Table of Contents

# Editor Actions

Ruleset editor actions are available through the menu bar, the tool bar, and the popup context menu, but not all actions are available on all menus at all times, and some actions are enabled and disabled as edit context changes.

### copy-to-clipboard

Places the currently selected text into the system clipboard from where it can be copied or pasted elsewhere. If no text is currently selected this action has no effect.

See also: cut-to-clipboard | paste-from-clipboard | Undo

### cut-to-clipboard

Deletes the currently selected text from the edit buffer and places it into the system clipboard from where it can be copied or pasted elsewhere. If no text is currently selected this action has no effect.

See also: copy-to-clipboard | paste-from-clipboard | Undo

### Debug/Ruleset

If checked, causes a window to be opened during Run that shows a trace log of basic ruleset actions.

The size and position of this window is saved in the able.preferences file.

See also: Run

### Debug/Inferencing

If checked, causes a window to be opened during Run that shows a trace log of the inferencing engine. Use this option to debug rulesets under actual inferencing conditions, since as each rule is evaluated, the truth value of each antecedent and consequent clause is displayed.

The size and position of this window is saved in the able.preferences file.

See also: Run

### Debug/Parser

If checked, causes a window to be opened during Verify that shows a trace log of the rule language parser. Use this option to help find errors in rule language syntax.

The size and position of this window is saved in the able.preferences file.

See also: Verify

### Exit

Terminates the ruleset editor. If the current source file has been modified since it was last changed you will be asked whether the changes should be saved to disk before the editor closes all its windows.

### Help...

Brings up a new window containing help text regarding various aspects of the rule package.

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Beta curve

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Gaussian curve

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Linear/Decreasing

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Linear/Increasing

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Pi curve

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Segments

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Shoulder/Left

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Shoulder/Right

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Sigmoid/Decreasing

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Sigmoid/Increasing

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Trapezoid

### Insert/Fuzzy set/Triangle

Inserts a skeletal definition of the chosen fuzzy set type into the edit buffer at the current cursor location; this must be within a `SetDefinitions( ... )` code block of a Continuous variable definition for the ruleset to be considered correct.

The skeletal definition must be completed by replacing text in angle brackets; comments inserted with the skeletal definition provide guidance.

### Insert/Ruleset

Inserts a skeletal definition of a complete ruleset into the edit buffer at the current cursor location; sections that must be filled in by you are highlighted by comments. This action is useful after using the New ruleset action to clear the edit buffer.

See also: New ruleset

### Insert/Variable/Boolean

### Insert/Variable/Categorical

### Insert/Variable/Continuous

### Insert/Variable/Discrete

### Insert/Variable/Fuzzy

### Insert/Variable/List

### Insert/Variable/Numeric

### Insert/Variable/Object

### Insert/Variable/String

Inserts a skeletal definition of the chosen variable type into the edit buffer at the current cursor location; this must be within a `Variables( ... )` code block.

The skeletal definition must be completed by replacing text in angle brackets; comments inserted with the skeletal definition provide guidance.

### New ruleset

Deletes the current contents of the edit buffer and resets the file names to "Untitled". If the current edit buffer has been changed since it was last saved, you are asked whether the current contents should be saved to disk before they are discarded. The Undo/Redo history is also reset, so this action can not be undone.

See also: Open ruleset... | Open serialized... | Open XML...

### Open ruleset...

Presents a file open dialog1 where you can select a previously saved ruleset source file to be placed into the edit buffer. If the edit buffer contains source that has been modified, you will be asked whether you want to save the changes to disk before the newly selected source file is loaded into the edit buffer.

See also: New ruleset | Open serialized... | Open XML...

### Open serialized...

Presents a file open dialog1 where you can select a previously saved ruleset serialized file to be placed into the edit buffer. If the edit buffer contains source that has been modified, you will be asked whether you want to save the changes to disk before the newly selected serialized file is loaded into the edit buffer.

Note that the text that appears in the edit buffer will not match the original source text from which the serialized file was saved. This is because the text must be "reconstituted" from a binary representation. In particular, original comments are lost, the order in which variables are declared may not be the same, and the overall formatting follows a default formatting convention that may be different than that used by the original author.

See also: New ruleset | Open ruleset... | Open XML...

### Open XML...

Presents a file open dialog1 where you can select a previously saved ruleset XML file to be placed into the edit buffer. If the edit buffer contains source that has been modified, you will be asked whether you want to save the changes to disk before the newly selected XML file is loaded into the edit buffer.

Note that the text that appears in the edit buffer will not match the original source text from which the XML document was saved. This is because the source rule language text must be "reconstituted" from the XML representation. In particular, original comments are lost, the order in which variables are declared may not be the same, and the overall formatting follows a default formatting convention that may be different than that used by the original author.

See also: New ruleset | Open ruleset... | Open serialized...

