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/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2020 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: https://www.qt.io/licensing/
**
** This file is part of the Qt Creator documentation.
**
** Commercial License Usage
** Licensees holding valid commercial Qt licenses may use this file in
** accordance with the commercial license agreement provided with the
** Software or, alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in
** a written agreement between you and The Qt Company. For licensing terms
** and conditions see https://www.qt.io/terms-conditions. For further
** information use the contact form at https://www.qt.io/contact-us.
**
** GNU Free Documentation License Usage
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of
** this file. Please review the following information to ensure
** the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 requirements
** will be met: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html.
**
****************************************************************************/
// **********************************************************************
// NOTE: the sections are not ordered by their logical order to avoid
// reshuffling the file each time the index order changes (i.e., often).
// Run the fixnavi.pl script to adjust the links to the index order.
// **********************************************************************
/*!
\previouspage creator-modeling.html
\page creator-scxml.html
\nextpage creator-building-running.html
\title Editing State Charts
State charts provide a graphical way of modeling how a system reacts to
stimuli. This is done by defining the possible \e states that the system can
be in, and how the system can move from one state to another (\e transitions
between states). A key characteristic of event-driven systems (such as Qt
applications) is that behavior often depends not only on the last or current
\e event, but also the events that preceded it. With state charts, this
information is easy to express.
\QC provides a project wizard for adding \l{https://www.w3.org/TR/scxml/}
{State Chart XML (SCXML)} files with boilerplate code to projects and an
experimental SCXML editor for editing the state charts. You can use the
SCXML editor to add \e states and \e transitions to the files. You can then
use the classes in the Qt SCXML module to embed the state machines created
from the files in Qt applications.
\image qtcreator-scxml-editor.png SXCML Editor
You can drag and drop states from the \uicontrol {Common States} view (1) to
the state editor (2). Select a state in the state editor and use the tool
buttons (3) to create a transition (4) and its \e {target state}.
You can view the state chart structure in the \uicontrol Structure view (5)
and specify attributes for the selected state or transition in the
\uicontrol Attributes view (6).
You can use the toolbar buttons (7) to execute functions such as editing,
zooming, magnifying, navigating, and panning state charts, as well as
taking screenshots and viewing statistics.
To zoom into and out of the whole state chart in the state editor, select
\uicontrol {Zoom In} or \uicontrol {Zoom Out} or press \key Ctrl and use the
mouse wheel. To make
the whole state chart visible in the state editor at a time, select
\inlineimage fittoview.png
(\uicontrol {Fit to View}).
To view a particular part of a large state chart in the state editor, select
\inlineimage navigator.png
(\uicontrol {Navigator}) and move the navigator frame on the part you want
to view.
To use the magnifier to zoom into a part of the state chart, select
\inlineimage zoom.png
(\uicontrol {Magnifier Tool}). To move the magnifier tool faster, press down
the \key Alt key.
To pan the state chart, select \inlineimage pan.png
(\uicontrol Panning). To increase the pace of panning, press down the
\key Shift key.
To view statistics about the numbers of states and transitions in the state
chart, select \inlineimage statistics.png
(\uicontrol {View Statistics}).
To search from the state chart, use the \uicontrol Search pane. The search
checks the whole SCXML tree for attributes that match the search criteria.
To save the currently visible part of the state chart as an image, select
\inlineimage snapshot.png
(\uicontrol {Save Screenshot}). To save the whole state chart as an image,
select \inlineimage icon-export-canvas.png
(\uicontrol {Export Canvas to Image}).
\section1 Creating State Charts
To create a state chart:
\list 1
\li Select \uicontrol Help > \uicontrol {About Plugins} >
\uicontrol Modeling > \uicontrol ScxmlEditor.
\li Select \uicontrol {Restart Now} to restart \QC and load the plugin.
\li Select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New File or Project} >
\uicontrol {Files and Classes} > \uicontrol Modeling >
\uicontrol {State Chart} > \uicontrol Choose to create an empty
state chart and to open it in the SCXML editor.
\li Drag and drop a state from the \uicontrol {Common States} view to
the state editor.
\li Drag and drop child states to the initial state to create a
\e {compound state} or use the tool buttons to create a transition
from the selected state and its target state.
\li Select a state to edit its attributes in the \uicontrol Attributes
view.
