Layout Editor

The Project in Altera is fully customisable, allowing the user to view Bins in any number of configurations. To get started on creating a custom layout, click the down arrow on the Bin menu bar:

Select Layout Editor, and the following dialog will pop up:

From this dialog, the user can set up exactly what they would like to see on screen. Columns from the currently loaded Bin are loaded in the right-hand pane, while other column names are held in the left-hand pane.

The dialog is laid out in the following way:

Between the Unselected and Selected panes, there are two arrows > and <. These arrows allow you to move columns from one pane to the other. Select the column name in the Unselected pane and click the > arrow. That column will be added to the Selected pane.

Note: To move more than one column at once, hold the Shift key for a block selection, or the Command key⌘ for a multiple selection:

Shift+click	Command ⌘+click

If you wish to move all of the columns from the Unselected pane, click the Move All button to the bottom of the pane, and all column names will be moved to the Selected pane.

If you wish to move all column names from the Selected pane, click the Unselect All button, and all column names will be removed.

When all required column names have been added to the Selected pane, click the Create button to the bottom right of the dialog. This will create the new layout.

3.2 Using the Custom Layout

The user can now choose which layout they would like to use. Click the layout button to the top of the workspace, and the available layouts will be displayed:

• Default shows the columns in a system set layout
• Bin Columns shows the columns as laid out in the Bin
• Test1 is the chosen name for the custom layout

Select the custom layout, and you will notice how the layout changes, showing just the columns you wish to view.

Note: If you wish to change the name of any layout, click the down arrow next to the bin name and select Save/Rename from the menu:

3.3 Changing the Viewer

ltera can open multiple Bins. By default, these open in Adaptive view, meaning that as more Bins are opened, the workspace will reconfigure itself to display all open Bins:

Altera can also configure the workspace to display opened Bins in landscape view:

Or in portrait view:

To view these different modes, click the View menu located in the menu bar to the top of the Altera screen, and select Viewing Mode. The three modes can be selected from here:

• Landscape
• Portrait
• Standard

Note: From this menu the user can also select Fullscreen, forcing Altera into a full screen configuration.

Column Operations

If the user clicks on any header, a menu will appear allowing further customisation of the Project.

• Order – Sets the order to ascending or descending
• Pin – Pins the header, allowing that header to always be viewable
• Lock – Locks the header against changes
• Hide – Hides the column
• Duplicate Column – Copies the column and contents
• Rename Column – Renames the column
• Add New Custom Column – Adds a new customisable column
• Insert Column From Bin – Inserts a column populated with data from a chosen bin
• Add Metadata Column – Adds a column that can be populated with metadata
• Delete Column – Deletes the selected column

Multi Column Operations

The user can select multiple columns to work with. When 2 or more columns are selected, click (right click (if using a 2-button mouse), control-click (if you are using a 1-button mouse) or two-finger tap if using a trackpad) and a similar menu to above will open, containing 2 more options:

• Merge Columns – Merges the selected columns
• Multi-Cam Merger – Attempts to merge columns with unique entries

Merge Columns

When Merge Columns is selected, and small dialog box will open:

The column is named in the Column Name box. By default, the name is a merger of the column names, in this example Start_End. Clicking the text box below will allow the user to customise what is shown in the merged column. Click the box to activate it and type an @ symbol. The options shown will be the names of the selected columns:

Start is selected:

It is recommended that an underscore character is used to divide names:

When ready, click the Create button, and the new merged column will be inserted.

Multi-Cam Merger

The Multi-Cam Merger operation attempts to create a new column from 2 or more selected columns, but with unique data. The tool is used in much the same way as the Merge Columns tool but will add a suffix to the column if the entry is not unique.

Select 2 or more columns, and click (if using a 2-button mouse), control-click (if you are using a 1-button mouse) or two-finger tap if using a trackpad)  to bring up the menu:

Enter the required name and use the @ key to insert the names of the columns required:

Enter the required string into the Suffix textbox:

When satisfied, click the Create button, and the data will be merged into a new column.

Any non-unique data will have the suffix chosen appended to the data:

Row Operations

Clicking (right click (if using a 2-button mouse), control-click (if you are using a 1-button mouse) or two-finger tap if using a trackpad) on any row will show the following menu:

• Edit “*Column Name*” – Edit the name of the column
• New Bin From Selected Rows – Create a new bin containing information from the currently selected rows
• Add Entry – Add an empty, customisable row
• Delete Entry – Delete the currently selected row

3.4 Using the Altera Menu

All the above can be achieved by using the Layout menu located in the menu bar to the top of the Altera workspace.