Graphical Analysis

The database underlying Imagix 4D contains extensive data collected from your software. Converting this data into useful information that speeds your program understanding is the focus of the Imagix 4D user interface. The most significant part of this user interface is the series of display windows, each of which is optimized to speed your comprehension of a specific aspect of the software you're studying.

The most powerful, and most unique, of these are the Graph windows. These Graph windows help you understand your software by pictorially representing specific symbols and how they relate to each other. In this way you're able to visualize the structure and dependencies inherent in your code.

The symbols are represented by shapes. The symbol types are coded by shape and color so that you can distinguish between different types. Relationships are represented by lines. All of the relationships captured by Imagix 4D have a direction, and you're able to see it from the arrowhead. The line's color indicates the type of relationship.

The most fundamental Graph window control is View, where you're able to select an overall display approach that is optimized for your current program understanding task. The View selection controls which types of symbols and relationships are visible in the Graph window, as well as aspects of the format used to graphically display the information. The Graph Symbols popup shows the shape and color-coding of the currently viewable symbol and relationship types. For information about a specific symbol or relationship, Shift-Control left click on it to pop up the Information overlay.

The Graph window query functions provide complete control over what particular symbols appear in the graph. There are whole sets of query functions - Select, Traverse, Group and Filter - that help you specify what appears in the graph. And you can store and later retrieve various graphs with the Bookmark function.

Through the view and query functions, you're able to finely control the format and contents of the Graph window. Complementing these are the Analyzer queries, high level actions that set the view and contents of a Graph window, enabling you to quickly and easily create graphs addressing many of the common questions you have about your software. These Analyzer-generated graphs may provide all the information you want, or you may choose to modify the graphs further through the view and query actions.