ATF Glossary
This glossary defines ATF technical terms and utilities.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Control that can have adapters that add capabilities to the control. See control adapter.
An object that is adapted to an adapter and behaves like an instance of the adapter's class. See adapter.
An object that dynamically casts an object to another type or class. An object can be its own adapter, if it can be cast to the desired type. An adapter for A converts something of a different type than A to the type A. An adapter may also adapt a control to displaying data, such as the TreeListViewAdapter class adapting data to be displayed in a TreeListView control.
Technique used to allow one type of C# object to look like another, without using inheritance. Adaptation is the process of dynamically casting an object (adaptee) to a type of the class of the adapter. The adaptee can be treated as an instance of the adapter's class. In terms of software engineering design patterns, adaptation consists of the Adapter and Decorator pattern. See adapter, DOM extension, and DOM adapter.
ATF framework that allows supporting different kinds of data models and managed data stores, such as a DOM or other CLR objects, by converting objects to other types. See adaptation.
Process of a Bonjour server indicating which groups should be seen by network broadcasters and discovered by other Bonjour servers. See Bonjour.
An entry in a type definition that contains additional information about a type that is not in the regular type definition. In an XML Schema, annotations are defined inside the standard XSD <xs:annotation> and <xs:appinfo> tags. In the ATF DOM, annotations can be used to convey information such as the icon used to represent a data type in a palette or the control used to edit a type's properties.
A text window added to a graph canvas. See graph.
ATF framework containing core application services and interfaces needed for applications with a GUI. It includes the components ControlHostService, CommandService, SettingsService, and StatusService, or components of similar functionality.
Component to set script variables for common ATF services. See ScriptingService.
Sony intermediate file format (.atgi extension) for exchanging digital assets among graphics software applications. See Collada.
Information describing a type. For example, a type that defines graphical objects could have "x" and "y" attributes to specify a coordinate location on a canvas.
A C# decorator for programming entities. In MEF, a class or item can be decorated with an attribute indicating information MEF uses. Attributes can designate that items are to be imported or exported, for instance.
Component that provides facilities to run automated scripts. See ScriptingService.
Component that sets up the Python scripting engine and imports many common .NET and ATF types into the Python namespace. See PythonService.
Apple Company implementation of Multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) for zero-configuration networking, enabling automatic discovery of devices and services on a local network using standard IP protocols.
Any process that initializes Bonjour and has a name.
A container class holding components that MEF can compose for an application. There are several kinds of MEF catalogs, deriving from the base class ComposablePartCatalog. ATF mainly uses TypeCatalog, which creates a catalog from a collection of component types. See compose.
Group of clients subscribing to receive Bonjour messages. Same as message group. See Bonjour.
A graph where nodes are circuit elements with pins, such as OR gates, and edges are wires connecting pins. See graph, pin.
Open standard file format (.dae extension) for exchanging digital assets among graphics software applications. The name comes from Colla{}borative d{}esign a{}ctivity. See ATGI.
An action invoked from a menu item or tool strip button.
Client class that implements the ICommandClient interface for a command. In addition to performing a command, this interface provides methods to determine whether the command can be performed and to update the command state. See command, command state.
Group of commands with related functions, both in menus and tool strips. For example, File > Save and File > SaveAs are closely related commands, grouped together. See command.
Component in the application shell framework that provides a service to handle commands in menus and tool strips. See command and application shell framework.
The CommandState class contains properties describing a command's state: the menu item name and whether its menu item has a check mark. See command.
Where command is visible, as on menus, tool strips, and so on, described by the CommandVisibility enum in the CommandState. See command state.
An object or a C# type that is added to a MEF container, so that the component can discover and use other components without having a hard-dependency between them. See compose.
A type describing elements with attributes and/or child elements. See type definition (DOM), simple type.
The process of putting together components into a cohesive whole in an application, where the components meet each others' import and export contracts, specified by their attributes. See component.
The entity or edge connecting nodes in a graph. See edge, graph.
An environment or interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs. ATF has interfaces and classes to provide services for an application's data and operations in various contexts. The term context is often used to refer to an instance of a context interface or class. A context interface or class can be very general, working with different kinds of data.
ATF framework that tracks and works with application contexts. See context.
Component that tracks all context interface or class objects in an application, including the active context, maintaining a collection of context objects. A context registry implements IContextRegistry.
Class derived from ControlAdapter that adds capabilities to an adaptable control, such as rendering, view changing, or selection. See adaptable control.
Client class that implements the IControlHostClient interface for a control. The client specifies the control's behavior, if any, when the control gains or loses focus, or is closed. The control client is specified when registering a control with the ControlHostService. See ControlHostService.
Component in the application shell framework that implements IControlHostService and is responsible for exposing client controls in the application's main form. See application shell framework.
A model of user data in an application specifying the types of application data. See type definition (DOM).
