Windows

When running TOPCAT can display a number of windows on the screen, giving different views of the table data and metadata. The principle one is the main browser window which is shown as soon as a table is loaded, but others can be popped up by using the items in the Windows menu or the corresponding buttons in the toolbar.

Common Features

Some features are shared by many of the windows:

Toolbar Buttons

The windows have a toolbar at the top containing various buttons representing actions that the window can carry out. All toolbars have the following buttons:

Close

The Close button on the toolbar or the Close item in the File menu will close the window. When the last window is closed the application should exit.

Help

The Help button on the toolbar or the Help For Window item in the Help menu will bring up the help browser (this window). If context-sensitive help is available from this point (e.g. help about the window in which the button was pressed) then the browser will come up displaying the relevant page.

Menu Items

The windows have a menu at the top containing various options representing actions that the window can carry out. In most cases, actions which can be carried out using the toolbars or in other ways can be done from a menu too. All windows have the following menu items:

Exit

The Exit item in the File menu will exit TOPCAT straight away regardless of what windows are open.

Help

The Help item in the Help menu will display the help browser without changing its content to anything appropriate for this window.

About

The About item in the Help menu will pop up a short message about the TOPCAT application.

JTable

Many of the windows, including the main table browser window, display their data in a Java widget called a JTable. This displays a grid of values, with headings for each column, in a window which you can scroll around. Although JTables are used for a number of different things (for instance, showing the table data itself and showing the column metadata), the fact that the same widget is used provides a common look and feel.

Here are some of the things you can do with a JTable:

Scroll around

Using the scrollbars which may appear to the right and below the table you can scroll around it to see parts which are not initially visible.

Move columns

By clicking on the header (grey title bit at the top) of a column and dragging it left or right, you can change the order of columns as displayed. In some cases (the main browser display window) this actually has the effect of changing the order of the columns in the table; in other cases it is just cosmetic.

Resize columns

By dragging on the line between row headers you can change the width of the columns in the table.

Edit cells

In some cases, cells are editable. If they are, then double-clicking in the cell will begin an edit session for that cell, and pressing return will confirm that the edit has been made.

Select rows

Sometimes rows can be highlighted; you can select one row by clicking on it, several by clicking and dragging over a range of rows, and select an extra set without deselecting an existing selection by keeping the 'control' key pressed down while you do it.