\li Select the transition line to add edge points to it.
\li To raise or send events, for example, use the context menu commands
to add executable content to the \c <onentry> and \c <onexit>
elements of states or to transitions.
\endlist
The following sections describe how to manage states, transitions, and
executable content.
\section1 Managing States
When the state machine enters a state in response to an event, the state
that it entered becomes the \e {active state}.
State charts are hierarchical, and therefore states can be nested inside
other states, to create compound states.
In addition to basic states, you can create the following types of states:
\list
\li \e Initial state is the state the state machine enters when it
starts.
\li \e {Parallel state} contains child states that execute in parallel
and are all active simultaneously. Events are processed
independently by each child state and may trigger different
transitions for each child.
\li \e {Final state} enables a state machine to finish. When the state
machine enters a top-level final state, it emits the finished signal
and halts. You can create final states in compound states to hide
the internal details of a compound state. The outside world can only
enter the state and get a notification when the state has finished.
A parallel state finishes when all its child states reach final
states.
\li \e {History state} is a pseudo-state that represents the child state
the parent state was in the last time the parent state was exited.
Create a history state as a child of the state for which you want to
record the current child state. When the state machine detects the
presence of such a state at runtime, it automatically records the
current (real) child state when the parent state is exited. A
transition to the history state is in fact a transition to the child
state that the state machine previously saved. The state machine
automatically forwards the transition to the real child state.
\endlist
You can add new states to the state chart in the following ways:
\list
\li Drag and drop states from the \uicontrol {Common States} view to the
state editor.
\li Select a state in the state editor, and then select the
\uicontrol State tool button to create a transition and its target
state.
\li Copy and paste states within the SCXML editor or between the SCXML
editor and the \uicontrol Edit mode.
\endlist
You can drag states on top of other states to create compound states, or
you can drag child states out of their parent state. To move child states
within their parent, press down the \key Ctrl key while moving them.
You can use toolbar buttons to align states in the state editor, to adjust
their size, and to change the default color scheme. Overlapping states are
marked in red color.
To expand or collapse the state tree structure in the \uicontrol Structure
view, double-click a state.
To view a child state of a nested state in more detail in the state editor,
select \uicontrol {Zoom to State}.
To ensure that the state ids are unique within a compound state machine,
select \inlineimage namespace.png
(\uicontrol {Toggle Full Namespace}). The name of the parent state is
added to the names of the child states, separated by two colons (::).
For example:
\badcode
<state id="broken">
...
<state id="broken::blinking">
...
</state>
<state id="broken::unblinking">
...
</state>
</state>
\endcode
\section1 Managing Transitions
Transitions define how a state reacts to \e events that are generated either
by the state machine or external entities. When events occur, the state
machine checks for a matching transition defined in the active state and
moves to its target state.
To create a transition from the selected state to a new state, drag and
release the mouse at the location where you want to add the target state.
When you draw a transition to the center of another state, it points to the
center of the state, but you can also draw a transition to the edge of the
state.
To add edge points to transitions, select a transition line. Only two edge
points are permitted for each line, and unnecessary edge points are removed
automatically. To remove the selected edge point, select
\uicontrol {Remove Point} in the context menu.
To add new edge points with a mouse click, select the \uicontrol Transition
tool button.
A transition label is automatically center-aligned, but you can drag it to
another position.
To remove the selected transition, select \uicontrol Remove in the context
menu.
\section1 Adding Executable Content
You can add \e {executable content} to a state chart to enable the state
machine to modify its data model and to interact with external entities.
Use the context menu commands to add executable content to the \c <onentry>
and \c <onexit> elements or to transitions:
\list
\li \c <raise> to raise events
\li \c <send> to communicate with external entities
\li \c <script> to run scripts
\li \c <assign> to modify the data model
\li \c <cancel> to cancel action execution
\li \c <log> to record information in a log
\li \c <if> to execute actions conditionally
\li \c <foreach> to iterate over the items in a collection and execute
an action for each of them
\endlist
During a transition, the state machine executes the content that you specify
for the \c <onexit> element in the state it is leaving, then the content in
the transition, and then the content for the \c <onentry> element in the
state it is entering.
You can add attributes for the selected executable content in the
\uicontrol Attributes view.
*/
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