Flying Logic User's Guide
Flying Logic User's Guide
Users Guide
Version 2.0
Software 2011 Northrop Grumman Corp. and Sciral Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying Software License Agreement. Documentation 2011 Sciral
This documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Sciral 726 E. Colorado Ave. #9 Glendora, CA 91740 FlyingLogic.com
Contents
Getting Started 7
Installation 7 Whats New? 7 Editions 7
Reader Edition Flying Logic Pro 7 7
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9 10 11
11 12 13 13 14 14 16
Constructing Graphs
Working With Entities
Add Entity as Successor Creating Entities With Menu Commands Creating Entities With Drag and Drop Creating Entities With QuickZones Changing the Class of an Entity Editing Entity Titles and Annotations Annotation Numbers and Entity IDs Entity Title Font Size Entity Title Width Assigning Symbols to Entities Assigning Symbols to Classes Adding Custom Symbols Managing Custom Symbols Creating Edges Parallel Edges Back Edges Moving Edges Reversing Edges Swapping Elements Swapping Forward and Back Edges
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20 21 22 22 26 26 26 27 28 28 28 29 29 30 31 31 33 33 34 35
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36 37
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37 38 38 39
Hoisting 39 Selections 41
Deleting Selections 42
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47 47
Graph Logic
Confidence Spinners
Setting Confidence Values
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51 52 54 54 55 56 56
Operators 51
Edge Weights
Setting Edge Weight Values The Edge-Weighting Function Logical Negation
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58 58 59
Domains 61
Classes and Domains
Working with Classes Creating A Custom Domain Creating A Custom Class Changing Existing Domains and Classes
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61 62 62 62
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Hiding Domains
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Menus 65
Application Menu (Mac) File Menu Edit Menu Entity Menu Group Menu View Menu Domain Menu Format Menu Window Menu Help Menu 65 65 69 71 73 74 75 76 77 77
Keyboard Shortcuts
General Options
Auto-Backup on Save Check for Updates Automatically Undo Levels Recent Documents Auto-Edit New Entity Titles
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83 83 83 83 83
Preferences 83
Display Options
Fixed-Speed vs. Adaptive Speed Turning Off the Animation Animation Style Edge Colors Spinner Display Default Orientation and Default Bias
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83 84 84 84 85 85
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87 87
Enabling Project Management Project Settings The Project Management Template Entities as Tasks
Effort vs. Duration Calculated Dates vs. Assigned Dates Percentage Complete
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Getting Started
System Requirements
Windows Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (SP2) or Windows 2000 (SP4) 96MB free disk space Mac OS X 10.5 or later 26MB free disk space Linux 2.6.31 or later 96MB free disk space
Mac OS X Linux
Installation
Windows Mac OS X Linux Run the installer provided. Drag the application to your Applications Folder. Run the install script provided.
Whats New?
There are many new and powerful features in Flying Logic 2.0. For the convenience of users upgrading from Flying Logic 1.0, you will see this icon wherever features new to version 2.0 are discussed: 2.0
Editions
Flying Logic is available in two editions, the free Reader Edition and Flying Logic Pro.
Reader Edition
The Reader Edition is distributed at no charge, and is used for opening and interactive, read-only review of documents created with Flying Logic Pro. Once opened, documents can be exported in the various image formats (PDF, JPEG, PNG), groups may be uncollapsed and collapsed, and confidence values and edge weights may be manipulated, but no changes can be saved.
Toolbar
Canvas Sidebar
Status Bar
Zoom Slider
Memory Gauge
The Canvas
The Canvas is where you do most of the work of building your diagram. See the Constructing Graphs on page 19 for information on working with the Canvas. If the diagram in the canvas is too big to fit into the window, there are several ways to move your view around: Use the scroll bars that become active at the bottom and right sides of the Canvas.
Sliding
Click and drag in the blank gray background of the Canvas. This gesture is called sliding, and causes the view to continuously scroll in the direction of the gray gesture arrow. The scrolling speed is proportional to the distance you drag from the place where you initially click. Click in the Canvas, then hold down the Control key and press (or press and hold) an arrow key to slide the view. Use your mouse scroll wheel to move your view. Use the Navigation Inspector to easily change the part of the document you are viewing. See Navigation Inspector on page 13 for details. In addition to moving your view around, you can also zoom your view in or out. Use the Zoom Slider at the bottom of the canvas or in the Navigation Inspector to shrink the graph down to 25% of its normal size so more is visible, or 2.0 enlarge it up to 400% of its normal size for use in presentations. Right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or control-click (Mac) the zoom slider below the canvas for a popup menu that lets you select a specific zoom level. Use the View Zoom to Fit and View Full Size commands. Hold down the Alt key and use your mouse scroll wheel to zoom in or out.
The Toolbar
The toolbar contains a row of icon buttons that are used to perform common tasks. Each button has a tooltip that appears when you move the cursor over it to remind you of its function. From left to right the icons in the toolbar represent Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Add Entity, Insert Entity, Add Entity as Successor, Add Group, Show/Hide Confidence Values, Show/Hide Edge Weights, Show/Hide All Edge Annotations, Show/Hide Annotation Numbers, Show/Hide Entity IDs, Turn
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On/Off Incremental Layout, and Turn On/Off Project Management. The Toolbar also contains a live search field and a Find button that provides a search dialog.
Document Inspector
The Document Inspector contains three tabs: Info, Header, and Footer. The Info tab lets you specify metadata for your document, while the Header and Footer tabs allow you to specify which metadata should appear at the top and/or bottom of each printed page.
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Domain Inspector
The Domain Inspector lists the kinds of entities (entity classes or just classes) you can put into your diagram. There are five predefined groups (domains) of classes: the General domain includes two classes: Generic and Note, and the other four include several additional classes each. Which entity classes you use will depend on the needs of your project. For information on using the Domain Inspector to construct your diagram, see Constructing Graphs on page 19. For information on creating your own custom classes, see Domains on page 61.
Tip: The Domain Inspectors height can be adjusted by dragging the splitter bar at its bottom.
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Navigation Inspector
2.0 The Navigation Inspector contains a thumbnail view of your entire document and a red rectangle that represents the section of the document currently visible in the Canvas. You can click and drag within the thumbnail to move the view, and use the inspectors Zoom Slider to make the view larger or smaller.
