Editors and Views

Prior to commencing the Workbench tutorials found in this section, it is important to first be familiar with the various elements of the Workbench. A Workbench consists of:

A view is a visual component within the Workbench. It is typically used to navigate a hierarchy of information (such as the layers in a Map), open an editor or display properties.

Modifications made in a view are saved immediately. Normally, only one instance of a particular type of view may exist within a Workbench window.

An editor is also a visual component within the Workbench. It is typically used to edit or browse information.

Modifications made in an editor follow an open-save-close lifecycle model. Multiple instances of an editor type may exist within a Workbench window.

Some features are common to both views and editors. We use the term "part" to mean either a view or an editor. Parts can be active or inactive, but only one part can be active at any one time. The active part is the one whose title bar is highlighted.

The active part is the target for common operations like cut, copy and paste. The active part also determines the contents of the status line. If an editor tab is white it indicates the editor is not active, however views may show information based on the last active editor.

In the image below, the Projects view is active.

Clicking on the Catalog view causes the Catalog view title bar to turn blue and the Projects view title bar to no longer be blue, as shown below. The Catalog view is now active.

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