The Graphical User's Interface
The Vupos graphical user's interface, or GUI, places all the
Vupos controls just a mouse click or key stroke away. In this
section, we'll describe each control in detail.
In most of the following images, the GUI will be
darkened except for the control being discussed to
help guide the eye to that control. Related controls are
grouped together.
Being a graphical interface,
it's intended that the mouse be the primary means of
manipulating the interface; however, it is possible to
traverse from control to control without using the mouse
via the Tab and Shift-Tab keys.
The control is then activated using the Space
bar. Once displayed, menus are traversed using the arrow
keys.
In addition, some frequently used controls can be activated
with special keystroke combinations. If a control can
be activated in this way, the keystroke combination
is given here and in reminders from the GUI.
The frame of the Vupos window
has the default Java appearance. While this may appear somewhat
unusual, the frame's controls are
identical to a standard window's frame.
It may be moved using the tool bar across the top, resized using
the edges and corners, minimized, maximized or
closed using the buttons at the top.
The menu bar, across the top,
provides access to less frequently used controls.
The File menu holds controls for
interacting with the operating system. The menu can be
activated with the (Alt-F)
keystroke combination.
The Attributes menu
(Alt-A)
holds controls for changing the appearance of the plot.
The Help menu
(Alt-H)
launches the help tools. In addition, the primary help
documentation window can be displayed using the
(F1) key.
If Vupos can divide a plot file's data meaningfully, it does
so creating a table with check boxes controlling the display
of each subset. There are two
additional buttons above the table and keystrokes
that allow the user to deselect or select all
data subsets.
The left button (
)
unchecks or deselects all
data subsets.
The right button (
)
selects all subsets.
These buttons can also be activated using the
(Alt-D) and
(Alt-E) keys respectively.
The part of the GUI that displays the plot is called the
canvas.
The canvas can be printed using
the
(Ctrl-P) key or through the print
option in the File menu. The
canvas also provides a tool
for zooming in on a region
of the plot. After zooming in
you can zoom out using the control buttons below and right of
the plot or zooming in again.
Plot files created by the National Geodetic Survey's PAGES programs
can contain data for more than one related plot in a file. The
individual plots within a file can be displayed using the
subplot selection menu below the
canvas. More information about plot
formats can be found in the
Advanced Topics section.
The data contained in a plot can be displayed in a text
list. The list,
which appears in a separate window, is made visible using
the button at the lower-right. The list
allows you to scroll through each data
subset while the location of the point is indicated on the plot.
Other, specialized tools are accessible only through the
list.
The Status Bar
The status bar, across the bottom of the GUI, is the principal
method by which Vupos keeps you informed of its actions. Simple
text messages are printed to the left and, for any task that may
take noticeable time, the progress tool on the right keeps you
aware of the state of the task.
Help Balloons
Often, a simple, temporary reminder of a control's purpose will
appear if the cursor is left over the control. The reminder will be
in the form of a help balloon containing a short phrase and a
shortcut keystroke, if one exists.
$Id: gui.html 24 2008-04-25 15:12:21Z mark $