Workspace and windows (VML)

Our workspace is organised in one or more windows groups.

Windows groups

In the example below, we have for groups of windows:

We can have as many groups as we want.

The area of the screen a certain group fills can varie. In general, they touch the border of the main window, but it is possible to have a detached window group.

Each group can contain one or more windows, but only one at a time will show up.

• A window group can be moved with a right-click at the top border. A context menu will be displayed. See windows menu since they are very much alike.
• The group size can be changed. Just drag and drop the window borders.

Window

A window is a view or a tool applied to a genealogy. In other cases, it applies to several or no genealogy.

Here is the Cygnus editor's window, for example, which is a view of the Kennedy genealogy via Cygnus editor.

A window is identified by a small tab containing an icon and its name.

Different windows can have different shapes, but they all work the same way (opening, closing, moving and resizing).

Besides, it is possible to customise certain aspects : which ones to display on startup, their position and size.

Following is an explanation of the basics of windows and how to customise them.

Tab

The tab is the title of the window. It contains an icon representing the nature of the view or the tool used on this window, followed by the name of the genealogy and thus visible on this window.

On the general case of a window concerning one single genealogy, as in the preceding window, the tab is :

Thanks to this tab, we recognise the Cygnus editor by its icon, and the genealogy by its name, fully written.

It is the same name displayed on the title bar of the main window.

This allows you to have the family trees of two different genealogies in two different windows side by side. In this case, the icon will be the same for both windows, but the name will be different.

You can also have a tree view and a geographical view of the same genealogy in two different windows. In this case, the name will be the same but their icons will be different.

Examples :

• Here we have 1 Kennedy genealogy with two different editors, Cygnus and Gedcom :

• Here we have two different genealogies, Kennedy and Bourbon, each with Cygnus open :

• Here we have two different genealogies, Kennedy and Bourbon, with Cygnus for Bourbons and Gedcom for Kennedy :

The tab can be alone or have some neighbours.

If it is alone, means the window is also alone on the group.

If there are neighbours, means the corresponding windows share the same group and only one is occupying the entire space available for the group : the one whose tab is highlighted. To see a different window, just click its tab.

Here we have the Kennedy dynamic tree on the same workspace of the welcome page. The dynamic tree is displayed, its tab is highlighted and in front of the other.

Note that the welcome window does not show the genealogy name.

As a matter of fact, if the window does not concern any genealogy (e.g. Welcome, Datulator, Calculator), or whe it concerns several (Genealogy Search), tha tab name is the name of the tool.

Example :

To the right of the name we have also a little cross (x). It is used to close the window.

If you hover over this cross, a popup will show with info on how to close windows of the same group. Will get back to this later.

The tab of a window is also a kind of handle that allows you to manipulate the window with the mouse, and in particular to move it to another group of windows. The group of windows can already exist on the screen or be created when moving.

It is also possible to manipulate the window via Window Menu.

Anchored window or free window

A window can have two different states : anchored, or free (or floating or flying).

It is anchored when it is attached to a specific area of the main window.

It is free when it is independent from the main window. It can now be placed anywhere on the screen, and the main window will stay out of site.

Use the corresponding action from the window menu to anchor or free a window.

Concealed window

The tab can also take the shape of a button. This means the window is concealed, or in the form of a drawer, on one of the edges of the main window.

To conceal a window, drag its tab to one of the main window's borders and even beyond that border.

Once docked at the edge, the window is in the open position. Simply click on the top right button to close the drawer. This is the Entity Table window.

After reduction, the Entity Table is now concealed :

Simply hover over this tab button or click on it to fold/unfold the window.

This is the case of the Gedcom Explorer window, on the top left side of Ancestris, here visible unfolded :

When visible, it can be temporarily hidden pressing Ctrl + 0 on the numeric keypad.

To anchor a retracted window in an unfolded position, it is necessary to click on the Pin icon (the square button containing a black dot in the top right corner) which will then turn into the Reduce Window icon for a return to the initial state (button already seen above).

Here is a video showing how to conceal a window:

Resizing a window

The window border is used to resize the window. To do so, simply drag one of the four sides of the border or one of its four corners.

If none of the four sides of the border is visible, it is probably because the window is currently full screen: to display them again, simply click on the Restore Window button in the upper right corner.

