GUI

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This page provides an index to all major components of visone's graphical user interface (GUI). Follow the links below to get additional information about these components. The most common usage scenarios are illustrated in the basic tutorials.

GUI.png

menus

The top-level menus can be accessed by clicking on the strings in the top row of the visone window; follow the links below to get additional information.

  • file load, save, and export of networks from/to files; start new empty networks, creating random networks, printing images of networks; as well as setting program options and exiting visone
  • edit selection and cut, copy, paste operations
  • nodes delete selected nodes or isolates; manipulate and create node selections; access to node templates and node properties
  • links delete selected links, loops, or bends; manipulate and create link selections; access to link templates and link properties
  • view zoom, clear background, change modes
  • about visone (displays version)

toolbar

The toolbar (the row of icons just below the menu entries) provides direct access to many frequently used operations (click on the icons below to get additional information).

Filenew.png Fileopen.png Filesave.png Zoom out.png Zoom in.png Zoom 100.png Zoom fit.png Zoom fitall.png Edit mode.png Attribute manager.png Collection manager.png Animation.png Console.png Quick layout.png

Short descriptions of these operations are provided below.

tabs

The tabs in the left-hand side of the visone window give access to complex operations, such as network analysis, visualization, or transformation; follow the links below to get additional information.

Note that the selection tab is no longer part of the visone GUI. Methods to select and filter elements are provided by the attribute manager.

network area

The network area is the large part of the visone window aligned to the lower right corner. Besides displaying the network, this area provides direct access to inspect and/or modify node and link properties, as well as to select, create, or delete nodes and links. How your mouse interacts with the network area depends on the current mode. You can switch from analysis mode to edit mode and back by clicking on the following icon Edit mode.png in visone's toolbar.

  • In analysis mode (gray pencil symbol) mouse clicks select nodes and links; the analysis mode is appropriate in most situations.
  • In edit mode (red pencil symbol) mouse clicks create nodes and links.

In analysis mode, a network element (node or link) gets selected by left-clicking on it. A left-click on an empty place in the network area clears the selection. To select more elements keep the Control-Key pushed while left-clicking on them. Dragging a box while keeping the left mouse button pushed selects all elements intersecting this box. Putting the mouse pointer one of the selected elements, keeping the left mouse button pushed, and moving the mouse allows you to drag the sub-network defined by the selection.

In edit mode, a left click on an empty place in the network area creates a new node. To create a link left-click on a node, release the mouse button, move the mouse pointer to another node, and left-click again.

The following interaction works in both, analysis mode and edit mode.

Turning the mouse wheel upwards (away from you) in the network area zooms into the network, turning it downwards zooms out. Keeping the right-hand mouse button pushed, you can drag the whole network around (panning).

A mouse right-click on a node or link (or one of several selected nodes or links) in the network area opens the node context menu or link context menu, respectively. These context menus allow, among others, to open the node properties dialog or link properties dialog in which graphical properties of nodes, links, and labels, as well as attribute values can be modified.

Several networks can be open at the same time - each in its own network tab. A mouse left-click on one of these network tabs displays the respective network and makes it the current one. A mouse right-click on one of these network tabs offers you to close this tab, all other tabs (except the this one), or all tabs.

overview area

The overview area is the small part of the visone window in the upper left corner (above the tabs but below the top-level menu). It displays the entire network together with a grey box enclosing the part of the network that is currently displayed in the network area. This grey box can be dragged around to view other parts of the network in detail (convenient for large networks).