When using RiverWare, you may need to open many windows or dialog boxes. For a repeating task or activity, it is common to open the same windows and place them in the same location and size each time. The Window Layout Manager assists with this task. This tool allows you to save and restore window layouts, where each window layout describes a set of windows and the appearance and content of each window. In this section, we refer to windows and content; for example the Object Viewer is a window while the specific objects that are shown in the viewer, such as Big Lake, is the content. Some windows have content that can change and some do not.

The Window Layout Manager is accessed from:

Figure 1.4 shows the layout manager for a sample model with three user defined layouts for various purposes.

Most operations involving layouts are performed from the Window Layout Manager including creating and applying layouts. All layouts are currently saved in the model file and can be exported to and imported from an external file to share between models. This section describes these operations in detail.

Layouts are based on the size and position of windows. Thus, the first step is to open the desired windows, move them to the desired location, and resize as necessary. For those windows with specific content, like the object or slot viewer, open the desired items.

Then, in the Window Layout Manager, select the Create button to open the Window Layout Editor dialog box. The following information is tracked for each window as shown in Figure 1.4 and Figure 1.5:

Specify the desired name for the new layout.

Uncheck any windows you do not wish to include. They will turn red as changes are made.

Specify whether to Close all windows before applying layout. When checked, when the layout is applied, first all windows will be closed and then the layout is applied. The close behavior is identical to shift-clicking the Close Windows button (i.e. the lightning bolt). This feature allows you to switch between layouts, closing all other windows before applying the new layouts. The default is that the toggle is checked.

When satisfied, select OK and a new layout with the given name will be created.

Within the Layout Manager, layouts can be renamed or deleted using the Rename Layout or Delete Layout options, respectively, in the File menu or the right-click context menu.

Layouts can be rearranged in the Window Layout Manager by using the Up and Down arrows next to the list. This order will be maintained on subsequent model load.

To change an existing layout, select the layout and use the Edit button. For example, we clicked Edit for the “Planning and Analysis” layout in Figure 1.4 to get the screenshot shown below in Figure 1.5

The editor shows

Check or uncheck windows to add or remove them from the layout. They will change to red as they are changed.

Select OK and the confirmation to accept the changes.

There are four ways to apply a layout, that is, restore the specified windows to the state in which they were saved.

The following lists the limitations on applying layouts:

All layouts are saved in the model file when the model is saved.

Additionally, all layouts in the Window Layout Manager may be exported to and imported from an external XML file.

The following windows are currently supported by the Window Layout Manager; additional window types may be added in future releases.