In Grid View, the data that is used to populate the grid is constrained to those specific design elements (objects, tests, etc.) that are currently selected (highlighted) in the design. This must not be confused with the Grid View contents type, which specifies the specific type of design element to be displayed in each row. For example, if two test sets were selected in the Explorer Tree and the contents type were set to "Tests", then the grid would be populated with all tests that are defined within the two selected test sets.
When defining the elements from which data will be displayed in Grid View, the Analyst can follow one of three basic approaches:
Selecting Nothing
- When Grid View is invoked with nothing selected, the grid will be populated with all elements of the selected contents type. For example, if the contents type is set to "Objects" and nothing is selected, then the grid will be populated with all objects in the design. In this case, objects of all types (components, assemblies, I/O flags, etc.) will be listed in the grid. When nothing is selected in the design, the Analyst can also opt to display design comments and attributes (if defined).
Selecting Top-Level Folders
- When a top-level folder (e.g., "ASSEMBLIES") is selected in the Explorer Tree, then Grid View will display all elements of the selected contents type that are associated with elements in the selected folder. For example, if the "ASSEMBLIES" folder is selected and the contents type is set to "Output Functions," then the grid will be populated with all output functions that are associated with assemblies in the design. If multiple top-level folders are selected, eXpress will attempt to populate the grid with a single element type that corresponds to elements within all of the selected folders (this is possible when, say, "COMPONENTS" and "ASSEMBLIES" are selected, but not when "NETS" and "TESTS" are selected).
Selecting Specific Design Elements
- When Grid View is invoked and specific design elements have been selected (either in the Explorer Tree or within Drawing View), the grid will be populated with all elements of the specified contents type that are associated with the selected elements. For example, if three objects were selected and "Ports" was selected as the contents type, the grid would be filled with all ports on the selected objects.
Note: Once Grid View has been invoked, the Analyst can change the elements used to populate the grid by selecting different folders or elements within the Explorer Tree.
Special Feature: When in Grid View, the grid can be reduced so that it only contains a subset of the currently displayed rows by selecting cells in the rows to be retained, holding down the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, and then clicking on the Grid View icon on the View toolbar.
