Description Raphael Faudou 2011-08-17 08:34:06 EDT

Currently we have a limited "search" dialog box to find elements in the model. We need to have both a "search" functionality to be able to see and select all occurences of a given request, but we need also to be able to "filter" the model explorer to limit the elements visible (both functionalities exist in TOPCASED and are really appreciated by the community). 

My suggestion is to combine both functionalities (serach and filter) to provide the end user a simple but powerfull edit area to select things, and the ability to benefit from this search to filter the model explorer (a kind of facet applied dynamically on the basis of the search result).

In a first version I see somehting quite simple:
1/ edit area to provide the "search" characters with possible special characters (*,@, +...) and with a syntax to search for attributes with a given value (xx=YYY) and for specific types. This already exists in TOPCASED.

Display options: 
a) show all relevant occurences in the model explorer => requires tree expansion and might be slow for large models
b) show relevant occurences  in the model explorer with a limited depth (not all levels expanded) but with information mentioned about found elements when a package is not expanded
c) results displayed in an other dedicated view, from which it will be possible to navigate with hyperlinks. 

2/ Filter area with the following possibilities (that can be combined)
 2.1 : filter on search results (model explorer is limited to the branches that lead to elements found with the search) and filter icon is shown as active with special color.
 2.2 : filter only diagrams
 2.3 : apply one or several existing facets

Generics requirements:
* this wizard should work for all languages and not only UML and profiles => should work at EMF level.
* It should be possible to store the search and filter queries with a name to provide "shortcuts" for end user.