Components and Links Characteristics

Components

Every component in the Wire Sheet view has a following look and behavior:

Components have headers with icons and components’ names.
Under the component’s header, every row represents a single slot with a name, value, and unit.
Slots hidden by default are not displayed.
Component may be extended left and right between 5 and 31 grid sections. This allows the component to be adjusted optimally, so all the slots names and their values can be fully visible.
Component can be moved on the Wire Sheet into any place by clicking and holding a component’s header or a middle part of any slot. Releasing the component defines its new location, after which links between this and other components are redrawn.
Moving of component can be cancelled by pressing an Esc button on the keyboard (before releasing it in the new location).
Component can also be moved by pressing an Alt key and clicking any part of component. This allows to grab and drag the component also behind the place, where link assigning begins.
Selected (clicked) component is marked with an orange frame, and is treated by the iC Tool as an object chosen by the user, contrary to the component surrounded by a green frame, which is treated by the iC Tool as a reference (auxiliary) object, not selected.
A context menu available at right-click provides functions, which can be performed on a component regardless of the view it is displayed in.

Every link in the Wire Sheet view has a following look and behavior:

Links between components reflect the connections between specific slots of connected components.
Link guarantees sending the value of source component slot to a target component slot.
Only one input link can be defined for an input (left) slot.
Many output links may come out of one output (right) slot.
Links connecting components from different Wire Sheets are graphically represented as short segments coming in/out of slots ended with a full circle.
A context menu available under right-click allows to remove a selected link.
The user has no influence on a link route, i.e. the way it will be drawn, since the process is done automatically.