Layout Inspector
Flying Logic documents all flow from their beginning to their end in the direction of the arrows (edges) that connect the boxes (entities), and the Orientation popup in the Layout Inspector lets you determine the direction of this flow. The Bias popup lets you determine whether Flying Logics automatic layout prefers to push entities towards the beginning or end of the documents flow. For more information, see Layout on page 43.
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Operators Inspector
The Operators Inspector lets you set the operators associated with incoming edges for the entities in your document, and the operator associated with newly-created junctors. For more information, see Operators on page 51.
Element Inspector
2.0 The Element inspector contains four tabs, one for each kind of element in Flying Logic documents: Entities, Edges, Junctors, and Groups. The controls in each tab of the inspector let you adjust various attributes of the currently selected elements of that kind.
Entity Tab
Class Popup
Icon Popup
The Class Popup is used to quickly assign a new class to the currently selected entity or entities. For more information, see Changing the Class of an Entity on page 26. Each entity can have a symbol assigned to it to make it easier to identify. Symbols are assigned to entities using the Entity tab of the Element Inspector. For more information, see Assigning Symbols to Entities on page 28.
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Edge Tab
Edges can display their edge weight, their annotation, or both and these attributes can be set for all currently selected edges from the Edge Tab. For more information see Edge Weights on page 56 and Text Inspector on page 16.
Junctor Tab
The operator associated with the currently selected junctors can be set from the Junctor Tab. For more information, see Working With Junctors on page 36 and Operators on page 51.
Group Tab
color can be set, from the Group Tab. For more information see Working With Groups on page 37.
Text Inspector
Splitter
The Text Inspector provides several tools for editing the text in titles an annotations for the currently selected element.
Annotations
The Title Editor displays (and can also be used to edit) the title of the currently selected entity or group. See Constructing Graphs on page 19 for more information about editing titles. Every element (entity, edge, junctor, group) in the diagram can have its own annotations, and these are created and edited in the Annotation Editor. Annotations can be any length and are intended to be where detailed supporting information and underlying assumptions are recorded. Use the splitter to change the size of the Annotation Editor. To create an annotation or edit an existing one, select the element you wish to annotate, then click in the annotations area. If an element has an annotation, it will appear in the diagram with a small yellow circle on it. Edge annotations can also be displayed as separate boxes with visible text. To display annotation boxes for every edge in the diagram, select the View Edge Annotations command, or click the Show/Hide All Edge Annotations button in the toolbar. To display edge annotations for only selected edges, select the edges then right-click (Mac, controlclick) on any of them and select Show Selected Edge Annotations from the contextual menu. When an edge annotation is visible, you can edit it directly by either double-clicking it, or by selecting the edge and pressing the Tab key.
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Tip: The setting for the View Edge Annotations command overrides the settings for showing individual edge annotations. When it is turned on, all edge annotations will be visible and the individual settings for edges are ignored.
Tip: Creating annotations for edges is particularly important, as the edges hide your assumptions about why you believe one entity causes (or contributes to the cause of) another. Surfacing these assumptions is a critical aspect of using the Thinking Processes.
QuickCapture
2.0 The QuickCapture button in the Text Inspector allows you to create numerous entities quickly by simply typing their titles and pressing Enter. This is particularly useful when you are brainstorming with a group, and need to get a lot of ideas down quickly.
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Tip: QuickCapture can be activated any time by pressing the E key, and can be exited by pressing Escape.
Annotations can contain styled text and hyperlinks (clickable URLs). These are both editable and viewable in the Annotations Editor of the Text Inspector. The Browse Lock button to the right of the Annotation Editor is used to switch between editing mode (unlocked) and browsing mode (locked). In browsing mode, hyperlinks are clickable and open the linked-to page in your web browser. In editing mode, they are directly editable. Styled text attributes can be changed for the currently selected text by using the commands in the Format Font menu. The text that represents a hyperlink and the underlying URL can be separately edited by placing the insertion point within a link then using the Format Edit Hyperlink command.
Browse Lock Off Browse Lock On
2.0
Tip: Styled text and hyperlinks are not currently visible or clickable in edge annotations visible in the canvas.
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Constructing Graphs
Flying Logic diagrams are technically known as graphs. A graph is a set of vertices (also called points or nodes) linked by a set of edges (also called lines or arrows.) Graphs can generally be used to represent many things, from street maps to social networks. In Flying Logic, graphs are often used to represent a network of causes and effects called entities and the causal relationships between them. The graph can also include junctors, which help you control the way the causal relationships combine, and groups, which help you organize your documents and manage larger documents. Entity Edge Expanded Group
Junctor
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Add Successor
The behavior of several commands and gestures used to add entities to the diagram depends on how this switch is set, and usually you will set it once depending on what sort of diagram you are building. You can also toggle the switch from the keyboard by pressing Command-Shift-E (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-E (Windows or Linux). The commands that use this switch either add a new entity pre-connected to an existing one...
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Start
...Or they first insert a junctor along the edge, then connect a new entity to it:
Start
In the descriptions that follow, the icon is read predecessor or successor, and appears whenever the setting of the Add Entity as Successor switch is observed.
the selected entity or junctor. If an edge is selected in the diagram, a new junctor will be inserted along the edge, and the new entity will be made a of the new junctor. Select a class from the Domain Inspector and also select an edge in the diagram, then select the Entity Insert Entity command or click the Insert Entity button in the toolbar. A new entity will be inserted along the selected edge. Right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Control-click (Mac) on the gray diagram background or an open group, and select an entity class from the popup menu. A new, unconnected entity will be added to the clicked group or the top level of the document. Right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Control-click (Mac) on an existing edge or junctor, and select an entity class from the popup menu. If an edge was clicked, a junctor will be inserted along the edge, and the new entity will be added as a of the new junctor.
Successor (of A)
Insert
Predecessor (of B)
Junctor-Predecessor
Junctor-Successor
The position of the QuickZones depends on the setting of the diagram orientation popup in the sidebar. In the examples below, the orientation is set to Bottom to Top. In this case, the Predecessor QuickZone is underneath entities or junctors. If the orientation were set to Left to Right, as in the diagram above, then the Predecessor QuickZone would be to the left of entities or junctors. Drag a class from the Domain Inspector to the Predecessor QuickZone of an existing entity or junctor:
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Drag a class from the Domain Inspector to the Successor QuickZone of an existing entity or junctor:
Drag a class from the Domain Inspector to the Junctor-Predecessor QuickZone of an edge:
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Drag a class from the Domain Inspector to the Junctor-Successor QuickZone of an edge:
Drag a class from the Domain Inspector to the Insert QuickZone of an edge:
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Annotation Numbers
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Annotation Numbers are revealed by clicking the Annotation Numbers icon in the Toolbar or by selecting View Annotation Numbers. Annotation numbers are primarily used for matching textual annotations (or their small yellow bullets) in the Canvas to the corresponding full text of the annotations exported using the File Export Annotations as PDF or File Export Annotations as Text commands. Unlike Entity IDs, annotation numbers are ephemeral and are renumbered every time the document is changed, which keeps the annotation numbers in the same order they appear along the flow of the document. This means that if you export notes from a Flying Logic document, then make changes to your document, you will need to re-export the notes for the exported numbers to match.
