1. Overview of MStudio

Welcome to library management studio (MStudio), a developing tool for scientific and industrial applications. This section describes basic features of the software. MStudio represents a framework which controls several windows operating libraries such, e.g., as MScene Library and BandLab Library dynamically linked with MStudio.

MStudio performs basic operations connected with manipulating projects: storing and loading files, printing contents of windows, etc. Libraries linked with MStudio are designed to solve particular problems. Depending on which configuration you have received, there should be several libraries coming with the installation. For example, the BandLab Library is designed to perform electronic structure calculations of the materials and compute physical properties of solids. The use of this library for a user is reduced to call Bands Window that performs such operations as setting-up input data, computing and visualizing properties, etc. All these processes are handled by the BandLab Library which will also be called in this manual as DLL Window Manager. (DLL– dynamically linked library).

Another example of the DLL window manager is the library MScene. It performs operations connected with 2D/3D visualization of data. The MScene Library operates with four different kinds of windows: Data Tables for setting up the data, Plot Pages for plotting the 2D data, Scenes Pages for 3D visualization and rendering, Form Windows for modifying the data, Fits Windows for fitting the data.

2. Configuring MStudio

Libraries are dynamically linked to MStudio using the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. Calling this dialog box allows to mount or dismount a particular library such as MScene or BandLab.

Libraries to be mounted should be of DLL (dynamically linked libraries) type that perform management of their windows operating within the framework. They are called DLL window managers. Current configuration can be named in the Edit field of the Configuration dialog box.

The following topics cover setting up a particular configuration.

Mounting DLLs.HIDC_BUTTON_MOUNT
Dismounting DLLs.HIDC_BUTTON_DISMOUNT
Setting up default configuration.HIDC_BUTTON_DEFAULT
Resetting current configuration to default configuration.HIDC_BUTTON_RESET
Setting path to scratch directory.HIDC_EDIT_TMPDIR

Operations performed by MStudio and the libraries linked to it require creation of scratch files for temporary storages. Therefore, a path to scratch directory should be specified. The path to scratch directory appears in the Edit field of the Configuration dialog box.

3.1 Mounting DLL Window Manager

To mount a library to MStudio click button Mount DLL in the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. If the library is mounted correctly, its icon will appear in the Object Explorer.

3.2 Dismounting DLL Window Manager

To dismount a library from MStudio click button Dismount DLL in the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. If the library is dismounted correctly, its icon will disappear from the Object Explorer.

3.3 Resetting Current Configuration to Default Configuration

To reset a current configuration of mounted libraries to the default configuration click button Reset in the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. The default configuration will be mounted.

3.4 Setting Up Default Configuration

To store a current configuration of mounted libraries as a default configuration click button Set As Default in the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. This configuration will be mounted automatically next time you started MStudio.

3.5 Setting Path to Scratch Directory

Enter a path to scratch directory in the Edit field of the Configuration dialog box of the Project menu. All scratch files created by MStudio and its DLL window managers will be stored in that directory. Normally, the files will be erased upon ending the work. If abnormal termination occurs you can safely erase the contents of the scratch directory when MStudio program is not running.

4. Using Object Explorer

Object Explorer is an important tool while working with the MStudio and its libraries. The project created and modified by user consists of objects such as plots, data columns, etc. All objects are registered within the Object Explorer. This represents a project as a tree of objects created by different window managers. The whole project can be easily navigated via the object explorer, different parts of it can be added, removed, selected, modified, etc.

The root of the tree for the object explorer always starts from the library name linked within given configuration. It can be for example MScene. MScene object represents a set of Data Tables, Plot & Scene Pages, etc. Therefore next level of the tree is given by a set of data, plots, etc. If one moves further down, navigating, as an example, Plot Page object, it may consist of several Graphs objects if they exist on the page. Each graph object consists of axis, curves, etc. they are all registered within the Object Explorer.

About MStudio

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