Business state machine editor

The business state machine editor is a graphical programming environment that you use to visually create and manipulate state machines.

This editor has been designed to make you, the user, feel comfortable and to facilitate your creativity. While you are designing your state machine, think of it as an exercise in how to paint. The white space is called the canvas and it's where you create your state machine from the objects that you pull from the palette to the left. Below that is an interactive properties area that changes to display pertinent details about whatever object you currently have selected on the canvas.

The state machine editor is divided into several distinct areas, each with its own individual use.


The distinct areas of the state machine editor

The areas are as follows:
  1. The palette
    • The palette is the shaded area to the left of the canvas that houses the states that you click and drag onto the canvas to build your state machine.
  2. The canvas
    • The canvas is the white empty area in the middle of the editor that you use it to assemble the states and transitions to compose your state machine.
    • When you click and drag a state from the palette onto the canvas, the icon beside your cursor has a plus symbol and you can decide where you want to drop the activity. When the cursor becomes a crossed out circle, continue moving the cursor until it becomes a plus sign again.
  3. The action bar
    • The action bar is a miniature dialogue that pops up beside the object when you select and hover over it, and contains a list of elements that can be added to that object.
  4. The tray
    • The tray displays the Interfaces, References, Variables, and Correlation properties that are associated with your state machine.
    • To create something from the tray, click the corresponding The plus symbol icon, or to remove one, highlight it and click the The minus icon. icon.
    • Click the gray horizontal arrow to collapse or expand the tray.
  5. The properties view
    • This view displays properties that are relevant to the object that is currently selected on the canvas. Click on the tabs to the left of this view to toggle through the pages. Some pages display properties in tabular format, and you can add or modify these properties by clicking the appropriate cell and then interacting with the graphical interface that appears.
    • The contents of the page will differ on the object chosen. In all cases, you can type F1 to launch a help window and click the link to be taken directly to the product documentation for more details.
    • If you see the Drop Down ( The Drop Down icon ) icon, you will be presented with a choice of one or more options on-screen.
Related concepts
Tutorial: build a state machine
Related tasks
Creating a state machine

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