2.0 Entity IDs are revealed by clicking the Entity IDs icon in the Toolbar or by selecting View Entity IDs. Unlike Annotation Numbers, Entity IDs are durable and continue to exist throughout the life of the entity, unless the entities in the document are explicitly renumbered by using the Entity Renumber Entity IDs command.
Using the items in the Entity Title Font Size menu, you can also tell Flying Logic to use a fixed-size font for all entity titles:
Selecting Entity Title Font Size Auto restores the default title font size selection behavior.
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the existence of the state of affairs described by the entity at the tail of the arrow is sufficient to cause the state of affairs described by the entity at the head of the arrow. For a discussion of other possible ways to set up the meaning of edges, see Operators on page 51.
is sufficient to cause
When there are two or more sufficient causes of an entity, then two or more edges point to it. The meaning here is that either OR both of the causes being true makes the effect true.
is sufficient to cause
Creating Edges
To create an edge between entities, click and drag from the cause to the effect. While you drag, a distinctive gesture arrow appears to confirm that you are creating a connection.
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Making a Connection
Like other graph elements, edges may have annotations attached to them.
Parallel Edges
Flying Logic disallows parallel edges in other words, more than one edge from a particular cause to a particular effect.
Back Edges
Flying Logic supports back edges (also called cyclic edges or loops), which are edges that (directly or indirectly) make an effect to be its own cause. When a connection is made that requires a loop, a back edge is created automatically. Back edges are thicker than regular edges.
Back Edge
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Unlike regular edges, back edges do not participate in calculations confidence values do not flow through them and their weights are ignored. They can be annotated like any other edge. Supporting back edges allows relationships such as virtuous and vicious circles to be diagrammed, while keeping the basic model a directed acyclic graph.
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Moving Edges
As you build your diagram, you will often discover that the head or tail of an edge needs to be moved to a different entity (or junctor). This is easily accomplished by clicking and dragging near the end of the edge you want to move and dropping over the entity (or junctor) where you want to reconnect it. 2.0 Before you click, you will see a highlight appear near the end of the edge that you will be moving. While you drag, a distinctive gesture arrow with a circular head appears to confirm that you are moving an edge. You can also drop over another edge, which will cause a new junctor to be inserted on that edge.
Moving an Edge
Reversing Edges
2.0 Edges normally point from causes to effects. If you discover that your document has an edge pointing backwards from an effect to a cause, this can easily be fixed by reversing the edge. All currently selected edges can be reversed with the Edit Reverse Selected Edges
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command. Note that reversal here refers to swapping the elements at the head and tail of an edge, and not to the direction the edge points, which is usually determined by the Orientation popup of the Layout Inspector.
Swapping Elements
2.0 You can also swap any two elements of the same kind with the Edit Swap Selected Elements command. This command simply causes the two selected elements of the same kind (entities, junctors, edges, or groups) to switch places, including any attributes such as annotations, edge weights, or group color.
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Creating Junctors
As weve seen, creating edges is as simple as dragging from cause to effect. Creating junctors is equally simple: drag from the cause to the edge where the new junctor should appear. You can also right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Control-click (Mac) an edge and select an operator type from the Insert Junctor section of the popup menu.
Creating a Junctor
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Tip: Any combination of dragging from entities, edges, or junctors to other entities, edges, or junctors will result in a new connection being made, as long as it would not result in a parallel edge. If the start or end (or both) of the drag is an edge, a new junctor will be inserted there and the new edge connected to it.
Tip: Preconditions are causes that are outside of your control, while Actions are causes inside your control. For more information about the entity classes used in these examples, see the accompanying document, Thinking with Flying Logic.
Creating Groups
You can create groups using the Entity New Group command, or by clicking the New Group button on the toolbar. If there is no selection, the new group will be created by itself outside all other groups. If there is a selection, the new group will enclose every element in the selection.
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When a group is collapsed, any edges connected to elements both inside and outside the group appear to be attached to the group. Expanding
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A Collapsed Group
Group Colors
2.0 The Group tab of the Element Inspector contains a popup menu that lets you select the color of the currently selected group(s). This can be useful as a way of visually identifying or categorizing groups.
Hoisting
2.0 Hoisting views the contents of a single group as the entire contents of the canvas, as if it had been raised (hoisted) up to the top level. Hoisting makes it much more convenient to work on parts of documents that are nested within groups, even down several levels.
In the following illustration, we wish to work purely inside Group 2. To do so, select the group then the Group Hoist Selected Group command. After hoisting, the canvas only contains elements from within Group 2, or edges that enter or leave it along with icons representing the entities at the other end of those edges. The icons cannot be edited, and in fact they are part of the entering or leaving edge itself.
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Lets say that after editing Group 2 for awhile, we need to see its contextual parent group, Group 1, but were not yet ready to unhoist all the way back to the top. Selecting the Group Unhoist One Level command accomplishes this.
To return to the top level at this point, we could either select the Group Unhoist One Level command again, or use the Group Unhoist to Top command, which would return us to the top level no matter which group was previously hoisted.
Tip: Flying Logic does not save the current hoisting level in the document file. Therefore, each time you open a document Flying Logic will show the entire document, even if it was saved while a group was hoisted.
Tip: Printing or exporting a Flying Logic document takes into account the groups you have collapsed and the currently hoisted group, if any, along with your other layout settings. In other words, what you see before you export or print is what you will get in the resulting output.
