Object Editing


All objects (Decisions, Objectives, Processes etc) can be edited in an editing tab. Edit windows have three columns – a Jump To menu on the left, an edit column in the middle and a search and properties column on the right

Some of the object’s properties, its basic details, are displayed at the top of the edit column when the tab opens

There are several ways to move around the edit column.

  • You can scroll up and down the edit column using the scroll bar on the right hand side of the column.
  • You can use the Jump menu to jump directly to a specific set of properties such as the Question & Answers for a Decision. This brings the relevant section of the edit column into view as shown
  • If the section is near the bottom of the edit column, as with Objectives in this example, the edit column scrolls to the bottom and the section will be displayed in the middle of the screen.
  • From any point in the edit column you can click on Jump to Top to return to the top of the edit column.
  • You can also tab through the fields using the tab key

Edit fields come in various kinds

  • There are simple text fields such as the name
  • There are rich text fields such as the description where basic formatting can be applied.
    • To make text in a rich text field bold, italic, underlined or struck out simply select the text and then click the relevant button.
    • To make formatted text plain simply select the formatted text and click the button corresponding to the format you want to remove
    • To format a paragraph or set of paragraphs as bullets or a numbered list, select the text that makes up the list and click the relevant button
    • You can remove bullets or numbers by selecting the paragraph or paragraphs you want to unformat (or simply place the mouse in the paragraph) and then clicking the relevant button.
    • Some fields are drop down lists where the value is selected from a defined set
    • There are also radio buttons, such as those for Answer Type, and sliders such as those for volume or complexity
    • Sometimes fields allow additional comments. For instance the sliders in this example allow you to comment by clicking on the right hand side and entering text. You will need to click once to select the row and again to edit the text.
    • Some fields cause changes in the layout when specific values are selected. For instance, if you change the Answer Type to Number in range the interface changes to allow you to specify a minimum and a maximum value.
    • Some fields are designed to store URLs and these have a View or Edit button associated with them that will open the URL in your browser.

Besides edit fields most objects have associations

  • New associations can be added by searching for objects using the right hand search column
  • Simply enter text (or leave it blank to return all objects) and choose a sort – by name, by type or by most recently modified.
  • Hit enter and search results are displayed
  • You can retrieve additional results by clicking on View More Items
  • This option will disappear once you have displayed all matches for your search
  • Note that this list contains all objects that can be added to ANY of the associations for the current object.
  • To build an association simply click on the object in the search results you want to associate and drag it to the relevant list, releasing over the list.
  • Note that not every object can be added to every list – only objects of the correct type.
  • You can remove objects from a list, and so remove the underlying association, by simply clicking on the x next to their name
  • You can also navigate to the object at the other end of the association, opening its edit tab, simply by clicking on it.
  • Note that some association lists, such as the Decision Impact list shown here, allow comments to be made on an association. Simply click in the row to select it and then in the relevant comment to type.
  • These comments will be lost if you delete the row.

All edit tabs also allow you to add comments.

  • Simply click on Comments in the jump menu and you will be shown any existing comments as well as given the opportunity to add new comments.
  • The whole comment history is kept with an object and can always be viewed in this way.
  • At the bottom of the right hand column is a list of collaborators, all those users that have ever updated the object.

In addition a history of changes is displayed so you can see when it was created and how recently, and how often, it has been updated.

Finally there is a tool bar across the top. This allows you to force a save (though all objects save automatically), generate a Microsoft Word document for the current object, generate a Microsoft Word document for the current object and all its associated objects and delete the object.

All objects also have a permalink that you can copy to the clipboard. This URL can be used anywhere and will launch the software to display the object when clicked, subject to the user being able to login.