Workspaces

Store and re-use the layout, formatting and content of the currently open windows.

Not all window types are supported, and not all layout and formatting parameters are saved. However, you can usually restore the majority of your desktop to a specific configuration by simply dragging a workspace object from the database tree onto the InfoWorks WS Pro main window.

You can:

• Create and save workspaces in the database to use later.
• Re-use workspaces with different data than that with which they were created.
• Copy workspaces between databases. Copying a workspace to another database will also copy all the necessary network and associated data to recreate that workspace in the new database.
• Save your configuration on exiting InfoWorks WS Pro and reload it when you next use the software.

The workspace can capture details of the following types of windows:

• GeoPlan Window.
• Long Section View.
• Pick Graphs.
• Custom Results Graphs (only results graphs created using the Custom menu item).
• Grid Views (only object grids, results grids and SQL grids).

Create a workspace

The vast majority of windows are supported by the workspace object. However, if unsupported types of window are open when creating a workspace, InfoWorks WS Pro will display a warning that these windows will not be saved.

To create a workspace

1. If necessary, create a workspace group at an appropriate place in the database tree.
2. Right-click the workspace group and choose New Workspace on the context menu. A workspace object containing the currently-open windows will be created. A warning will be given if there are unsupported windows open.
3. Give the new workspace a suitable name.

Open a workspace

A workspace can be opened in the same way as any other database object, by using drag and drop onto the main window, or by using the context menu. See Opening an Item for full details.

When opening a workspace:

• By default, windows that are currently open will be closed before opening the workspace.
• Hold the Ctrl key down when dropping the workspace into the main window, to open the workspace without closing currently open windows.
• You will be warned if some of the windows in the workspace use data objects (networks, simulations, simulation results etc.) that cannot be found. If you continue opening the workspace, some windows may fail to open or may open containing incomplete data.

Also, when you start InfoWorks WS Pro, you can automatically re-open the set of windows that were open when you last closed the software. See Reload Last Workspace at Startup for more information.

Set the default workspace

To set a default workspace

• In the Explorer window, right-click the workspace to be set as the default and select Use as default workspace.

  The default worskpace will be shown in the Explorer window with a red tick.

The default workspace will be opened when InfoWorks WS Pro is started, if the Open Default Workspace option is selected on the General page of the Options dialog.

The default workspace can also be opened by selecting Window Default workspace.

Reload last workspace at startup

Windows that were open when InfoWorks WS Pro was closed can be reopened when InfoWorks WS Pro is next started. This is achieved by saving a workspace when you close the application that is loaded when the software is restarted, and then discarded. This workspace object cannot be accessed in the Database in the normal way, but it stores exactly the same data as a normal workspace object.

• To switch workspace reloading on: select Options from the Tools menu, go to the General Page, and select the Reopen Previous option from the Windows at Startup section.
• If you have workspace reloading switched on, but on a particular occasion you do not want the saved workspace to reload, simply hold down the Shift key while starting InfoWorks WS Pro.
• For this feature to work, you must have a current model group. If there is no current model group, for instance when you have just changed database, then the current configuration will not be saved or reopened.
• The normal rules for workspaces are followed:
  • Only windows of types that can be saved in a workspace will be reopened.
  • Windows that refer to data objects that are no longer present will not be opened.

Please note that IWLive Pro workspace information can be copied and pasted across databases so that formatting parameters in IWLive Pro can be easily re-used. Please refer to the Copying Data Between Databases topic for further details.

Copy a workspace

Workspaces can be copied within the database in the same way as any other object. See Working with Database Items for instructions. When copying workspaces in the same database, they are treated independently of any data that might be displayed within the windows whose parameters are saved.

Copy between databases: A much more powerful feature of InfoWorks WS Pro allows you to copy workspaces between different databases and copy all the underlying data as well, so that the workspace can be fully recreated in a different database. See the Transportable Databases section for full details.

Delete a workspace

You delete a workspace object from the database in the normal way, by right clicking it and choosing Delete from the context menu. Workspaces exist completely independently of the data that appears in the workspace windows. Therefore:

• When you delete a workspace it doesn't affect the data displayed in the workspace windows.
• If you delete data, the workspace is not affected. However, if the data that would have been displayed in a workspace window is no longer available, that window may not open.

Supported properties

The following data, and properties for each window type, are supported:

• Data:
  • Network.
  • Other version-controlled data.
  • Simulation shown in GeoPlan.
  • Current time step and replay start-end times.
  • Multiple simulations (as used in custom graphs).
  • Ground model (grid, TIN).
  • Live data configuration (as used in WS custom graphs).
• Layout:
  • Window size, position, state (minimised, maximised) and z-order.
• GeoPlan and GeoExplorer:
  • All settings shown on all tabs of the Properties dialog.
  • All GIS layers and all those settings in the Layer Control dialog that can be saved with the network in the existing software.
  • The zoom extent.
  • Presence (but not position) of the locator window.
  • Label positions, contents and appearance.
• Long section:
  • All pages, showing the correct sets of links.
  • Zoom position and direction on each page.
  • Current page
  • Label settings.
  • All other settings on the Properties dialog.
• Pick graph:
  • Graph data.
  • Graph appearance (as set by Graph Properties).
• Custom graph:
  • Everything that can be set in the Graph Data dialog.
  • Everything that can be set in the Graph Properties dialog.
• Grid Views:
  • Grid position.
  • Current tab.
  • Current column layout.
  • Current row-column position.