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Selections
Flying Logic lets you select several diagram elements upon which to perform operations. You can select an individual element by clicking it. You can use the arrow keys to move the selection from element to element. Additional elements can be selected (or deselected) by Shift-clicking. Holding down the Shift key and pressing the arrow keys expands the selection in the direction you specify. Marquee selection can be used to select several elements with one gesture. Option-click (Mac) or Control-click (Windows or Linux) in the gray background area of the graph and drag the selection rectangle over the elements you wish to select. Additionally, starting marquee selection with Shift-Option-click (Mac) or Shift-Control-click (Windows or Linux) will toggle the selected/not-selected state of the objects you drag over. If you begin your marquee selection inside a group, only elements within that group are eligible for selection.
Marquee Selection
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Deleting Selections
All selected elements can be deleted by pressing the Delete key, or by clicking the Delete button in the toolbar. Like all Flying Logic actions, deletion is undoable.
Tip: Deleting a group does not automatically delete any enclosed elements (unless they are also explicitly selected.) Instead, the enclosed elements are promoted to the next higher group, if any. Deleting a selected group along with all its enclosed elements (including other groups) can be accomplished by pressing Command-Delete (Mac) or Control-Delete (Windows).
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Copied Elements
Layout
Your job is to make a diagram that accurately models your problem. Other than a few simple choices, such as whether your diagram flows from bottom-to-top or left-to-right, working out how the various graph elements are laid out is purely Flying Logics job. Sometimes Flying Logic may surprise you by making layout choices different from those you might have made, but it will often make better choices than most people, especially when the graph becomes complex. Each time you change the structure of the graph, Flying Logic uses animated transitions to show you what has changed. You can control the speed of the animation. See Preferences on page 83.
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Orientation
Flying Logic documents flow in a direction specified by the Orientation Popup of the Layout Inspector. Which you choose for your diagram depends on the usual flow for the kind of diagram you are creating, compactness, or simply which one looks best to you.
Left to Right
Bottom to Top
If you find yourself using one orientation for new documents, you can select the default orientation used by new documents. See Preferences on page 83.
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Bias
The layout bias of a document tells Flying Logic whether to prefer pushing elements closer to the start of the flow, or closer to the end of the flow. Which you choose can strongly impact the style of your diagram.
Incremental Layout
2.0 Each time you change your document, Flying Logic lays it out again in order to keep the diagram compact and minimize edge crossings. Normally, Flying Logic performs a full, from scratch layout of your diagram, which results in a highly efficient and clear result. However, this full layout does not take into account the starting position of the graph elements, and therefore can sometimes cause a large amount of visual change, even causing the entire diagram to appear to flip over. These large shifts can make it hard to follow even small changes, and the larger the diagram, the worse the problem. In the following illustration, a full layout after connecting F to A results in F and D switching places, as well as C and E.
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By turning on Incremental Layout using either the toolbar icon or the View Incremental Layout command, you tell Flying Logic that you want to have each layout depend on the results of the previous layout. In the following illustration with Incremental Layout on, the relative positions of all the entities stay mostly the same.
Incremental Layout On
The advantage of Incremental Layout is that you can make a large number of changes to your document with a minimum visual disturbance. The downside is that with Incremental Layout on, the layout will get progressively less efficient, particularly in its use of space. When it is convenient, you can turn off Incremental Layout to cause Flying Logic to do a full layout.
Tip: Flying Logic does not save the position of a documents elements (the result of the layout) in the document file. Therefore, each time you open a document, Flying Logic will perform a new, full layout, even if it was saved while Incremental Layout was on.
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Managing Memory
Flying Logic provides a Memory Gauge to the right of the Title Editor in each document window that shows the amounts of memory in use (dark blue) currently allocated to Flying Logic (medium blue) relative to the maximum the application will ever request (light blue).
Allocated
In use
Max
As you work, the dark blue bar will rise and fall again as Flying Logic reclaims unused memory. As your document becomes larger, the medium blue bar will also grow, but will never get smaller until you restart Flying Logic. Memory only becomes a serious consideration when the dark blue bar starts occupying the entire width of the Memory Gauge most of the time. If this happens, try closing unnecessary documents or restarting Flying Logic.
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Graph Logic
Flying Logic provides tools for you to test and work with the logic of your diagrams.
Confidence Spinners
By selecting the View Confidence command or clicking the Confidence toolbar icon, each entity reveals a small circle called a spinner. Confidence spinners represent a single numeric value that can be thought of as a percentage from 0% to 100% (0.0 to 1.0). You can use Flying Logics preferences to choose whether spinners are displayed with shading only (no symbol), a numeric value from 0 to 100, or a symbol, which for confidence spinners displays F (false) for 0%, T (true) for 100%, and shading only for other values. See Preferences on page 83.
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Driver Entities
Driven Entities
You can also hold down the Shift key while dragging to constrain the spinners value to increments of 5%, and (while the mouse button is still down) use the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge the spinners value up or down in 1% increments. Finally, you can use keypresses to change the confidence values of all selected driver entities. Pressing the 1 key through the 9 key changes the confidence values from 10% to 90%, while pressing the T key (for True) changes it to 100%, pressing the F key (for False) or 0 (zero) key changes it to 0%, and pressing the U key (for Unknown) changes it to 50%.
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Tip: There is a useful distinction between having no opinion and having conflicting opinions on a subject, although Flying Logic does not currently support modeling that distinction. In the case of having no opinion, you are asserting neither truth nor falsehood. In the case of having conflicting opinions, you are asserting both truth and falsehood. There are mathematically valid ways of representing such paraconsistent logic that Flying Logic may support in the future. For typical applications, it is usually most useful to think of confidence values as meaning no opinion.
Operators
Confidence values flow through the entities, edges, and junctors of a Flying Logic document, being modified along the way by the operators they encounter. This section discusses the operators found on entities and junctors edges also perform a weighting function discussed in
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In the above example, the results of the Sum junctor are 1.25, and since this value is out of the fuzzy boolean range, the arrow leaving the Sum junctor has an open arrowhead, indicating a floating-point value.
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This value cannot be displayed by confidence spinners, and as a result the spinner of entity C turns red. However, the correct value is propagated, as seen from the results of the Product junctor displayed in entity E.
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Basic Operators
The Basic Operators are sufficient for creating diagrams that support the TOC Thinking Processes.
Fuzzy And (AND) Fuzzy Or (OR)
Returns the minimum of its inputs. Inputs are interpreted as necessary conditions. Output value is always fuzzy boolean. Returns the maximum of its inputs. Inputs are interpreted as sufficient causes. Output value is always fuzzy boolean.
Advanced Operators
The Advanced Operators are used to support modeling using probabilities and other advanced applications.