### paste-from-clipboard

Places the text currently in the system clipboard into the edit buffer at the current cursor location. If there is no text in the clipboard this action has no effect.

See also: copy-to-clipboard | cut-to-clipboard | Undo

### Properties...

Opens a bean customizer on the AbleRuleset's super class (AbleObject).

See also: copy-to-clipboard | cut-to-clipboard | Undo

### Read only

Toggles the edit buffer between a "read only" state in which the buffer cannot be modified and a "read/write" state in which the buffer can be modified. This state change affects the edit buffer only, and has nothing to do with the read or write attributes of any file on disk.

### Redo

Redoes the last Undo action. This action is not available if there is no Undo to re-do.

See also: Undo

### Run

Causes the verified rules in the edit buffer to be processed by the appropriate inference engine. The ruleset must not specify any InputVariables, but when inferencing is complete the contents of any OutputVariables are written to a separate output window that can be resized and repositioned anywhere on the display; the size and position are subsequently saved in the able.preferences file.

If your ruleset must use InputVariables, you will not be able to test your ruleset from within the ruleset editor, but you will be able to run from the Able Editor, assuming, of course, that the ruleset is properly wired to another object that will provide the appropriate data in the ruleset's external input buffer.

Note that this action is not available unless the contents of the edit buffer have been successfully verified.

See also: Verify | Debug/Ruleset | Debug/Inferencing | Debug/Parser

### Save ruleset

Saves the current contents of the edit buffer to a source file on disk. If the edit buffer is not currently associated with a disk file, you will be presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the source file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. Otherwise the current source file name, as it appears in the title bar, is used to save the edit buffer contents. This action is not available if the source file has not been modified and does not need saving.

See also: Save ruleset as... | Save serialized | Save serialized as...

### Save ruleset as...

Saves the current contents of the edit buffer to a source file on disk. You are always presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the source file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. This action is always available, even if the source file has not been modified and does not need saving.

See also: Save ruleset | Save serialized | Save serialized as...

### Save serialized

Saves a binary representation of the current contents of the edit buffer to a serialized file on disk. If the edit buffer is not currently associated with a disk file, you will be presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the serialized file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. Otherwise the current serialized file name, as it appears in the title bar, is used to save the binary representation of the edit buffer contents. This action is available only when the edit buffer contents have been verified.

See also: Save ruleset | Save ruleset as... | Save serialized as... | Verify

### Save serialized as...

Saves a binary representation of the current contents of the edit buffer to a serialized file on disk. You are always presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the serialized file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. This action is available only when the edit buffer contents have been verified.

See also: Save ruleset | Save ruleset as... | Save serialized | Verify

### Save XML

Saves an XML representation of the current contents of the edit buffer to an XML document on disk. If the edit buffer is not currently associated with a disk file, you will be presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the XML file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. Otherwise the current XML file name, as it appears in the title bar, is used to save the XML representation of the edit buffer contents. This action is available only when the edit buffer contents have been verified.

See also: Save ruleset | Save ruleset as... | Save serialized as... | Verify

### Save XML as...

Saves an XML representation of the current contents of the edit buffer to an XML document on disk. You are always presented with a file save dialog1 where you can specify the name of the XML file that is to be used to save the contents of the edit buffer. This action is available only when the edit buffer contents have been verified.

See also: Save ruleset | Save ruleset as... | Save serialized | Verify

### Undo

Undoes the last edit action. Edit actions include cutting, pasting, typing, and deleting characters in the edit buffer. It does not include opening and placing new files into the edit buffer. Undo is not available if there is no edit action to un-do. Once Undo has been used, Redo becomes available. The undo history is not infinite, but it is rather lengthy.

See also: Redo

### Verify

Checks that the source rule language statements appearing in the edit buffer are syntactically (and, partially, semantically) correct, and if so, creates a binary representation of the ruleset in memory. This binary representation can be saved to disk as a serialized java class and as an XML document, or the rules can be processed by using the Run editor action.

If any rule language statement is in error, a new window appears that contains detailed information about the error. This window can be resized and repositioned anywhere on the display and its location will be saved in the able.preferences file. The edit buffer itself is repositioned so that the line in error is visible and the text cursor appears at the beginning of that line.

See also: Save serialized | Save serialized as... | Save XML | Save XML as... | Run

### View fuzzy sets

Displays a window containing graphical representations of each fuzzy set occuring in the ruleset.

Note that this action is not available unless the contents of the edit buffer have been successfully verified.

See also: Verify

### View XML

Displays a window containing the XML representation of the source rule language statements appearing in the edit buffer.

Note that this action is not available unless the contents of the edit buffer have been successfully verified.

See also: Verify

1 Follow this link to read more about the file dialogs used by the ruleset editor.

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

Last modified: Tue Mar 20 15:48:03 CST 2001