Changing the size of a window also changes the size of the window group in which it is located.

Moving a window

To move a window, you have to make a drag & drop of the tab: left click maintained during the movement, then release the mouse to fix the window.

While moving, Ancestris shows a red preview of its shape and future position.

During drag & drop, the future position of the pane you are moving will differ depending on whether you are hovering over the center of an area or its periphery.

Example here where the Kennedy Cygnus Editor window is being moved: a thumbnail image of the window appears and moves with the mouse, while red borders appear to indicate where it will be repositioned.

Following your attempts to move windows, if you have found the layout that you find most convenient and would like to find it again the next time Ancestris reopens, save your choices via Menu / Options / Save display settings.

If during your attempts, you can't get a window back where you want it, quit and restart Ancestris. If this doesn't put everything back in place or still doesn't work for you, delete the files in the config/Windows2Local on the User's folder and restart Ancestris.

Window Menu

This menu will open with a right click at the top of any window. It includes different actions, used to manipulate the window.

The list of actions dependes on where you click, if it was on the group or on the tab.

Examples of window menus

Actions de Groupe de fenêtres (clic-droit sur le bandeau du groupe)	Actions de Fenêtre (clic-droit sur l'onglet)	Actions de fenêtre escamotée (clic-droit sur l'onglet)

 

Impact of actions on the windows

Close the window

Deletes the window from the window group.

To open the window again, you have to go through the menu bar.

Be careful if you had uncommitted modifications, they will be lost. If you had validated your modifications without saving them, they will not be lost.

If the window you close is the last one to concern a given genealogy, the genealogy will be closed. If any of the validated changes were not saved, Ancestris will ask you to do so.

Close the group and its windows

Closes all windows in the group. The window group disappears.

The other window groups will then take the place freed by the closed group.

The same considerations given for closing a window also apply here.

Close other windows

Only the selected window will remain in its group.

The same considerations given for closing a window also apply here for windows that are about to close.

Maximise the window (box to check / uncheck)

When the box is checked, displays the window (and the window group it is in) in full screen.

The window occupies the entire screen, but hides the border.

If you wish to restore the initial display, simply uncheck the box.

Free the window

Releases an anchored window from the main Ancestris window. It can then be visible without the main window or float above the other windows.

Free the windows group

Same as for one window, but applied to all windows on the group.

Anchor the window

Send a previously freed window to its former group.

Anchor the group of windows

Same as for one window, but applied to all windows on the group.

Shift Left

Move the window tab to the left within the group. Basically, swap tab's position with the one on the left.

Shift Right

Move the window tab to the right within the group. Basically, swap tab's position with the one on the right.

Clone

Duplicate the window within the group.

Create new Tab Group with this window

Create a new group of windows and place the window in it.

Close Tab Group and move windows in another one

Moves all the windows in the group to another existing window group, and closes the group.

Attention, if this action is performed on the last remaining group, the windows will be closed and the considerations indicated for closing a window apply.

Move window

Once this action is clicked, allows you to move a red rectangle with the cursor keys where the window will be moved.  Press the Enter key to validate the choice or Esc to cancel.

Move the group

Once this action is clicked, allows you to move a red rectangle with the cursor keys where the group of windows will be moved.  Press the Enter key to validate the choice or Esc to cancel.

Resize the  group

Once this action is clicked, allows you to enlarge the window group with the cursor keys. Press Esc & Enter to exit this resize mode.

This action is only available for certain groups (example: Entity Table). 

Transparent Window

Clicking on this action displays an information message about the keys to use to make the concealed window pane transparent. These are the Ctrl + 0 keys on the numeric keypad.

This action is only available for a concealed window. 

Window group buttos

To the right of the tabs of a given window group are four buttons whose functions you can see by tooltip.

Scroll the tabs to the left or right

Represented by arrows on the left and right, allow you to scroll through the tabs when there are a lot of them and it is not possible to see them all.

Show opened documents list

Represented by a down arrow, displays a small menu containing the list of windows of the group, and which allows to choose directly the window to be displayed in the group.

Maximize or Restore Window

Depending on the situation of the window group, opens the window group to full screen or restores it to its previous position.