Fuzzy Exclusive Or (XOR) Proportion ()
For output to be true, exactly one input must be true. Inputs are interpreted as sufficient but mutually exclusive causes. Output value is always fuzzy boolean. Treats each input as a vote of a strength proportional to the confidence value and the edge weight. Edge weights of zero count as abstentions and do not affect the output, which is different from a simple average where each zero input tends to reduce the output. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floatingpoint. Returns the sum of its inputs. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point or the sum is outside the range of a fuzzy boolean, in which case the output is floating-point. Follows the Specific Addition Rule, also called the OR rule. Useful for calculating the probability of two or more independent events causing a particular outcome. For example, the probability of one OR both of two flipped coins coming up heads is 50% 50% = 75%. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floating-point. Returns the product of its inputs. Often used to determine the probabilities of two or more independent events occurring together (the Specific Multiplication Rule, also called the AND rule.) For example, the probability of a first AND second coin flip both coming up heads is 50% 50% = 25%. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floating-point.
Sum (+)
Sum Probabilities ()
Product ()
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Reciprocal (1/n)
Returns the reciprocal of its input. Output value is always floating-point. Often used to implement division by way of a / b = a (1 / b). If more than one input is present, returns the reciprocal of the sum of its inputs. Returns the negation of its input. Output value is always floating-point. If more than one input is present, returns the negation of the sum of its inputs. Returns the complement (1-n) of its input. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point or the sum is outside the range of a fuzzy boolean, in which case the output is floating-point. Returns the minimum of its inputs. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floating-point. Returns the maximum of its inputs. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floating-point. Returns the average of its inputs. Output value is fuzzy boolean unless at least one input is floating-point, in which case the output is floating-point. The distributor behaves exactly the same as the Sum (+) operator, but is intended as a convenience for situations where a single input value is to be distributed to several outputs in a location of the diagram far away from where the value was originally produced.
Negate (-n)
Complement (1-n)
Minimum (MIN)
Maximum (MAX)
Average (AVG)
Distributor ()
Junctor Operators
The purpose of junctors is to combine several inputs into an output value using an operator. The name of the operator is displayed on the junctor itself, and is by default Fuzzy And (AND). Each junctor in a diagram can use a different operator, and the operator that new junctors are created with is set using the Default Junctor Operator popup in the Operators Inspector. To change the operator of an existing junctor, use one of the following options: Select the junctor, then select the desired operator from the Operator Popup in the Junctor Tab of the Element Inspector. Right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Control-click (Mac) the junctor and select the desired operator from the popup menu.
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Entity Operators
All entities in a diagram have an operator used to combine the confidence values from their incoming edges. By default this operator is Fuzzy Or (OR). Unlike junctors which can each have a different operator, all entities in a given document have the same operator, which is set using the Entity Operator popup in the Operators Inspector.
Tip: Selecting a new Default Junctor Operator only affects junctors created after the change, but selecting a new Entity Operator immediately changes the operator used by all entities in the diagram.
Edge Weights
Just as each entity carries a confidence value, each edge carries a numerical edge weight value. When visible, each edge displays a spinner that indicates its weight. Edge weights can be displayed for every edge in the diagram, or only for selected edge weights. To show weights for every edge, select the View Edge Weights command or click the Edge Weights toolbar icon. To display weights for only selected edges, select the edges you desire and then use one of the following options:
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Select the Edge Weight Visible checkbox in the Edge Tab of the Element Inspector. Right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Control-click (Mac) any of them and select the Show Selected Edge Weights command from the contextual menu.
Tip: The setting for the View Edge Weights command overrides the settings for showing individual edge weights. When it is turned on, all edge weights will be visible and the individual settings for edges are ignored.
Edge weights can be thought of as percentages from 100% to 100%. Negative weights are represented as red, and positive weights are green. A weight of exactly zero is represented as yellow. The same preference that selects what kind of symbol to display inside of Confidence spinners also controls the symbol displayed inside edge weight spinners. Another preference lets you decide how the color of the edge itself corresponds to the edge weight. By default, edges with positive weights are black, edges with negative weights are red, and edges with zero weights are gray. See Preferences on page 83.
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In the belief network illustration above, the confidence values of the Knowledge entities represents the strength of belief in each statement, while the edge weights represent the correlation between the knowledge items and the propositions under consideration. The resulting values are combined using the Proportion () operator.
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Logical Negation
Edge weights are often used in the probabilistic context of EvidenceBased Analysis. But they are also useful in Effects-Based Planning to represent fuzzy NOT (logical negation.) Even without revealing the edge weight spinners, you can right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Controlclick (Mac) an edge and select a positive (+), neutral (0) or negative () edge weight from the popup menu that appears. For fuzzy boolean values, negative edge weights represent the logical negation of the input. For more information about Effects-Based Planning and Evidence-Based Analysis, see Thinking with Flying Logic.
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Domains
Classes and Domains
Each entity you create is assigned to an entity class (or just class.) Entity classes are a purely visual reminder of the kind of each entity: Flying Logic does not in any way restrict the kinds of connections an entity may have based on its class. That said, the methodology you choose or problem domain in which you work may place restrictions on what classes of entities may be connected. For instance, in EffectsBased Planning, Precondition and Action entities should always be drivers (have no incoming edges) while Intermediate Effect and Goal entities should always be driven (have at least one incoming edge.)
Entity Classes
Inspect button
Tip: If you change the icon of a class, and all the existing entities of that class do not change their icon to match, then those entities have had their icon overridden by the setting of the Icon Popup menu. To correct, select the entities and then select the C icon from the Icon Popup in the Entity tab of the Element Inspector. For more information, see Assigning Symbols to Entities on page 28.
To delete a custom domain or class, select the domain or class to be deleted and click the delete button at the bottom of the Domain Inspector. You can also drag entity classes to re-arrange them within or between domains.
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Hiding Domains
2.0 Flying Logic documents often combine entities of classes across several domains. However, there are times youd rather not see one or more built-in or custom domains in the Domain Inspector. You can hide such domains easily, and your choices of hidden domains are saved along with your document:
In the Domain Inspector, right-click (Mac, Windows, Linux) or control-click (Mac) the domain and select the Hide Domain Name command from the popup menu. To show a previously hidden domain: Select Domain Show Hidden Domain Name. To save all currently visible domains (and all hidden domains) as the default for new documents: Select Domain Save Domains as Defaults. This command also gives you the option to restore the list of visible domains to the factory defaults.
