The Macro database docking window contains all available macros. It is the most important docking window for creating and modifying process graphs. Therefore it can be customized to better suit your needs.

The window consists of two parts. The upper bigger part is the so called “Macro area", the lower part is the “Information area".

Macro area

The macro area is dominated by a tree view which visualizes all macros available for creating process graphs. Macros can be displayed in a tree structure or in a simple list including additional properties for structuring and sorting them. Sorting the database is possible by clicking a column’s header. The following item types with their corresponding icons can be displayed:

 Macro is the macro itself identified by its name. It is the only mandatory item type to be displayed.

 Macro library denotes the library a macro belongs to. A macro library consists of one or more macro library files.

 Macro library file is the physical file (.dll or .so) a macro is loaded from.

 Macro group shows each macro’s group. Macro developers can sort macros into groups for sorting and structuring the database.

 Macro build gives build information about each macro. The build information contains the compiler name, compiler version, and the type of build (“Release” or “Debug”).

 Macro creator displays the name of a macro’s developer.

 Macro type denotes each macro’s type. Currently the macro type has one of the following values: “Macro” or “Viewer”. While the value “Macro” denotes a regular macro, “Viewer” is assigned to macros which visualize data types exchanged between regular macros. These macros are handled differently and are called viewers.

 Viewer is a special type of macro for visualizing data types exchanged by the regular macros. Viewers are always shown in light gray color to indicate that they are listed for information purposes only. In the settings dialog it is possible to disable the listing of viewers in the database to avoid confusion.

At the top of the macro area three controls are located which allow to layout and narrow down the number of macros displayed in the tree view.

View

The View combo box contains a list of available views which change the structure and type of information displayed in the tree view containing the macros. Pressing the  View button brings up the [view settings page] (/impresario/web/userguide/settings/#view) which allows you to create and modify your own views.

Filter

Filters can be used to only display macros which fulfil the criteria defined by the active filter. The filter combo box offers all filters defined. It also contains the special filter “None” which actually switches off filtering. The list of filters can be modified. The  Filter button is a direct shortcut to the [filter settings page] (/impresario/web/userguide/settings/#filter).

Search

Text entered into the search input box narrows down the number of macros in the tree view directly. The entered text is matched against each macro’s name, starting from its beginning. The match is case insensitive. Only matching macros are shown in the tree view and the first matching macro is highlighted. Pressing the “Enter” key in this situation adds one instance of the highlighted macro to the top left corner of the current active process graph. The  Reset button clears the search input box. The settings related to the macro database offer an option to automatically reset the search input box after pressing the “Enter” key.

Information area

The information area displays more detailed information for each item type when selected in the tree view. Depending on the selected item type one to three different tabs with information are available. The settings dialog allows to configure the default tab for each item type.

General information tab

General information are displayed for every item type but the most detailed information are available for  Macros (see screenshot for an example),  Macro library files , and  Viewers . For the remaining types only the item type and name are displayed.

Description tab

Descriptions are only available for item types  Macros (see screenshot for an example),  Macro library files , and  Viewers . However, the developer must have provided this information otherwise the tab will be empty.

Instances tab

The instances tab is only shown in case a  Macro is selected. In this case this tab lists all currently created instances of the selected macro. The list has two columns.

The column denoted “Instance UUID” contains the Universal Unique Identifier of an instance Impresario uses to identify the macro instances within the application.

The column with header “Location” shows the process graph’s name the macro instance is located in. The process graph name may be set to “(Untitled)” in case the graph has just been created and never been saved to disk. Left to the location’s name an icon depicts a more detailed status of each instance. The unbroken chain icon means that the macro instance is an active part of the process graph, the broken chain icon denotes a macro instance which was removed from the process graph but is still available for an  Undo command. All macro instances removed from a process graph will be irrevocably deleted as soon as the process graph is saved.

A right click on any row in the tab brings up a popup menu which allows you to navigate directly to the selected macro instance (for active instances) or at least to its process graph (for already removed instances).