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Creating a Text File (Apex/Summit)

This module guides you through the steps needed to create a simple text file. All Apex components (code, documentation, etc) must be in subsystems and views.

Prerequisites

The Topics in this Module

Average Time to Complete this Module

10 minutes.


Creating Subsystems and Views

Apex supports the dividing of a software-development effort into high-level components called subsystems, each containing a group of logically related objects. Subsystems let you group related files, Ada packages and other compilation units together, hiding those that contain only implementation details.

Every subsystem is associated with a set of views. Working views provide areas for the development and integration of software. Release views contain the products developed within a subsystem during the development process.

Note: In UNIX, a subsystem is a directory with a .ss filename extension and a view is a subdirectory with a .wrk or .rel extension. Because subsystems and views are directories in UNIX, their names are case-sensitive. In the following exercises, you can use whatever directory names you want for parent directories, but use the subsystem and view names that are provided, typed in all-lowercase letters.


Creating a Subsystem

In this exercise, you will create a subsystem named project1.ss.

1. . Open a directory-viewer window if one is not opened. This can be your login directory (enter ~ or $HOME)

2. . Choose the New command from the File menu. Apex displays a cascading menu.

3. . Choose the New Subsystem menu item from the New submenu. Apex displays the New Subsystem dialog box:

4. . Enter the full pathname of the subsystem you wish to create in the Subsystem Full Name field. The .ss extension is added for you automatically. For this exercise, use $HOME/project1.

    Note: Subsystem creation may fail if you have auto-mounted file systems. A message similar to the following will be displayed:

    cannot create subsystem in excluded context "/tmp_mnt"
    as specified by the SS_CONTEXT_EXCLUSIONS switch

    To work around this problem, use the
    Control > Maintenance > Permanent Name command to set the location to $HOME (for example, /people/tut_user).

5. . With the Place storage in subsystem's enclosing directory and the Visit the new subsystem check boxes selected the default settings), close the New Subsystem dialog box by clicking the OK button.

When the dialog box closes with the Visit the new subsystem check box selected, Apex opens a directory-viewer window showing you the subsystem that was created.

See File > New for more information.


Creating a View

In this exercise, you will create a working view named text.wrk. The text.wrk view will be nested in the project1.ss subsystem you created in the previous exercise.

1. . Select the New command from the File menu in the project1.ss directory-viewer window. Apex opens a cascading menu.

2. . Choose the New View menu item from the New submenu. Apex displays the New View dialog box:

3. . In the Name field, type the view name text.

4. . Keep the View Type set to Working and the Language and Model fields set to the defaults. You will not be compiling code in this view, so the Language and Model values are not significant.

5. . If Apex is correctly installed, the text in the Host Architecture matches the characteristics of your workstation. Leave this field at its default setting.

6. . Leave the Place storage in parent subsystem and the Visit the new view check boxes selected, their default settings.

7. . Leave all the other controls in the New View dialog box set to their default settings.

8. . Close the New View dialog box and create your new view by clicking the OK button.

The Jobs window displays the view being created.

When the New View dialog box is executed with the Visit the new view check box selected, Apex opens a directory-viewer window showing you that a working view named text.wrk has been created in the project1.ss subsystem.

The Online Reference contains additional information on the contents of an empty view.


Creating a Text File

Perform the following steps from the directory viewer displaying the working view (project1.ss/text.wrk should be the first line in the directory viewer) you created in the previous topic. If you do not have it displayed, execute the File > Open command and enter <dir>/project1.ss/text.wrk, where <dir> is the path to your subsystem as the Filename.

If you have given the subsystem and view different names than the ones shown above, you must open the correct directory viewer yourself.

1. . Select the New command from the File menu in the text.wrk directory-viewer window. Apex opens a cascading menu.

2. . Choose the New File menu item from the New submenu. Apex displays the New File dialog box.

3. . Enter the name text.txt in the Name field as shown below:

4. . Execute the New File dialog box by clicking the OK button.

When you complete step four, Apex creates an empty file in an editor window.


Editing the Text File

The Editor Window

The editor window is where you edit your text files. All the Apex editors operate in the same basic manner. Type in anything you wish in your text file.

Basic tips for using the editor:

There are many editor key bindings.

Type anything in. Select the File > Save command to save your file.

You have just created a text file.

Close all the windows you have created during this module.


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