Table of Contents

# Starting the ruleset editor and editor preferences

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- Before starting the editor (the `ablegui.preferences` file)
- Starting the editor

### Before starting the editor (the ablegui.preferences file)

The ruleset editor uses an ablegui.preferences file to keep track of window locations, sizes, fonts, and colors. A commented example ablegui.preferences file can be found in the `ABLE examples` directory. If you wish, you may copy this preference file to the directory located one level above your ABLE installation directory and then change the preferences file by using any simple text editor. If you'd rather not bother, that is fine, too; the ruleset editor will create a preference file for you, with default sizes, fonts, and colors for the various editor windows, which you can always change later.

Note that you can actually use any directory as a repository of ABLE preference files, but it is recommended that you use the directory one level above your ABLE installation directory, as that is where, by default, ABLE code expects to find any of its preference files. If you choose some other directory, you will need to modify the `-Dable.prefdir=` system property parameter on the various shell script/command files supplied in ABLE's `bin` directory.

Note also that if the system property `able.prefdir` is not set at all, ABLE will attempt to locate preference files in the directory returned by the `user.home` system property.

Some preferences in the file are updated automatically every time you Exit the ruleset editor. For example, the size and position of each ruleset editor window is saved. Other preferences, such window foreground and background colors, cannot be updated interactively through the ruleset editor. For these, you must use a text editor to change your preference. An example able.preferences file, with explanatory comments, appears below:

    #IBM ABLE Preferences File
    #Mon Jun 21 11:16:23 CDT 1999

    #----------------------------------------------------
    # Foreground and Background colors are specified by
    # RGB (red-green-blue) values, 0 through 255.
    #
    # Fonts are specified by
    #    fontName,type,pointSize
    # where
    #    fontName... is the name of a font
    #    type....... is one of Plain, Bold, BoldItalic, or Italic
    #    pointSize.. is the desired size of the font
    #
    #----------------------------------------------------
    RuleEditorPanelBackground=245,222,179
    RuleEditorPanelForeground=0,0,0
    RuleEditorPanelFont=monospaced,Plain,12
    RuleEditorPanelLocation=98,7
    RuleEditorPanelSize=781,1014

    RuleEditorTitleBackground=255,255,255
    RuleEditorTitleForeground=0,0,255
    RuleEditorTitleFont=Dialog,Bold,14

    RuleEditorExceptionPanelBackground=0,0,255
    RuleEditorExceptionPanelForeground=255,255,255
    RuleEditorExceptionPanelFont=monospaced,Plain,12
    RuleEditorExceptionPanelLocation=525,100
    RuleEditorExceptionPanelSize=755,176

    RuleEditorHelpPanelBackground=255,255,255
    RuleEditorHelpPanelForeground=0,0,0
    RuleEditorHelpPanelLocation=740,26
    RuleEditorHelpPanelSize=434,644

    RuleEditorOutputPanelBackground=222,184,135
    RuleEditorOutputPanelForeground=255,0,0
    RuleEditorOutputPanelFont=monospaced,Plain,12
    RuleEditorOutputPanelLocation=617,86
    RuleEditorOutputPanelSize=418,351

    RuleEditorSetViewerPanelLocation=720,3
    RuleEditorSetViewerPanelSize=550,928

    RuleEditorXmlPanelBackground=245,222,179
    RuleEditorXmlPanelForeground=0,0,0
    RuleEditorXmlPanelFont=monospaced,Plain,12
    RuleEditorXmlPanelLocation=720,3
    RuleEditorXmlPanelSize=550,928

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### Starting the editor

There are several ways in which to start the ruleset editor, depending on the context in which you are working.

If you are working within the Able Editor IDE, you can start the ruleset editor by selecting "Tools/RuleSet Editor..." from the main menu bar.

You can also start the ruleset editor from within the Able Editor by placing the mouse over any or AbleRuleSet object that is visible on the canvas and pressing mouse button 2 to make the ruleset's context menu appear. Selecting "Properties..." from that menu will cause the ruleset editor to open on the selected ruleset.

The ruleset editor can be started outside of the Able Editor. Simply use the runRsEditor command located in the `able/bin` directory or enter the java command directly, as appropriate for your environment. For example (the command must be entered on one line):

    java -Dable.home=C:\ABLE  -Dable.prefdir=C:\ABLE
            -classpath C:\ABLE\LIB\ABLEALL.JAR;%CLASSPATH%
            com.ibm.able.rules.AbleRuleSetEditor

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Ruleset editor table of contents
Rule language table of contents
Rule package table of contents

Last modified: Fri Sep 21 14:17:15 Central Daylight Time 2001