About configuration settings

• Options are frequently-desired or often-used customization settings that you can set from a dialog in the Together user interface.
• Search Paths are lists of system paths that Together searches for such things as classes and source code files.
• Configuration  Properties are less-often needed system-level customization settings that you must modify directly in the configuration properties file.

Options

You can configure a number of options that control the way diagrams display and print. You can configure these options globally and locally. Global options settings become your "default" settings for new diagrams, and you can centrally apply changes to all existing diagrams in the current Project. Local options settings apply to the current diagram overriding the same global options.

Configuration options fall into four main categories:

	Diagram options
	Class display options
	Layout options
	Print options

 
There are additional two categories of global options:

	Code editor confirmation options
	External tools options

 

Understanding the Options dialog box

The dialog box for configuring options is comprised of four tabs, each displaying a different category of options. The same dialog is used for both global and local options. When displayed for global options, the dialog's title is Global Options. When displayed for local options, the title is Diagram Options. Reference topics refer to the latter title, but the explanation of the options applies to both global and local settings. Options settings are documented in detail in the User Reference. See Options dialog.

Global options

To configure options globally:
1. From the Main menu, choose Edit | Options... to display Together Global Options dialog.
2. Modify the current options settings on the various tabs as desired. (For information on the tabs and options, see Options dialog.)
3. If you want changes to be effective only for new diagrams from now on, click OK. If you want changes to affect new diagrams and all existing diagrams in the current project (assuming a project is open), click Apply All.
 

TIP	New diagrams are created with the set of local options taken from global setting. The new global settings override them when you click Apply All. This covers implicitly created Package diagrams for each subdirectory in the project.

Local options

To configure local options for the current diagram:
1. Browse to the desired diagram using the Navigation pane.
2. Choose Diagram Options from the Diagram context menu of the Diagram pane.
3. Modify the current options settings on the various tabs as desired and click OK. (For information on the tabs and options, see Options dialog.)
 

TIP	Changes show and apply for the current diagram only overriding current global options settings.

 

Common Options

All available options are documented in the Help topic for the Options dialog. The current topic takes a brief look at two of the more commonly sought options.

Switching between UML and Coad notation

Together supports both UML and Coad notations for diagrams. You can set the notation globally or locally for individual diagrams. Open the appropriate Options dialog (as described above) and choose the desired notation option on the Diagram tab.

Customizing context menus with launch commands

You can customize the context menus of different types of project elements to contain commands that launch other applications. Elements that are components of diagrams append launch commands to the context menu of the corresponding diagram icon. Elements that are represented on the Navigation pane's project tree append launch commands to the context menu of corresponding tree-view nodes (source files, for example).
 
To add a launch command to an element context menu:
1. Open the Global Options dialog (Edit | Global Options).
2. Select the Tools tab of the Options dialog box.
3. From the Tool launch command(s) for list, choose a type of project element. The launch command you create in the next steps will appear on the context menus of all elements of this type.
4. Click the Add button.
5. In Label for context menu, enter the text you want to appear on the context menu of the selected element type.
6. In Commands, enter the appropriate operating system command required to launch the application that you want the menu command to run.
7. In Parameters, enter any command line parameters needed to run the target application in the manner you desire. Combine static text with macro parameters.
8. Click OK to accept changes.
 

Search Paths

Search paths are lists of system path specifications that are searched for classes, source code files or libraries. When you first create a project, Together suggests a default path specification for all search paths, which you can modify immediately in the New Project dialog box. If you need to change these specifications later, you can do so using File | Project Properties on the Main menu.

The type of search path(s) accessible for modification depends upon the product version and the target programming language of the currently open project.

Java

You should add to the Source and Class paths when base or standard classes are (or will be) imported into your project, and you want to include them at some point in the diagrams you create for your project. Unless you specify the locations for imported classes, Together shows only those classes in your project's directory tree.

Note that classes on the search paths outside the project tree do not automatically display in diagrams. You must import such classes using the Import dialog.

To edit the Class and Source paths:

1. From the Main menu, choose File | Project Properties... to display the Project Properties dialog.
2. Edit the path specifications to include the necessary paths to classes or source files. Separate multiple path specifications in the edit controls with the character appropriate to your operating system.
3. Click OK to close the dialog and update the search paths.
 
