Tamino X-Plorer Version 9.7
 —  Tamino X-Plorer  —

Elements of the Main Application Window

When you start the Tamino X-Plorer, its main application window appears.

Application window

The main application window contains several panes: the navigation tree, the Content pane and the Properties pane. To modify the size of a pane, move the mouse pointer over the border separating the panes until the pointer changes, showing two arrows pointing in opposite directions. Then drag the border using the mouse until the panes have the desired size.

For details on keyboard access not mentioned in this documentation, consult the documentation of the individual operating system or software product.

The following topics are covered below:


Menu Bar

The following menus are available:

Menu Using the commands in this menu, you can ...
File Create a new collection or open, update, delete and save objects. Or exit the Tamino X-Plorer.
View Switch on and off different elements of the main application window or refresh the display.
Database Connect/disconnect to/from a database, or remove a database from the tree.
Schema Define and undefine a schema, specify an instance descriptor or the instance fetch options.
Instance Insert instances and apply a display filter.
Tools Perform queries, invoke external tools, define additional external tools or define the options.
Help

Invoke the online documentation.

For reference information on each menu command, see Menu Commands in the Main Application Window.

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Toolbar

You can execute the most important functions using the toolbar.

The following toolbar buttons are available:

Toolbar button

Create new collection

Toolbar button

Open schema or instance

Toolbar button

Update schema or instance

Toolbar button

Delete instance or collection

Toolbar button

Refresh database, collection, schema or instance

Toolbar button

Connect to database

Toolbar button

Disconnect from database

Toolbar button

Define schema in collection

Toolbar button

Undefine schema

Toolbar button

Specify instance descriptor

Toolbar button

Specify instance fetch options

Toolbar button

Insert instance in collection

Toolbar button

Filter instances

Toolbar button

Invoke Tamino XQuery tool

Toolbar button

Invoke X-Query window

Toolbar button

Access online documentation

Start of instruction setTo switch the toolbar display on and off

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Navigation Tree

The navigation tree on the left side of the main application window shows databases of Tamino XML Servers to which you have previously connected. When you invoke the Tamino X-Plorer for the first time, the list is empty. See Connecting to a Tamino Database for further information.

Note:
If you have removed all previously connected databases, no database is shown at all.

You can expand or collapse the tree structure by clicking the plus or minus sign in front of an object. When using the keyboard, select the object and press RIGHT-ARROW or LEFT-ARROW.

When you select an object, details about this object are displayed in the Content pane and in the Properties pane, but the tree is not expanded.

A database contains collections (the largest units of information within a database). A collection contains one group of schemas. For each schema containing a doctype, the collection contains one group of instances of that doctype. The following example shows different doctypes of schemas and the corresponding groups of instances.

Example

The object types are indicated by the following icons:

Icon

Server

Icon

Connected database

Icon

Disconnected database

Icon

TSD3 or TSD4 collection

Icon

TSD2 collection

Icon

WebDAV-enabled collection

Icon

Group of schemas

Icon

TSD3 or TSD4 schema

Icon

TSD2 schema

Icon

Doctype of XML schema

Icon

Doctype of non-XML schema

Icon

Group of XML instances

Icon

Group of non-XML instances

Icon

Group of XML instances without doctype (grouped by root element name)

Icon

Group of non-XML instances without doctype (grouped by root element name)

Icon

Group of instances with active filter

Icon

XML instance

Icon

Non-XML instance

Icon

XML instance without doctype

Icon

Non-XML instance without doctype

For information on TSD4, TSD3 and TSD2, see Collections.

Arrows for browsing the instances may appear in the tree. See Handling Very Large Amounts of Data.

Note:
Problems within the navigation tree may occur if more than one X-Plorer modifies the same data in the database (for example, X-Plorer 1 scrolls through an instance group which is modified or deleted by X-Plorer 2).

