There are a large number of operations you can perform on any object selected in the graph of either the layouts view or the menus view. These operations allow you to refine the design of the current interface.
The techniques described in this section apply to an object selected in either the layouts view or the menus view. Any changes made are automatically reflected in both the Interface Builder and the interface skeleton.
As in any other tool in the LispWorks IDE , you can use the commands in the Edit menu to edit the object currently selected in any graph of the Interface Builder. See 3.3 Performing editing functions for full details on the commands available.
As in other tools, you can transfer any object selected in the graph into a number of different browsers for further examination. The standard action commands that let you do this are available in the Object menu. See 3.8 Performing operations on selected objects for details.
Rearranging the components of an interface in the most appropriate way is an important part of interface design. This might involve rearranging the layouts and window elements in an interface, or it might involve rearranging the menu system.
The main way to rearrange the components of an interface (either the layouts or the menu components) is to use the cut, copy and paste functions available, as described below.
To move any object (together with its children, if there are any):
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The selected object, and any children, are transferred to the clipboard. The objects are removed from the graph in the Interface Builder, and the interface skeleton.
You must make sure you select an appropriate object. For instance, in the Layouts view you must make sure you do not select a window element such as a button panel or output window, since window elements cannot have children. Instead, you should probably select a layout.
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The objects that you transferred to the clipboard are pasted back into the interface design as the children of the newly selected object. The change is immediately visible in both the graph and the interface skeleton.
Note: You can copy whole areas of the design, rather than moving them, by selecting Edit > Copy or press 
instead of Edit > Paste. This is useful if you have a number of similar areas in your design.
The menu commands Object > Raise and Object > Lower can be used to raise or lower the position of an element in the interface. This effects the position of the element in the interface skeleton, the layout or menu hierarchy, and the source code definition of the interface. Note that these commands are available from the menu bar in the Interface Builder, rather than from the podium.
Choose Object > Attributes from the Interface Builder's menu bar to display the Attributes dialog for the selected object. This is shown in Setting the attributes of the selected object. You can also double-click on an object to display this dialog.
The Attributes dialog lets you set any of the attributes available to the selected object, such as symbol names, titles, and callbacks. This gives you a high degree of control over the appearance of any object in the interface.
The precise list of attributes displayed in the dialog depends on the class of the object that you selected in the graph of the Interface Builder.
To set an attribute, type its value into the appropriate text box in the Attributes dialog. Click OK to dismiss the Attributes dialog when you have finished setting attribute values.
Because of the large number of attributes which can be set for any class of object, the Attributes dialog shows the attributes in six general categories, as follows:
These are the attributes that you are most likely to want to specify new values for. This includes the following information, depending on the class of the selected object:
This category lets you specify more advanced attributes of the selected object, such as its property list.
This category lets you specify the title attributes of the selected object. These attributes affect the way an object is titled on-screen.
This category lets you specify any of the callback types available for the selected object. Many objects do not require any callbacks, and many require several.
This category lets you control the geometry of the selected object, by specifying any of the available height and width attributes. Geometry attributes are not available for menu objects.
This category lets you specify advanced style settings for the selected object. This includes the following attributes:
LispWorks IDE User Guide (Unix version) - 01 Dec 2021 19:37:17
