The overview window opens when Easik is started and remains open throughout the program's entire execution. The overview window allows the user to have multiple sketches open for editing simultaneously and allows the definition views of sketches.
New Overview (File | New Overview): Creates a fresh canvas containing no sketches or views. Any unsaved work will be lost.
Save Overview (File | Save Overview): Saves the current overview to an XML file. Note: overview files are saved with a .easik extension.
Open Overview (File | Open Overview): Opens an overview from a .easik file. Any unsaved work will be lost.
Edit sketch (Right click on desired sketch → Edit sketch): See opening a sketch to edit.
Manipulate database (Right click on desired sketch → Manipulate database): See opening a sketch to manipulate a database.
Export Sketch to XML (Right click on sketch → Export sketch to XML): See exporting a sketch to XML.
Export Sketch to SQL Server: See exporting a sketch to SQL server.
Add Sketch (Right click → Add sketch OR Edit | Add sketch): Adds a new empty sketch to the overview canvas.
Import Sketch (Right click → Import sketch OR Edit | Import sketch): To import a sketch (and its views) from an XML file, right click on the overview and select Import sketch from the popup menu. (The action is also available through the Edit menu.) Select the XML file and click OK to add it to the overview.
Add View (Right click on sketch → Add view): Creates a new empty view of the selected sketch.
Rename (Right click on sketch or view → Rename): Prompts the user for the new name of the selection.
Delete (Right click with sketches and/or views selected → Delete): Deletes the current selection.
To open a sketch for editing, it must exist as a sketch node in the overview. Right clicking on the sketch node and selecting Edit sketch from the popup menu will open the sketch for editing. If there is currently no active connection to an SQL server, a double click will also enter edit-mode. If there is an active connection to a database, a double-click will open the sketch in data manipulation mode.
Note: A sketch cannot be edited if it has been exported to an SQL server. If the user wishes to make edits to the sketch, they must first verify that they realize that edits will break the sketch/database synchronization.
To open a sketch in data manipulation mode, right-click over the sketch's representation in the overview and select Manipulate database from the popup menu. If a valid SQL connection currently exists, Easik will immediately enter data manipulation mode on the selected sketch. If there is no such connection, the user is prompted for connection information, and a connection attempt is made. Should a connection establish successfully, data manipulation mode will be entered. See database manipulation.