. |
If you want to save some types that
are not chosen, you could make a temporary graph type that references them.
Alternatively, to export all types from a specific project, press the Select
by Project... button. Note that if the types in that project also use types
from other projects, the export file will also include these other types. All
types to be saved can be seen in the right list.
Types can be imported into MetaEdit+ as a patch file filed
in to the repository (see the ‘MetaEdit+ System Administrator’s
Guide’ for importing patches).
Type usage information
After selecting some graph types and pressing the arrow
button, you can browse the users of a type in the list on the right.
| 1) | Select
the type in the list on the
right |
| 2) | Choose
Show Type Users... from its pop-up
menu |
| 3) | A list
dialog opens showing all types which refer to the selected type. From the list
you can select one or more referring types to inspect which types in turn use
them, or open the types in a method development tool by holding shift down while
pressing OK. |
Note that the types shown
as using this type are only those that are currently selected in the list on the
right. They are thus possibly only a subset of those that use this type in the
whole repository. To see which of the currently loaded types use this type, edit
the selected type by selecting Edit Type from its pop-up menu and press
Info in its method development tool.
To see all using types in the whole repository, first open
all projects (Repository | Open Project... in the main MetaEdit+
launcher) and then view the Info for the type as above.
Removing types
Types that are not needed can be removed from the repository
by opening all projects, choosing the graph types you want to keep, and pressing
the Delete Unselected button. See the ‘MetaEdit+ System
Administrator’s Guide’ for further details, and before performing
this operation.