See persistence.
Associating a data type with a DOM extension. A type can have any number of DOM extensions defined for it. See DOM extension, initialize extension.
Microsoft 2D vector graphics application programming interface (API).
A file containing application data. A class representing documents often implements the IDocument interface.
Class that does the work of handling a document and implements IDocumentClient for operations on the document, mainly file-related, such as open, save, and close.
ATF framework that enables application components to track documents that a user is working on and which document is currently active.
A modeling, management, and persistence framework that provides data management for loading, storing, validating, and managing changes to application or game data. The ATF DOM is unrelated to the W3C DOM. Document Object Model is a term borrowed from XML that describes an in-memory hierarchy of XML elements.
A component that tracks all documents an application has open. A document in this context is any object implementing IDocument.
An ATF DOM extension derived from the DomNodeAdapter class, which provides an infrastructure for connecting an extension to its underlying DOM node, as well as many useful methods and properties for DOM extensions. See DOM extension.
A MEF component you can use to visualize the contents of a DOM node tree. See Dom node, component (MEF).
A class that extends or adapts a DomNode's data type to another type. If you adapt a DomNode to a DOM extension, the DomNode is dynamically cast to the DOM extension class's type. An extension can also listen to events on Dom nodes. See DOM adapter.
A utility that, given an XSD type definition file, generates a set of type metadata classes you can reference — instead of names inside the type definition file.
Classes that represent data associated with types. These classes can be used to provide information about the primitive data type associated with a type or the type's attributes, for instance. The DomNodeType metadata class represents the type of a DomNode.
A node in a tree that represents a piece of application data. Each node has a DomNodeType that specifies the type of the node's data. See DOM node tree.
See DOM adapter.
A tree of DOM nodes representing all the application's data. See Dom node.
Metadata class representing the type of a DomNode. See DomNode and DOM metadata.
Component that records DOM events on the active context and displays them in a list in a window.
A connection between nodes in a graph. See connection, graph.
A way of representing entities and the relationships between them. For example, DOM types have attributes associated with them.
An attribute indicating that a component is making a class, property, or some item available to other components. See import.
When a timeline object is moved, a ghosted copy of the timeline object moves to indicate the possible positions of the object. See timeline.
Collection of nodes with connecting edges. Graphs can be specialized to other forms, such as circuits and statecharts. ATF offers a rich facility for handling graphs. See circuit, statechart.
Property editor component that displays items with properties in a spreadsheet type control, allowing you to see the properties of all selected items. See property editor, PropertyEditor.
Group of circuit items treated as a single element in the circuit. See circuit.
Group of clients subscribing to receive Bonjour messages. Same as channel or message group. See Bonjour.
Container for zero or more tracks in a timeline. See timeline and track.
A result of a picking operation to click on some object. See pick.
Encapsulated results of a hit from a picking operation to click on some object. See hit and pick.
An attribute to uniquely identify objects of a given type.
An attribute indicating that a component needs a class, property, or some item from another component. See export.
Associating a DomNode with a DOM extension that is defined for the type of the DomNode. A node can have any number of DOM extensions associated with it. After intialization, a DOM node can be treated as an instance of the adapter's class. The extension can also listen for events on the DomNode and its children. See DOM extension, define extension.
ATF framework that works with object instances that can be edited, that is, copied, inserted, or deleted. It enables inserting objects, such as typing text onto a page, pasting from a clipboard, or dropping a circuit element onto a canvas.
An event of zero or greater time duration on a single track in a timeline. See event, timeline, and track.
An event of zero-length time duration on a single track in a timeline. See event, timeline, and track.
Component to initialize and simplify using Bonjour to enable automatic discovery of devices and services on a local network and communicate between them.
A Microsoft library for creating extensions or components that can discover each other with no configuration required, avoiding hard dependencies.
Class to manipulate timeline objects, such as intervals, in a timeline control. See timeline.
An event of zero-length time duration on all tracks in a timeline. See event, timeline, and track.
A collection of circuit elements that can be copied and reused. Changing one master changes them all. See circuit.
See component (MEF).
Group of clients subscribing to receive Bonjour messages. Same as channel or group. See Bonjour.
Data describing other data. In the ATF DOM, metadata classes provide information about types in the data model. See DOM metadata.
Zero configuration host name resolution service, used by Bonjour. For more information, see the Wikipedia article Multicast DNS. See Bonjour.
A data point (DomNode) in a tree of application data. An item to be connected in a graph. See DomNode, graph.
Unit-testing framework for all .NET languages. For more information, see the NUnit site.
Open, transport-independent, message-based protocol developed for communication among computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices, according to its specification. For a general introduction to OSC on Wikipedia, see Open Sound Control and The Open Sound Control 1.0 Specification.
Any application that sends OSC packets.
Unit of transmission in OSC.
Any application that receives OSC packets.
