The Tree Builder environment

Tree Builder Window

Tree Builder uses one window from which all of its functions can be accessed: creating a new project, opening an existing project, creating a grammar, drawing trees, printing trees, saving trees and checking trees against a grammar.

Tree Builder Window

The Tree Builder window contains a Main Menu, a Toolbar, and a main Desktop area on which are located a Trees pane containing the trees in the project, a Grammar pane containing tabs for phrase structure rules, variables, and a lexicon, a Comment pane, and Drawing Canvases where trees are displayed and manipulated.

The Trees, Grammar, and Comments Panes can be resized, shown or hidden by the user.

Main menu

The main menu is at the top of the Tree Builder Window. For an explanation of each menu, see "Tree Builder menus."

main menu

Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed at the top of the Tree Builder Window under the menu bar. It is composed of smaller toolbars grouped by functionality: File, Edit, Tree, Structure, Transformation, View, Format, Tools, and Help.

toolbar

The toolbar provides shortcut buttons for the following menu commands:

Toolbar buttons

Icon Menu equivalent Description

File|New Project Creates a new project.

File|Open Project Opens an existing project file.

File|Save Project Saves the current project as a .lgram file.

File|Print Prints the current tree on the desktop.

Edit|Cut Cuts selected node/sub-tree in the current tree on the desktop to the clipboard.

Edit|Copy Copies selected node/sub-tree in the current tree on the desktop to the clipboard.

Edit|Paste Pastes the contents of the clipboard to the location of the selected node in the current tree on the desktop.

Edit|Undo Reverses (one at a time) a series of changes in the drawing canvas for the current tree. There are multiple levels of undo.

Edit|Redo Reverses the effects of an Undo. There are multiple levels of redo.

Tree|Add Tree Adds a new tree to the project.

Structure|Add Daughter(s) Opens a dialog for the user to enter one or more daughters to be added to the selected node.

Structure|Add Sister Opens a dialog for the user to enter a sister to be added to the selected node.

Structure|Add Mother Opens a dialog for the user to enter a mother to dominate the selected node.

Structure|Terminate with Word Opens a dialog for the user to enter a word to terminate the selected node.

Structure|Terminate with Phrase Opens a dialog for the user to enter a phrase to terminate the selected node.

Transformation|Move Marks the selected node as the source of a move.

Transformation|Move To Marks the selected node as the target of a move.

Transformation|Edit Arrow Draws a control point on the drawing canvas, which can be dragged by the mouse to change the shape of the movement arrow for the selected node.

Transformation|Add Insertion Opens a dialog for the user to enter an insertion for the selected node.

View|Zoom Allows the user to select a magnification to be applied to the tree.

Format|Font Allows the user to select the font to be applied to the selected node(s) or tree.

Format|Font Allows the user to select the font size to be applied to the selected node(s) or tree.

Format|Font Toggles the bold formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.

Format|Font Toggles the italic formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.

Format|Font Toggles the strikethrough formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.

Tools|Assisted Draw Toggles the Assisted Draw feature.

Tools|Check Tree Checks the currently active tree on the desktop against the grammar.

Help|Help topics Not available at this time.

Icon	Menu equivalent	Description
	File\|New Project	Creates a new project.
	File\|Open Project	Opens an existing project file.
	File\|Save Project	Saves the current project as a .lgram file.
	File\|Print	Prints the current tree on the desktop.
	Edit\|Cut	Cuts selected node/sub-tree in the current tree on the desktop to the clipboard.
	Edit\|Copy	Copies selected node/sub-tree in the current tree on the desktop to the clipboard.
	Edit\|Paste	Pastes the contents of the clipboard to the location of the selected node in the current tree on the desktop.
	Edit\|Undo	Reverses (one at a time) a series of changes in the drawing canvas for the current tree. There are multiple levels of undo.
	Edit\|Redo	Reverses the effects of an Undo. There are multiple levels of redo.
	Tree\|Add Tree	Adds a new tree to the project.
	Structure\|Add Daughter(s)	Opens a dialog for the user to enter one or more daughters to be added to the selected node.
	Structure\|Add Sister	Opens a dialog for the user to enter a sister to be added to the selected node.
	Structure\|Add Mother	Opens a dialog for the user to enter a mother to dominate the selected node.
	Structure\|Terminate with Word	Opens a dialog for the user to enter a word to terminate the selected node.
	Structure\|Terminate with Phrase	Opens a dialog for the user to enter a phrase to terminate the selected node.
	Transformation\|Move	Marks the selected node as the source of a move.
	Transformation\|Move To	Marks the selected node as the target of a move.
	Transformation\|Edit Arrow	Draws a control point on the drawing canvas, which can be dragged by the mouse to change the shape of the movement arrow for the selected node.
	Transformation\|Add Insertion	Opens a dialog for the user to enter an insertion for the selected node.
	View\|Zoom	Allows the user to select a magnification to be applied to the tree.
	Format\|Font	Allows the user to select the font to be applied to the selected node(s) or tree.
	Format\|Font	Allows the user to select the font size to be applied to the selected node(s) or tree.
	Format\|Font	Toggles the bold formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.
	Format\|Font	Toggles the italic formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.
	Format\|Font	Toggles the strikethrough formatting for the selected node(s) or tree.
	Tools\|Assisted Draw	Toggles the Assisted Draw feature.
	Tools\|Check Tree	Checks the currently active tree on the desktop against the grammar.
	Help\|Help topics	Not available at this time.

