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PhixFlow screens have been designed to provide quick access to the functions you are likely to need from the current view without having to navigate complex menus. This help page provides an overview of the navigation features and key screens in PhixFlow.

Accessing Help

When you first log into PhixFlow in 

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, you will see a Help tab on the right, as well as the Repository tab. The Help tab provides links to the help and training.

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To open the help about the options in a properties tab, click 

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 in the toolbar at the top of the tab.

General Notes on the User Interface

Please read Menu Options and Toolbar Buttons for general advice on mouse and other actions available on the user interface.

Applications

On the top left of the PhixFlow screen is the Applications button. Clicking an Applications button opens a list of all Applications available for the user. The user can run the selected one using its default Menu by clicking or right clicking to open in a new tab or window. An application may have more than one menu item which will be displayed after clicking on the application.

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The following notes provide useful information on general interaction features of the client application that are used in many of the PhixFlow screens.

Double-click Action

Double clicking items on a list (and elsewhere) generally opens the object definition form however for Stream Views, Dashboards, and Analysis Models PhixFlow will open the object representation e.g. the Chart implied by the Stream View. To open definition forms for these objects you need to use the "Edit" option on the context menu.

Selecting Items

Clicking an item "selects" it (the item will be highlighted) and any previously selected items will be deselected. To select multiple items, press the Control key at the same time as you click the item. This will add the new item to the list of selected items. Note that if the item clicked is already selected, it will be removed from the selection list. If you want to select a continuous list of items, select the first item on the list and then select the last item while holding down the Shift key.

Note that there are several places in PhixFlow where operations can be carried out on multiple selected items, for example object deletion.

Drag and Drop

The user can drag and drop the majority of object items within PhixFlow. The outcome of each drag/drop operation is dependent upon the context and is explained on help for each form however here are a few general tips:

  • Objects can only be dragged/dropped between compatible forms i.e. only if it makes sense for the object to be dropped onto the target location.
  • Many forms support drag/drop for multiple selected items.
  • Items can be reordered by dragging and dropping on ordered lists i.e. lists where the order of the items is important e.g. the list of Stream Attributes for a Stream. Note that the list should be ordered in the (default) ordered state.
  • On Analysis Model panes, single or multiple objects can be dragged off the modelling pane and onto another object by selecting the objects you want to drag and then holding down the Shift key and dragging the item(s). If the Shift key is not held down, the selected objects are just moved on the modelling pane.
  • Stream Views can be dragged onto Dashboards to create your own layout.

Multiple Object Windows 

To open a form in a new tab, drag the tab header onto the modelling pane. This will create a new pane for the form. To move a form to another pane, drag the header tab onto the destination pane.

Deleting Items

PhixFlow will always ask for confirmation that you really do want to delete an item or selected list of items before actually deleting it. Note that you will not be able to delete an item that is referenced by other objects within PhixFlow (an message box will appear indicating the number and types of referencing items).

Context Menus
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All objects have context menus associated with them which are accessed by right-clicking the mouse button. One key context menu item is Permanently Delete which is always the last item on the list (to help ensure it is not pressed accidentally)! 

Note that all objects that appear on Analysis Models have a context menu entry "Show Models" which will display a list of all the models that contain that objects.

Repository browser and object property editor forms

When opening PhixFlow in design mode the Using the Repository will open on the right side of the screen. When an object is opened to edit, a property editor form will be opened in a new tab in this pane. If an object is opened for editing when another property editor form is already open, the new property editor form will replace the already opened one, unless the open form contains unsaved data or the tab is pinned.  You can close the property editor by clicking on the white cross on the tab.

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Open up a grid showing more details about each item.

Delete the selected item or items.

Refresh the list (e.g. if the list has been updated on another computer by another user).

Create and insert a new item into the list.

Windows Bar
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The Windows bar appears in the bottom of the screen if 'Show Windows Bar' is selected from the footer bar. The Windows bar contains links to all open windows (both open and minimised). Click on a link to restore the window (if needed) and bring the window to the front of the screen. Each window link also has a context menu which allows you to close it directly.

Task Bar
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The task bar is at the bottom of the PhixFlow window. On the left the number of currently running actions is shown. There is also the button to show/hide the windows bar. If there are any notifications on screen, they can all be dismissed in one go by clicking 'Dismiss notifications'. This will dismiss the green notification pop ups but not red error/failure messages.

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