 

TIP	If you plan to work with a part of a Project, create a new project in a subdirectory and specify the base project directory in Source paths. This enables you to properly access the classes with the qualified name.

C++

When your product/project uses C++  you can change the specification of the Include path to includeclasses, source files, and libraries that reside outside the current project directory tree. To edit the Include path for a C++ project, choose File | Project Properties from the Main menu and edit the Include path field in the Project Properties dialog.
 

Object COBOL

When your product/project uses OCOBOL you can change the specification of the Source path to source files and libraries that reside outside the current project directory tree. To edit the Source path for a COBOL project, choose File | Project Properties from the Main menu and edit the Source path field in the Project Properties dialog.
 

Configuration Properties

Configuration properties for the Together system are stored in the file config.properties located in the lib subdirectory of your Together installation. The default settings of all properties here are adequate for most users, but you can do a wide range of customizations, if you are so inclined, by directly editing the various settings in this file. Things you can control here include:
• Size of tab spacing for text editor
• Tag names of Inspector properties and the order of property fields
• Property editor types (string, combo box, etc.)
• Contents of Inspector combo box lists for stereotypes
• Extensions of parsed and generated files
• File types excluded from parsing and Parser Blueprints
• List of standard Types
• Color coordinates for object stereotypes
• Auto-renaming of source files (when class name changes)
• Blueprints for class generating diagram elements
• Blueprints for generating and parsing links
The config.properties file is extensively commented. Studying the file structure and the comments should enable you to do the customizations you desire. Here are several configurations that you may want to consider.

Changing the Inspector property tag name

Suppose you would prefer the note property for Classes to be labeled as Comment in the Inspector. To make this change, open config.properties in a text editor and find the following line:
inspector.all.tag.all.Class.note = Multistring
Above or below this line add a new line as follows:
inspector.all.tag.all.Class.note.name = "Comment"
You will find some properties in config.properties that have an existing .name setting. For example:
inspector.all.tag.all.AssociationLink.clientRole.name = "client role"
By changing the string within the double quotes you change the tag display in the Inspector.

Note: You can change the order of property fields in the Inspector by changing the relative position of the corresponding line in the appropriate section of config.properties. For example, for a Class you could switch the positions of version and author.
 

Changing property editor types

Suppose after changing note to Comment, you decide you want comments kept brief. You can change the property editor from a multi-line string list to a single string editor. Again, locate the line:
inspector.all.tag.all.Class.note = Multistring
and change it to:
inspector.all.tag.all.Class.note = String

Populating stereotype select lists

A number of element properties have combo box type property editors for default. The values for the drop-down select list are specified in config.properties when the lists are user-modifiable. For example:
inspector.all.tag.all.AssociationLink.clientCardinality.values = 0..1,1,*,1..*
This line populates the select list for an Asociation link's client cardinality property. The individual values are delimited with a comma as you can see. If you preferred, you could change this line to:
inspector.all.tag.all.AssociationLink.clientCardinality.values = 0..1,1,M,1..M
However, the main things you may want to configure in this way are the select lists for stereotype. You can configure stereotype lists for:
• Class (has default values already)
• Attribute
• Operation
• Package (has default values already)
• UseCase
• Actor
• State
Search the config.properties file for stereotype.value to locate the configurable stereotypes. Then add a comma-delimited list of values after the = sign. For example:
inspector.all.tag.all.State.stereotype.values = MyValue1,MyValue2,MyValue3

Reloading configuration properties

Changes to config.properties take effect the next time you start Together. However, if you edit and save config.properties during a Together work session, you can reload the modified system properties in the current session.

To reload configuration properties:

• On the Main menu, choose Edit | Reload Options

 
A corresponding information message is written to the Message log that the properties have been reloaded. Click the Messages button to view the list.

Note: Properties are reloaded but not necessarily applied. Changes to Inspector property tags are updated when you click on any element in the current diagram. To apply changes to blueprints or view maps you need to call Update Diagrams from the Class Diagram context menu.

Chapter contents:

About configuration settings
Options
Understanding the Options dialog box
Global options 
Local options
Common options
Switching between UML and Coad notation
Customizing context menus with launch commands
Search paths
Java
C++
Object COBOL
Configuration Properties
Changing Inspector's property tag names
Changing property editor types
Populating stereotype select lists
Reloading configuration properties