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Menus
Application Menu (Mac)
About Flying Logic Displays version information and credits. Preferences... Displays the Preferences dialog. See Preferences on page 83 Quit Flying Logic Quits Flying Logic. The user is prompted to save changes to any unsaved documents before quitting.
File Menu
New Document Creates a new, blank document. New Document From Selection
2.0 Creates a new document containing copies of any elements that were selected in the current document.
Open... Opens an existing document. New documents can also be opened by dragging a Flying Logic document to the application icon (Windows: in Windows Explorer, Mac: in the Finder or Dock, Linux: see your window manager documentation.) Template files can also be opened, which open as new Untitled documents containing the contents of the template. Existing exported domain files can also be opened, which causes a new, blank document to be created with the domain automatically imported. Open Examples... Opens an existing document from the Examples directory contained in the same directory as the Flying Logic application.
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Open Recent Select a name from the submenu to re-open a recently open document. Close Closes the current document. The user is prompted to save any unsaved changes. Save Saves the current document. If the document has not been saved before, the user is prompted for a file name and folder to save to. Save As... Saves the current document in a new location and/or with a new name. Save as Template... Saves a copy of the current document in a new location with a new name, and changes its filename suffix to .xlogic-t. When a template file is opened, it opens as a new, Untitled document, but starts with all the content that was saved with the template. Export Diagram as PDF... Creates a PDF file with the diagram of the current document. The document is formatted as a single page large enough to contain the entire diagram.
Tip: PDF is the most desirable format for publishing and all other applications that do not require a bitmapped graphics format (such as JPEG or PNG), as PDF images will scale to any size with no loss of quality. PDF also supports transparency, and will look good when overlaid against backgrounds containing images or textures.
Export Diagram as JPEG... Creates a JPEG file with the diagram of the current document. The document is formatted as a single image large enough to contain the entire diagram.
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Tip: JPEG images are compressed, and may show a slight fuzziness around the edges of lines and text. Also, JPEG images do not support transparency, so programs that overlay images on backgrounds (such as presentation software) will show the JPEG as completely obscuring any background. Exporting the image to PDF or PNG is recommended when transparency is desired.
Export Diagram as PNG... Creates a PNG file with the diagram of the current document. The document is formatted as a single page large enough to contain the entire diagram.
Tip: PNG images use a lossless form of compression that does not result in the edge-fuzziness associated with JPEG images. Also, PNG images support transparency, and will look good when overlaid against backgrounds containing images or textures.
Export Outline as OPML... Creates an OPML file with the diagram of the current document. OPML documents can be directly imported into many popular outliner applications. Export Annotations as PDF... Creates a PDF file with only the annotations in the current document. Each annotation includes its annotation number, which can be cross-referenced with the annotation numbers that appear when the ViewNote Numbers command is turned on.
Tip: Note numbers change as annotations are added and removed from the document, and should not be relied on to stay the same across document revisions.
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Export Annotations as Text... Creates a plain text file with only the annotations in the current document. Each annotation includes its annotation number, which can be cross-referenced with the annotation numbers that appear when the ViewNote Numbers command is turned on.
Tip: Note numbers change as annotations are added and removed from the document, and should not be relied on to stay the same across document revisions.
Export as MS Project Data Interchange (XML)... Exports the current document in MS Project Data Interchange format. MPX is a format based on XML used to exchange Microsoft Project data. See below for details on the conversion of Flying Logic documents to MS Project documents. Export as MS Project Exchange (MPX)... Exports the current document in MPX format. MPX is a native binary format used to exchange Microsoft Project data. See below for details on the conversion of Flying Logic documents to MS Project documents. When exporting to MS Project, the following conversion rules apply:
2.0 All entities are converted to MS Project Tasks of the same effort assigned in the Entity tab of the Element inspector when Project Management is turned on, or 1-day effort if no other effort has been specified. Zero-effort tasks are converted to MS Project milestones. The name of the task is the entitys title. The Text1 field of the task is set to Entity. The Text2 field of the task is set to the entity class name. The Number1 field of the task is set to the confidence value of the entity.
All junctors are converted to MS Project milestones. The name of the task is the name of the junctor operator. The Text1 field of the milestone is set to Junctor. The Number1 field of the task is set to the confidence value of the junctor. All groups are converted to MS Project summary tasks. The name of the summary task is the title of the group. The Text1 field of
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the summary task is set to Group. All edges are converted to finish-to-start dependencies with no lag. Notes for entities, groups, and junctors become notes on the corresponding tasks. Notes on edges are not preserved, because MS Project does not support notes on task dependencies. Print Prints the current document. The Flying Logic print options dialog appears before the system print dialog, and allows a number of choices for formatting your printed output.
Edit Menu
Undo Undoes the last action that modified the current document. Virtually every action that modifies Flying Logic documents is undoable, and multiple levels of undo are supported. You can set a preference as to how many levels of undo to support. See Preferences on page 83. Redo Redoes the last undone action. Cut Works as a typical Cut command for text. For selections of the diagram, marks the selected elements for transfer to another document or another location in the current document. Selected elements are shaded red. See Copy and Paste on page 43. Copy Works as a typical Copy command for text. For selections of the diagram, marks the selected elements for copying to another document or another location in the current document. Selected elements are shaded orange. See Copy and Paste on page 43.
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Paste Works as a typical Paste command for text. For selections of the diagram that have previously been selected for Copy, duplicates the copied elements into the currently selected group, or the top level of the diagram if there is no selection. For selections of the diagram that have previously been selected for Cut, moves the cut elements into the currently selected group, or the top level of the diagram if there is no selection. See Copy and Paste on page 43. Delete Deletes the current selection. Select All Selects all elements in the diagram. Deselect Deselects all elements in the diagram. Select Successors For each edge, entity, or junctor in the current selection, add to the selection every succeeding element. Useful for determining which elements can be affected downstream of one or more selected elements. Select Predecessors For each edge, entity, or junctor in the current selection, add to the selection every preceding element. Useful for determining which elements can be affected upstream of one or more selected elements. Select Head Entity
2.0 Selects the entity at the head of the currently selected edge. Useful for navigating diagrams with long edges.
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Swap Selected Elements Exchanges the positions of any two selected elements of the same kind. See Swapping Elements on page 34. Preferences... Displays the Preferences dialog. (Windows and Linux only. Preferences is located in the Flying Logic menu on the Mac.) Find... Displays the Find dialog. This dialog can also be displayed by clicking the Find button in the toolbar.