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Context Menus

Context menus are available for the entries in the navigation tree. For example, the following context menu is available for a group of instances:

Example for context menu

Additionally, two commands (Next and Last) appear when the selected node is expanded so that instances are shown and not all instances can be shown at the same time. Depending on the pack of instances that is currently shown (see Handling Very Large Amounts of Data), you can either display the next or last pack or the previous or first pack.

Start of instruction setTo invoke a context menu

  1. Select the object for which you want to invoke a context menu.

  2. Click the right mouse button.

    Or:
    Press SHIFT+F10.

    The context menu appears and you can now choose the required command.

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Content Pane

The Content pane at the top right of the main application window shows the content of the XML object that is currently selected in the navigation tree.

Non-XML instances in the following formats can also be shown in the Content pane: GIF, JPG, HTML, SVG and ASCII text.

Restrictions:

Help:

When information cannot be displayed in the Content pane or when no information is available, a hint is provided. For example, for a group of instances, no content information is available. In this case, the Content pane informs you to check the Properties pane.

Depending on the type of object, one or more views are available. When different views are available, they can be activated using the following buttons in the top right corner of the Content pane:

Button Keyboard Description

Tree view button

CTRL+SHIFT+T Tree view for XML objects. Not available for non-XML instances. Whether lines are wrapped in tree view depends on the corresponding setting in the Options dialog box. See Setting the Tamino X-Plorer and X-Query Options for further information.

Plain view button

CTRL+SHIFT+P Plain view providing the XML code of an XML object. Or plain view providing the HTML code of an HTML document

HTML view button

CTRL+SHIFT+H Browser-like view for HTML documents with the restrictions described above.

Image view button

CTRL+SHIFT+I Image view for non-XML objects (for example, GIF).

Hex view button

CTRL+SHIFT+X Hexadecimal view for non-XML objects of media type "text/plain".

graphics/svg_icon.png

CTRL+SHIFT+S SVG image view for Scalable Vector Graphics

The following example shows the tree view for an XML instance:

Example

The following example shows the plain view for the same instance:

Example

See Instances for further information.

Start of instruction setTo switch the Content pane display on and off

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Properties Pane

The Properties pane at the bottom right of the main application window shows properties (metadata) for the object that is currently selected in the navigation tree. There are two types of information:

Depending on the type of object, one or more views are available. When different views are available, they can be activated using the following buttons in the top right corner of the Properties pane:

Button Keyboard Description

Tree view button

CTRL+SHIFT+T Tree view. Whether lines are wrapped in tree view depends on the corresponding setting in the Options dialog box. See Setting the Tamino X-Plorer and X-Query Options for further information.

Plain view button

CTRL+SHIFT+P Plain view providing the properties of a schema, doctype or instance node as name/value pairs in a table. Not available for other nodes.

The following example shows the properties for an XML instance in tree view:

Example

The following example shows the plain view for the same instance:

Example

Start of instruction setTo switch the Properties pane display on and off

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Dialog Boxes

Most Tamino X-Plorer dialog boxes can be resized. This is indicated by the following symbol in the lower right corner of a dialog box:

Symbol

Resizing a dialog box is helpful if a string is so long that it is not fully shown.

Keyboard users should additionally note the use of the following keys:

Key Function
ENTER Activate the default button.
ESCAPE Cancel the current operation and close the dialog box.

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Navigating in the Tamino X-Plorer

You can navigate in the Tamino X-Plorer using the standard mouse and/or keyboard techniques for navigating through the menus and selecting items.

Keyboard users should additionally note the use of the following keys:

Key Function
F2 Activate the selected input field for editing (edit mode).
ALT+DOWN-ARROW and ALT+UP-ARROW Open and close a drop-down list box in a dialog box.
To open and close a drop-down list box in a table, invoke edit mode (F2) first.
TAB Select the next control, or select the next item in a table.
CTRL+TAB If a control uses TAB for its own purposes (for example, a table), you have to use CTRL+TAB to leave the context of current control.

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