Trees pane

The trees pane displays a list of the trees in the project. The list is sorted alphabetically.

Selecting a tree in the list will display that tree on the desktop or bring that tree to the fore if it is already on the desktop. Whenever a tree is made the active tree on the desktop by either clicking on its drawing canvas with the mouse or selecting the tree on the windows menu, the corresponding entry on the list will be selected.

trees pane

To add a tree to the list choose Tree|Add Tree or the Add Tree button on the toolbar. When the drawing canvas is displayed on the desktop a corresponding entry will be added to and selected on the list. Tree Builder will automatically give the tree a default name, which can be changed by the user.

To remove a tree from the list select the entry for the tree to make it the active tree on the desktop and choose Tree|Remove Tree.

To make a copy of a tree on the list select the entry for the tree to make it the active tree on the desktop and choose Tree|Copy Tree.

To rename a tree on the list select the entry for the tree to make it the active tree on the desktop and choose Tree|Rename Tree.

The trees pane is located on the upper right hand side of the window. The pane can be resized by the user.

To show or hide the trees pane, choose View|Trees to toggle its state.

Grammar pane

The grammar pane displays the contents of the grammar in a project as a set of tabs: Rules, Variables, and Lexicon. Clicking the appropriate tab along the top of the pane will bring that tab into view.

grammar pane

The Rules tab displays a list of the phrase structure rules of the grammar. The Variables tab displays the definition of any variables used to describe the phrase structure rules. The Lexicon tab displays a table containing the entries in the lexicon of the grammar.

Rules and variables can be added, edited, and removed by choosing Grammar|Set up Rules to bring up the Set up Rules dialog. The order that the rules and variables are displayed in the grammar pane can also be set via this dialog.

Lexicon entries can be added, edited, and removed by choosing Grammar|Set up Lexicon to bring up the Set up Lexicon dialog. The order that the lexicon entries are displayed in the lexicon tab can be controlled by clicking on a particular column header to sort the entries based on this column. A repeated click on the same column header changes the sort order direction from ascending to descending and vice versa. The columns can also be resized by the user.

The grammar pane is located on the lower right hand side of the window. The pane can be resized by the user.

To show or hide the grammar pane, choose View|Grammar to toggle its state.

Comments pane

The comments pane displays any comments associated with the project. It is directly editable by the user.

comments pane

The comments pane is initially not shown on the desktop but when visible it is located on the bottom edge of the window. The pane can be resized by the user.

To show or hide the comments pane, choose View|Comments to toggle its state.

Drawing canvas

The drawing canvas is where syntax trees are drawn and displayed.

drawing canvas

Selecting a tree from the trees list will cause a drawing canvas to be displayed on the desktop populated with the selected tree. A drawing canvas for a new tree will be displayed on the desktop by choosing Tree|Add Tree or the Add Tree button on the toolbar.

More than one drawing canvas can be displayed on the desktop at the same time. A listing of the drawing canvases currently on the desktop can be found at the end of the Windows menu where they are listed by the tree name. Clicking on an entry in the list will bring that drawing canvas to the fore.

drawing canvas

Choosing Windows|Cascade will arrange the drawing canvases on the desktop in a cascading layout. Choosing Windows|Tile will arrange the drawing canvases on the desktop in a tile layout.Choosing Windows|Close All will close all the drawing canvases on the desktop.

Initially the drawing canvases will be maximized to take up the entire desktop. The drawing canvas can, however, be moved and resized by the user. The drawing canvas can be removed from the desktop by clicking the close button in the right hand corner of the canvas or clicking the minimize button to reduce the drawing canvas to an icon along the bottom of the desktop.

The tree can be magnified within the drawing canvas by choosing View|Zoom or the Zoom drop down on the toolbar. If the size of the tree exceeds the size of the drawing canvas scroll bars will appear to enable the user to view the whole tree.