Component that handles OSC messages by getting and setting properties on C# objects.
Container for items that can be dragged and dropped onto an application, typically onto a canvas control.
An attribute indicating how a component is used by its importers. A component may be "Shared", one copy for all importers; "NonShared", one copy for each importer; or "Any", either "Shared" or "NonShared".
Storing application data, usually as a document, so that it can be later recalled and used or edited. Persistent data is most frequently stored in files. See document.
An operation to click on some object that is then hit. See hit.
A connection point on a circuit element in a circuit graph. See circuit, graph.
An attribute of a data object, which may be specified in a data model for the object's type. See attribute (DOM).
Metadata class describing a property/attribute of a data type. It contains information about the property, such as its name, description, and an appropriate value editor for the property, given its data type. Used by property editors. See value editor.
ATF framework that works with contexts that allow properties to be edited by controls. ATF offers a variety of property editor controls to edit object properties of various types. See attribute (DOM), property.
Control showing properties of selected items, containing value editing controls. ATF provides the PropertyEditor and GridPropertyEditor components for property editing.
Property editor component that displays items with properties in a two-column, multi-line control, showing properties of one selected item. See property editor, GridPropertyEditor.
A collection of items that can be copied as a named prototype and then be copied back into the application for reuse. See template.
Component that provides a dockable command console for entering Python statements. See BasicPythonService.
A relationship between arbitrary elements in a data model. In the ATF DOM, a reference can be an internal reference from one DOM node to another or an external reference to an external resource, such as a URI.
Add a command to the user interface that can be executed from a menu item or tool strip control.
A limitation on data type values that validators in the DOM can automatically check. Restrictions can be defined in the type definition. See validator.
A set of type definitions, usually in the XML Schema Definition Language. In the DOM, usually synonymous with type definition. See schema loader, type definition (DOM).
Class that reads a type definition file and converts types to metadata objects containing the types' information. Typically inherits from XmlSchemaTypeLoader. See schema, XMLSchemaLoader.
Scripting console window component. See ScriptingService.
Abstract base class for services (MEF components, for example) that can expose C# objects to a scripting language. See AtfScriptVariables, AutomationService, ScriptConsole.
Vertical black line that is visible on the timeline, but is not part of the timeline. Events are raised when you move the scrubber on the timeline, and your application can take some action in response to these events, such as setting the current time.
Component in the application shell framework that manages user-editable settings (preferences) and the persistence of these application settings. See application shell framework.
A primitive type, such as integer and float, date and time, and string, as well as a special type like URI. See type definition (DOM), complex type.
A graph where nodes are states and edges are transitions, as in a state machine. Also known as a state transition diagram. See graph.
See statechart.
Component in the application shell framework that provides a global status text panel on the application's StatusBar and adds a display to show an operation's progress. See application shell framework.
Binding a group to a callback that processes messages to that group. See Bonjour.
Selection inside another selection. For instance, a selected attribute of a selected item, as might be highlighted in a property editor.
An item that can be copied as a named template and then be copied back into the application for reuse. See prototype.
Graphical representation of a time-sequence. Timelines contain groups that can contain tracks that can contain events, which can be intervals, keys (zero-length intervals) and markers (zero-length events that are on all tracks). See event, group, interval, key, marker, and track.
Container in a timeline's group containing zero or more events. See event, group, and timeline.
Class in System.ComponentModel that value converters derive from. See value converter.
A definition of a type in a data model. A type definition can be represented in a variety of languages, including XML Schema Definition Language, which is the default in ATF. See data model, type definition file (DOM).
A file containing type definitions for a data model. See data model, type definition (DOM).
See schema type loader.
Commonly used base class in System.Drawing.Design for a value editor with a value editing control that drops down a control or displays a modal dialog. See value editor, value editing control.
A DOM adapter that performs automatic validation of DOM data as it changes. See DOM adapter.
Class that converts a property value between its data representation in a value editor and a type displayable in a value editing control. Typically derived from System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter. See TypeConverter.
Control class displaying a property value that interacts with a user to change the value. Typically associated with a value editor. See value editor.
Class associated with a property to edit its value, typically associated with one or more value editing controls. May derive from UITypeEditor. See value editing control.
The graphical application programming interface using the Windows® API and GDI, included as part of the Microsoft .NET Framework. You can create Windows® Forms applications with ATF. See Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF).
See Windows® Forms.
The graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Microsoft Windows®-based applications using DirectX instead of GDI and the Windows® API. You can create WPF applications using ATF. See Windows® Forms (WinForms).
A connection between pins in a circuit graph. See connection, circuit.
An XML-based language for specifying the structure of an XML document. In the ATF DOM, can be used to define the data model's types. For a reference, see http://www.w3schools.com/schema. See data model, type definition (DOM).
ATF DOM class that does much of the work of loading and managing an XML schema. See schema type loader.
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