The Table Editor Interface

The Table Editor is similar in appearance to a spreadsheet, and for anyone familiar with recent versions of common spreadsheets or databases there are few surprises.

The Table Editor user interface contains the following key items:

Title Bar

The Title Bar identifies both the program and the data loaded in the program. In the example, the data displayed in the DatamineTable Editor are from the "_collars.dm" table. If no data are loaded, the data name defaults to "Table 1".

The title bar carries the standard Windows control icons:

	Minimize the program window to a button in the status bar.
	Maximize the program window to occupy the full screen area.
	Restore the program window size to that favored by the user.
	Close the program.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar provides access to all the Table Editor commands through a logical menu structure which is described in detail in Table Editor Menus, which also lists icon and keyboard shortcuts.

Tool Bar

The Tool Bar gives access to the most common tasks with a single mouse click. All the common commands have an icon and the tool bar may be customized to reflect personal preferences. All the icons are shown with a description of the command in Table Editor Menus.

Grid

The Grid is where the data are displayed in a table of rows (records) and columns (fields). The selected cell is identified by a change in the background color of the column and row names. Data may be selected by clicking in a single cell, by clicking and dragging over an area, or by clicking at one end of a selection, pressing the Enter key and clicking the other end of the selection.

Task Pane

To display the Task Pane, right-click in the tool bar or menu bar areas and select Task Pane from the context menu. The Task Pane has two purposes:

Option

Description

Open a document

Lists recently used Datamine tables and permits browsing through More Documents...

Double-click a table to load its data into the editor

Insert definition

Lists definitions for the standard Datamine table types: block model, wireframe triangles etc. It also permits browsing for other definitions through: More Definitions... and More Files...

Double-click a definition to add it to the current table

Note: Task Pane behaviour may be toggled between being anchored on top and being hidden automatically by selecting the respective pin icons.

Status Bar

The Status Bar shows the current status the program, the loaded table and the keyboard settings of the computer. Some of these values can be changed directly from the status bar.

Category	Information	Actions
Program	Program status (for example, Ready) Description of menu option or toolbar button highlighted by mouse	None
Table	Record and Column co-ordinates of the selected cell	Double-click to open the Go To dialog to navigate elsewhere in the table
	Data precision of the loaded table	Double-click to toggle between extended and single precision
	Table attributes, for example, read-only or writable	None
Keyboard	Caps Lock status. On or off	Double-click to toggle
	Numeric Lock status. On or off	Double-click to toggle
	Scroll Lock status. On or off	Double-click to toggle