17.6 Configuring the Inspector

The Inspector Preferences allows you to set different display options including the standard options for sorting items in the main list, displaying package information and controlling display of the Inspector toolbar, together with some additional options specific to the Inspector. To do this, raise the Preferences dialog using one of the methods described in 3.2 Setting preferences and select Inspector in the list on the left side of the dialog.

The General tab of the Inspector Preferences

Choose the sort option that you require from those listed in the Sort panel:

By Item	Sorts items alphabetically according to the printed representation of the item.
By Name	Sorts items alphabetically according to their names. This is the default setting.
By Package	Sorts items alphabetically according to the packages of the name field.
Unsorted	Leaves items unsorted. This displays them in the order they were originally defined.

In the Package box, specify the name of the process package for the Inspector. Select Show Package Names if you want package names to be displayed in the Inspector. See 3.7 Displaying packages for more details.

The Maximum panel contains options to let you configure the amount of information displayed in the Inspector.

Choose a value from the Attribute Length drop-down list box to limit the length of any attributes displayed in the main list (that is, the contents of the first column in the list). The default value is 100 characters, and the minimum allowable value is 20 characters.

Choose a value from the Items drop-down list box to limit the number of items displayed in the main list. By default, 500 items are shown.

If you inspect an object that has more than the maximum number of items, then the excess items are grouped together in a list which itself becomes the last item displayed in the main list. Double-clicking on this inspects the remaining items for the object.

If necessary, the Inspector splits any remaining items into several lists, all linked together in this fashion. For instance, if you limit the maximum number of items to 10, and inspect an object with 24 items, the Inspector displays the first 10, together with an 11th entry, which is a list containing the next ten items. Double-clicking on this shows the next ten items, together with an 11th entry, which is a list containing the last four items. This is illustrated in Displaying an object with more items than can be displayed below.

Displaying an object with more items than can be displayed