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Section 5: Opening, Editing, and Saving a Model
| ID: | Type: -- | Roles: Designer | Revised: 08/18/04 |
| Opening a Model | |||
1.1.1 How To Open an AWB Model Because an AWB model is an Excel workbook at its core, you can open an AWB model in all the same ways you can open a standard Excel workbook: via the File | Open command, via the Most-Recently-Used list on the File menu (the numbered files shown at the bottom of the File menu), by clicking on the file in Window Explorer, by clicking a shortcut on the desktop, and so on.
In addition to these methods, AWB provides the Open Model command as a convenient way to open a model. Figure 3.3 shows the Open Model command in action. The Open Model commands works as the standard Excel File | Open command does, with this difference: While the File | Open command automatically displays files with the xls extension, the Open Model command displays files with the awb extension. Thus, when you use the Open Model command, you get a filtered list of the files that were enhanced to be used with the AWB system.
1.1.1
(1) Click the “Open Model” button on the Main toolbar...
(2) ...the “AWB” filter is applied...
(3) ...choose the model you want.
What Happens When You Open an AWB Model What happens when you open a model, or a non-model, for that matter, depends on whether Excel is in Workbench Mode.
If Excel is in Workbench Mode, the AWB program is active, and it automatically inspects the structure of the newly-opened workbook and adapts the AWB menus and toolbars to that structure. For example, if the workbook is a model, the AWB program will enable all the form-related menu items and toolbar buttons, so you can navigate and print the forms in the model. If the workbook is a non-model, the AWB program will disable all the form-related elements—because a non-model never contains forms—while it will enable other items and buttons which are valid for a non-model.
If Excel is not in Workbench Mode when you open a workbook, the AWB program is inactive, and Excel itself handles the details of opening the workbook, just as it always does. In this case Excel treats both models and non-models as standard workbooks, and the only noticeable difference between them is their file extensions: awb versus xls.
1.1.2 Frequently Asked Questions Q. Suppose I need to use Excel on computer which does not have the AWB add-in. Can I open an AWB model in this copy of Excel and work with it?
A. Yes. You can always open an AWB model in any copy of Excel because, fundamentally, an AWB model is a standard Excel workbook. However, none of the AWB features, such as the Navigator, will be available without the AWB add-in. That is, an AWB model without the AWB program will appear to you as any standard Excel workbook would.
Q. What do you mean by non-model?
A. The terms model and non-model take on meaning in the context of Workbench Mode. In Workbench Mode any given workbook is either a model, which means it has been enhanced for Workbench Mode, or a non-model, which means it has not been enhanced. The most obvious difference between models and non-models is forms. Models can, and almost always will, contain forms. Non-models cannot contain forms.
Q. Can I work with a non-model when AWB is active?
A. Yes. AWB distinguishes between models and non-models automatically. When you work with a non-model in AWB, AWB disables features which won’t work with a non-model, such as the features related to forms.
Copyright © 2004 Robert S. Buckles. All rights reserved.