Using the definition section Copy link to clipboard
By default, a statechart’s definition section is positioned at the left-hand side of the canvas.
You can edit the definition section in two different modes: Legacy mode and the new pinnable mode. Starting with version 3.3 of itemis CREATE the pinnable mode is the default editing mode.
Legacy mode Copy link to clipboard
Legacy mode is the definition section’s traditional editing mode, which has been available in itemis CREATE for a long time already.
To edit the definition section, double-click into it and enter your statements. While editing, syntax highlighting is applied to the text in the definition section. To quit editing, click outside the definition section. Now the text will appear without any syntax coloring.
Technically, the definition section is part of the canvas. If you print the canvas or save it to an image file, the definition section is included in the result. Definition section and top-level region are always scrolled in sync, which might have the rather unwanted effect that your statechart diagram is scrolled off your screen if you have a very long definition section and you are editing something down below in it.
Pinnable mode Copy link to clipboard
Pinnable mode is an improved editing mode that has been introduced with itemis CREATE 3.20. However, it is slightly incompatible with previous versions, so you have the choice to use it or not.
In pinnable mode, the definition section can be either part of the
canvas (“inlined”) or not (“pinned”), and you can change that at will. The definition section comes with a little pin symbol
at its top-left. Click on it, and the definition section will be detached from the canvas. This has a couple of advantages:
- You can edit definition section and graphical statechart independently of each other. In particular, you can scroll either area as you like, while the other one will remain where it is.
- The definition section is syntax-highlighted all the time.
- If you don’t need to see the definition section you can collapse resp. fold it away by clicking on the little triangle in the top-left corner. Click on it once more to make the definition section visible again. Another way to expand the definition section is to click on the vertical bar labeled “Definition section”.
Collapsing the pinned definition section
Expanding the pinned definition section
By default, the pinned definition section takes 20 percent of the canvas' view, but you can resize it as you like.
You can unpin the definition section and inline it with the canvas. To do so, click on the pin symbol
, which in the pinned state is in the definition section’s upper-right corner.
Please note: The definition section is available for top-level diagrams only. If you are editing a subdiagram you will need to use the Properties View to edit the definition of your statechart model.
Please also note: Pinning and inlining the definition section changes your statechart model. You have to save it in order to maintain the current status.
Pinning the statechart diagram definition section
Inlining the statechart diagram definition section
In the pinned definition section, you can edit the name of the statechart by changing the displayed text in the top-center of the section.
Changing the statechart name