Tree View

There are three different views for navigating the Tree View window, the Library View, Model View, and Search View.

Working environment

The model bases MLD Examples, MLD Libraries, and MLD Addons are linked to fixed subdirectories in the installation directory of MLDesigner which are write-protected. However, the model bases My Libraries and Shared Libraries can be linked to any physical directory by setting the environment variables MLD_USER and MLD_SHARED.

$MLD_USER normally points to a directory that serves as working directory for your modeling work. Normally, you have write permission to this directory and save all your own model libraries in this directory. $MLD_SHARED points to a directory where you share models with other users.

There are two different possibilities to set these environment variables:

You can define them outside MLDesigner by defining eponymous environment variables before starting MLDesigner using an according system command.
You can set them inside MLDesigner using the Environment item of the MLD category in the Settings dialog.
These settings are temporary for the active MLDesigner session and are lost when you start MLDesigner next time.

Setting these environment variables can be used to organize a large number of model libraries into a number of independent working directories or to access a completely different directory temporarily, for example, the working directory of another user.

If $MLD_USER is not defined, $HOME/MLD or %USERPROFILE%\MLD (depending on your platform) is used as default. $MLD_SHARED is not available in MLDesigner if it is not set or points to the same directory as $MLD_USER.

There are two further environment variables $MLD and $MLDARCH that specify the directory where MLDesigner is installed and the architecture of the system on which MLDesigner is running, respectively. Both variables can neither be set outside nor inside MLDesigner.

Library View

The Library View contains, by default, a number of top-level items. These are:

Favorites: This item is convenient for creating a collection of links to system, modules or primitives that are visited regularly. The easiest way to add models to the Favorites folder is via the Add To Favorites context menu option with the cursor placed over an item in the Tree View. Another method of adding links to the Favorites folder is to drag the item. In the Favorites folder it is possible to create new categories making it easy to organize your frequently used links in a logical hierarchy.
MLD Libraries: This model base points to the directory $MLD/MLD_Libraries containing models shipped with MLDesigner
MLD Examples: This model base points to the directory $MLD/Examples containing domain independent examples.
MLD Addons: This model base points to the directory $MLD/MLD_Addons containing domain independent models which can be ordered by customers as special plug-ins.
My Libraries: By default this model base points to the user's MLDesigner model directory $HOME/MLD or %USERPROFILE%\MLD (depending on your platform) containing all models developed by you. You can change its location temporarily in the Settings dialog, or permanently by setting the environment variable MLD_USER to the new location.
Shared Libraries: This model base points to a directory where project work can be saved. This should be a directory where read/write rights have been set for a workgroup. To temporarily enable Shared Libraries set MLD_SHARED in the Settings dialog to the directory of your choice. To permanently enable Shared Libraries set the environment variable MLD_SHARED to the location of your shared working directory.
Home: This item points to the user's home directory.
Root: This item points to systems root directory, / on Linux® or %SYSTEMDRIVE% on Microsoft® Windows®, and allows traversing through the entire directory tree.
Trashcan: This item points to the directory $HOME/.mld/Trashcan or %USERPROFILE%\.mld\Trashcan (depending on your platform). MLDesigner uses the trashcan directory for removing and restoring models and directories.

Model View

This view is used for easy navigation of large systems or modules which are open in the Model Editor window. Here you see all hierarchical modules and primitives contained within a module or system.

Search View

This tab is used to find primitives, modules, systems or documentation if you are not sure about where they are stored. Searches using the Documentation or Description categories, can be time consuming in large libraries as all files must be opened before the end results are produced. The search criteria, All refers to all domains. Used in conjunction with the asterisk as wildcard a list of all primitives, systems and modules is produced in alphabetical order. To search for models click the Search tab in the Tree View window, right-click somewhere on the background of the Tree View window and choose Model Search. Try a few searches using combinations with wild cards. You can search specific domains and limit the search using the options in the Search in drop-down menu.

Context menu

The context menu in the Tree View can be used to deal with models and other model related files. To open the context menu right-click an item in the Tree View. The available options vary according to the type of item selected within each view. Some options depend on whether the item is write protected or not.

The various context menu items are explained in detail here.

The Tree View allows the selection of multiple items and has tool tip functionality. To select multiple items in the Tree View press Ctrl and click the items you want to select using the left mouse button. To select all items in the Tree View click the first and last item while holding the Shift key pressed. To cancel the selection of items, hold the Ctrl key pressed while clicking the appropriate items. If the mouse pointer is held above a Tree View item, you will see:

the physical filename of the model or the file
the owner, the group and the access rights to the file (currently only on Linux®)
the logical name of the model (if there is one)
the description of the model (if there is one)

Copying, Moving, and Referencing Models

In addition to the usage of the context menu options Save As, Duplicate, Move to Trash, and Add to Favorites for copying/moving models or creating model references, there are several options available from a pop-up menu which appears after you drag a model to any Directory or Library in the Tree View. These options are:

Copy: Creates a full copy of the model and saves the model in a writable directory.
In contrast to the context menu option Save As all sub-directories of the model directory are copied too. In this way you can copy the library with all included models to another directory.
Duplicate: Works like Copy but creates the copy at the same place the original model is located.
Move: Creates a full copy of the model, saves the model in a writable directory, and deletes the model in the original directory.
Reference: Creates a reference to a model.