2.0
Entity Menu
New Entity Creates a new entity of the class selected in the Domain Inspector. See Working With Entities on page 20. Insert Entity Creates a new entity of the class selected in the Domain Inspector and inserts it along the currently selected edge. See Working With Entities on page 20. Add Entity as Successor When turned on, newly-created entity will be automatically added as successors to a previously-selected entity. When turned off, the new entity will be added as a predecessor. See Working With Entities on page 20.
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Reset Confidence Resets all confidence values in the entire document to 50%. Useful for restarting demonstrations where all confidence values are expected to begin at 50%. Renumber Entity IDs Assigns a new Entity ID to all entities in the order they appear in the flow of the document. This is the only command that can change the Entity IDs in the document. See Annotation Numbers and Entity IDs on page 26. Title Font Size
2.0 This submenu can be used to select the size at which all entity titles are displayed. The Auto setting selects a size based on the amount of text in the title. See Entity Title Font Size on page 27. 2.0
Title Width
2.0 This submenu can be used to select the maximum amount of text that can appear on a single line of all entity titles. See Entity Title Width on page 28.
Redact Selection Changes all title and annotation text in the selected elements to Xs. This can be useful to remove sensitive information from a document before passing it to other parties for review.
Tip: Make sure to save an unredacted version of the document for your own use.
Redact All Changes all title and annotation text in the current document to Xs. If you need to pass a copy of a document to the Flying Logic developers so we can see how a particular layout behaves, you can use this command to remove all sensitive information from the document first.
Tip: Make sure to save an unredacted version of the document for your own use.
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Group Menu
New Group Creates a new group that encloses the currently selected elements. See Creating Groups on page 37. Collapse Selected Groups Collapse every selected group, but not any groups they themselves enclose. See Collapsing and Expanding Groups on page 38. Deep-Collapse Selected Groups Collapse every selected group, including any groups they themselves enclose. See Collapsing and Expanding Groups on page 38. Expand Selected Groups Expand every selected group, but not any groups they themselves enclose. See Collapsing and Expanding Groups on page 38. Deep-Expand Selected Groups Expand every selected group, including any groups they themselves enclose. See Collapsing and Expanding Groups on page 38. Group Color
2.0 Changes the color of the selected groups to the choice from the submenu. See Group Colors on page 39.
Unhoist One Level Unhides all document elements in the group enclosing the currently hoisted group. See Hoisting on page 39.
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Unhoist to Top
2.0 Unhides all document elements previously hidden by the other hoist commands. See Hoisting on page 39.
View Menu
Confidence Displays or hides the Confidence Spinners. See Confidence Spinners on page 49. Edge Weights Displays or hides the Edge Weights. See Edge Weights on page 56. Edge Annotations When turned on, every edge in the diagram will display a yellow box containing the text of the edge annotation instead of the small yellow bullet. Turning this option on supersedes the per-edge display of edge annotations. When turned on, even edges that have no annotation text will display a small yellow empty box where new text can be entered. When turned off, only edges that have the per-edge display of their annotation will display the box others edges with annotations will display the yellow bullet. See Annotations on page 16. Annotation Numbers Displays or hides the Annotation Numbers. See Annotation Numbers and Entity IDs on page 26. Entity IDs
2.0 Displays or hides the Entity IDs. See Annotation Numbers and Entity IDs on page 26.
Project Management
2.0 Displays or hides project management attributes throughout the document. See Appendix A Project Management on page 87.
Incremental Layout Turns on or off incremental layout mode. See Incremental Layout on page 45.
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Reveal Selection Scrolls the currently-selected elements of the diagram into view, if they are not already visible. Zoom to Fit Adjusts the magnification to display the entire diagram. Full Size Adjusts the magnification to display the diagram elements at their full size. Zoom In Adjusts the magnification to display the diagram elements at their next largest size. Zoom Out Adjusts the magnification to display the diagram elements at their next smallest size. Zoom X%
2.0 Adjusts the magnification to display the diagram elements at X% of their normal size.
Domain Menu
New Domain Creates a new domain in the Domain Inspector. See Creating A Custom Class on page 62. Delete Domain Deletes the currently selected domain, including all classes within the domain. All entities assigned to deleted classes are reassigned to the Generic class. New Class Creates a new custom class within the selected domain. See Creating A Custom Class on page 62.
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Delete Class Deletes the currently selected class. All entities assigned to the deleted class are reassigned to the Generic class. Import Domain Prompts the user for a domain file to import, then adds the domain and its classes to the current document. See Exporting and Importing Domains on page 63. A shortcut to create a new document with a domain pre-imported is to simply open the exported domain file using the File Open command or double-click the exported domain file in your desktop environment. Export Selected Domain Prompts the user for the name and location of a domain file to save, and then writes the domain selected in the Domain Inspector, along with all its classes to the file. See Exporting and Importing Domains on page 63. Save Domains as Defaults
2.0 After confirmation, saves the currently visible domains as the default set of visible domains for any newly created documents. Also allows restoring the default set of visible domains.
Format Menu
Font
2.0 Contains formatting options for fonts within annotation text. See Styled Text, Hyperlinks, and Browse Lock on page 18.
Make Plain Text Removes all formatting from the selected annotation text. See Styled Text, Hyperlinks, and Browse Lock on page 18. Edit Hyperlink
2.0 Displays the Hyperlink Properties dialog for the currently selected annotation text. See Styled Text, Hyperlinks, and Browse Lock on page 18. 2.0
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Window Menu
Inspectors
2.0 Contains commands and keyboard shortcuts to display or hide each of the inspectors. See The Sidebar and Inspectors on page 11.
Hide Sidebar Hides or displays the sidebar for times when a more presentation-oriented window format is desired. Hide Toolbar
2.0 Hides or displays the toolbar for times when a more presentationoriented window format is desired.
Toggle Focus Between Sidebar and Canvas Changes whether the next keystrokes (such as arrow-key navigation) will be received by the sidebar or the canvas. List of Open Documents The Window menu also contains a list of currently open documents. The window for an open document may be brought to the front by selecting its name in this menu.
Help Menu
Registration... This dialog is used for managing your registration information, including your license key. View Users Guide... Opens the Flying Logic Users Guide (this document) in your PDF viewer. View License Agreement... Displays a dialog containing the Flying Logic License Agreement. View Credits... Displays a dialog containing credits for Flying Logic.
