Preferences

Preferences Copy link to clipboard

Many aspects of itemis CREATE can be configured by preferences. You can find them here:

In the main menu, select Window → Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.
In the navigation on the left-hand side, scroll to itemis CREATE. Open it and its subentries as needed.
Click on an entry to display the associated preference page on the right-hand side of the Preferences dialog, see, e.g., figure "Preferences: Diagram appearance".

In the subsequent sections we will quickly walk through the preferences.

Diagram appearance Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Diagram appearance

Colors, line styles, and fonts Copy link to clipboard

The diagram appearance preferences define

the default colors for the backgrounds and borders of states and regions,
the default routing style for transitions and other lines, with oblique and rectilinear being the options at your choice, and
the default font for any text.

Please keep in mind that these settings will apply to new elements only. Existing regions, states, etc. will remain as they are. However, you can modify the properties of an existing element anytime, using its properties view.

Font scaling Copy link to clipboard

This option is only available on Microsoft Windows. By default, font scaling is deactivated in itemis CREATE. If you are working on different machines with different Windows font scaling, this option can be enabled to have the same font and box sizes on all machines.

Syntax coloring Copy link to clipboard

By default, itemis CREATE highlights textual statechart language elements in different colors while the corresponding text fragment is being edited.

If the "Enable syntax coloring" option is checked, syntax highlighting is turned on all the time, i.e., also for text that is not being edited.

You can configure the colors to actually use on the following preference pages:

Definition section pinning Copy link to clipboard

Check or uncheck the "Enable pinning of statechart definition section pinning" option to toggle between pinning and legacy mode of the definition section. Section "Using the definition section" explains what this is all about.

Showing transition and region priorities Copy link to clipboard

In order to display transition and region priorities in a statechart, set a check mark at the respective preference option. Section "Transition priorities" explains what transition priorities are and shows an example.

Disabling live validation Copy link to clipboard

While you are editing a statechart, the statechart editor validates your model on each and every modification you make. That’s very helpful, because the editor provides you with instant feedback, so you can see immediately what is right, wrong, or dubious, and you can take corrective action, if needed.

However, on very large and complex statechart models, validation may take a considerable amount of time, causing delays and impeding your editing. Remove the check mark from Enable live validation, and your model will be validated only before it is saved to the statechart file.

Example wizard Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Example wizard

You can change the example wizard storage location here. This is a local directory where the example wizard stores your local clone of the examples Git repository. The default is the sct4_examples directory in your home directory.

You could also change the location of the Git repository and the branch to use, but you won’t probably want to do that.

Expressions preferences Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Expressions

Certain dialogs in the statechart editor allow you to opt for never seeing them again. By clicking on the Clear button on this preference page the hidden dialogs pertaining to the statechart language will be shown again at their respective locations.

Expression syntax coloring Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Expression syntax coloring

This preference page defines foreground color, background color, font, and style for displaying certain syntactical elements in statechart language texts.

Expression templates Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Expression templates

Templates are sections of textual code that occur frequently enough to make you want to insert them with a few keystrokes only. This function is known as content assist; the sections of code that are inserted are known as templates.

To insert an existing content assist template, type the initial character, then press [Ctrl+Space]. The templates whose names begin with that character will appear. Double-click on a template to insert it.

On this preference page you can create, edit, and delete statechart language templates.

Generator model Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Generator model

By default, code generators automatically generate artifacts defined by generator models in .sgen files. Using this preference setting, you can switch this behavior off or on.

Generator model refactoring Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Generator model refactoring

Change these preference settings for refactoring in generator models as you see fit.

The "Save all modified resources automatically prior to refactoring" option is somewhat dangerous, because you might have made changes to files that you intentionally do not want to save to disk – or at least not yet. For that reason, this option is turned off by default.

The "Rename in editor without dialog if possible" pertains to how the renaming operation is performed. By default, if you click on a name and press [Shift+Alt+R], you can edit the name directly in the source code, and all other occurences of that element are renamed while you are typing. If this is not possible or if this option is not checked, a dialog will ask you for the element’s new name.

Generator model syntax coloring Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Generator model syntax coloring

This preference page defines foreground color, background color, font, and style for displaying certain syntactical elements in generator model texts.

Generator model templates Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: Generator model templates

On this preference page you can create, edit, and delete generator model language templates.

SCTUnit Copy link to clipboard

Preferences: SCTUnit

Certain dialogs in SCTUnit allow you to opt for never seeing them again. By clicking on the Clear button on this preference page the hidden dialogs pertaining to SCTUnit will be shown again at their respective locations.