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Visit Flying Logic Web Site Opens FlyingLogic.com in your web browser, where you can find support for Flying Logic as well as an active community of Flying Logic users. Check for Updates Uses your Internet connection to determine whether an updated version of Flying Logic is available for download.
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Keyboard Shortcuts
M
Mac only
Key Normal
Windows only
AltWL/OptM Ctrl+ Shift View Annotations
Linux only
Ctrl+ AltWL/OptM
View Confidence
Insert Entity
G H I L M N
New Group Hide AppM Italic Hide Sidebar Lock DesktopL View Project Management New Document Open Print QuitM Reset Confidence Save 100% confidence (True) Show Fonts Reveal Selection Save As Toggle Focus Select Successors Export as PDF View Annotation Numbers New Domain Select Predecessors Hide Other AppsM
O P Q R S T
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Key
Normal
AltWL/OptM
Ctrl+ Shift
Ctrl+ AltWL/OptM
Paste Close Cut Redo Undo Delete/Delete group and contents Preferences Collapse Expand 0% confidence/ weight 10% confidence/ weight 20% confidence/ weight 30% confidence/ weight 40% confidence/ weight 50% confidence/ weight 60% confidence/ weight Document Inspector Domain Inspector Navigation Inspector Layout Inspector Operators Inspector Element Inspector Zoom to Fit Deep collapse Deep expand Redo View Edge Weights Swap Elements
, [ ] 0
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Key
Normal
AltWL/OptM
Ctrl+ Shift
Ctrl+ AltWL/OptM
70% confidence/ weight 80% confidence/ weight 90% confidence/ weight Reduce selection/Edit
Tab
Switch applicationsM, Switch windowsW ProcessesL Change resolutionL Change resolutionL Select Head Entity Select Tail Entity
Switch panelsL
Kill windowL
F4 F(N)
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Preferences
The Preferences dialog is displayed using the Edit Preferences... (Win) or Flying Logic Preferences (Mac) command.
General Options
Auto-Backup on Save
The Auto-Backup on Save checkbox determines whether a backup file of the last saved version is created each time an existing document is re-saved.
Undo Levels
Flying Logic keeps track of the number of undo levels entered into this box. The default is 100.
Recent Documents
Flying Logic keeps track of this number of recently opened documents in File Open Recent. The default is 20.
Display Options
Each time the diagram changes, an animated transition is shown between the old state and new state. Several aspects of this transition are controllable via preferences.
take an amount of time determined from the visual complexity of the animation. With adaptive animation, simple changes to the diagram result in quick animations, while complex animations with many objects moving result in slower animations that allow the eye to better track the changes. With adaptive animation, the Speed slider can still be used to control whether the animations happen faster or slower.
Animation Style
The animation style radio buttons control how Flying Logic chooses which frames of the animation to generate. If Fixed Frame Rate is selected, then Flying Logic will choose a number of frames over which to perform the animation based on the animation speed (at a nominal 30 frames-per-second) and will draw every one of those frames. This option may look better on slower hardware. The preferred, default style is Fixed Time, where Flying Logic dynamically chooses which frames to draw based on the amount of time the last frame took to draw. This results in animations running at what often feels like a steadier pace, and is particularly suitable to faster hardware. Try both options and keep the one that feels best to you.
Edge Colors
The color of edges in your diagrams depends on this setting. The default is Red..Gray..Black, which means that edges with negative weights are drawn in red, edges with neutral settings are drawn in gray, and edges with positive weights are drawn in black. The other options are Red..Yellow..Black and Red..Yellow..Green.
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Spinner Display
The Spinner Display preference determines what symbols are drawn inside of spinners.
None Confidence Spinner nothing Symbol 0%: F 100%: T other values: nothing -100%..-1%: 0%: O 1%..100%: + 0%..99%: nothing 100%: C Numeric 0..100
nothing
-100..100
% Complete Spinner
nothing
0..100
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Management changes the appearance of entities in the canvas and several inspectors, which are described in detail in the following sections: Entities gain labels for Start Date, End Date, Effort, and spinners for Percentage Complete. The Document Inspector gains a new Project Management tab. The Entity tab of the Element inspector gains fields for Start Date, End Date, Effort, and Percentage Complete. The custom class dialog gains a Default Effort field that can be used to specify a default effort for new entities. Typically this is used to create a class to represent milestones that by default have zero effort. It can also be used to set the default length of task entities to a scale that is typical for the whole project for instance 5 days for projects where the tasks are typically measured in weeks, or 20 days for projects where the tasks are typically measured in months.
Project Settings
The Project Management tab of the Document Inspector is where you set up your general project attributes.
The Start Date field specifies the start date for all non-dependent tasks with no specifically assigned start date. The Workdays check boxes determine which weekdays will be considered work days for the purposes of date calculations. You must click the Apply button for changes to these check boxes to take affect.
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When you turn Project Management on for a document for the first time, additional information to support project management is added to it. The Remove All Project Management Info button is used to remove all project management information from the document and turns Project Management off. You will only rarely need to use this feature. If you simply want to hide project management information without removing it from the document, just select View Project Management again.
Entities as Tasks
Flying Logic entities are used to represent tasks and milestones. Tasks with non-zero effort show Start Dates, End Dates, and Percentage Complete spinners, while tasks with zero effort only display an End Date. Start or End dates which have been specifically assigned in the Entity tab of the Element Inspector are displayed in bold.
Assigned Start Date Calculated Start Date Calculated End Date
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Tip: Merely setting a tasks effort to zero will not change it to the Milestone class, nor will setting a tasks effort non-zero change it to the Task class: you must assign classes yourself based on your intent for the entity.
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Percentage Complete
A tasks Percentage Complete can be adjusted from the Entity Inspector, or directly in the Canvas by manipulating the spinner.
Tip: Unlike Confidence spinners, which are calculated based on predecessor entities, Percentage Complete spinners are all independent. It is up to you to determine when each task or milestone is complete and mark it as such.
Edges as Dependencies
Edges between entities represent dependencies between tasks, with a successor task calculated to start after the latest End Date of all its predecessor tasks. This is known as finish-to-start (F2S) dependency, and is the most commonly found in project management. Other sorts of dependencies such as start-to-start (S2S) are also used, as is the practice of assigning a positive lag time or negative lead time to dependencies, however Flying Logic does not currently support these concepts.
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Groups as Summaries
When Project Management is turned on, groups display the earliest Start date and latest End Date of all their enclosed tasks and subgroups.
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