To add a state
- Click the right mouse button in an unoccupied area of the
FSA panel. If the pointer is not too close to an
existing state, a new state will appear. If the mouse is
dragged while the right button is down, the new state will
move with the pointer until the button is released.
To cancel the addition of a new state, press the Esc
key before releasing the mouse button.
To move a state
- Click the right mouse button within the state. While holding
down the button, drag the pointer to a new location.
To modify or delete a state
- Click on the state. An Edit State panel will appear in
the upper right corner of the applet.
To change the state's status as a final or initial state,
click on the Initial or Final checkboxes at the
top of the panel.
To delete the state, click the Delete button at the
bottom of the Edit State panel.
To add a transition
- Click on a state with the left mouse button and drag the mouse
pointer out of the state while holding down the button. A
transition arrow will appear near the pointer.
To make a loop transition (a transition which returns to the
same state), move the pointer away from the state a small
distance and release the button. A loop transition can be
placed at any angle around the state.
To make a transition to another state, move the mouse
pointer inside the destination state and release the mouse
button. The transition arrow will become straight and attach
itself to the destination state.
(Note: Only one transition arrow is allowed between a pair
of states, but more than one symbol can be assigned to a
transition arrow. See below for more details.)
To cancel the addition of a new transition, press the
Esc key before releasing the mouse button.
If a new transition is not attached to a destination state
when the mouse button is released, the transition will be
deleted.
To move a transition
- Click the right mouse button within the arrowhead of the
transition. Move the pointer to the new destination state for
the transition and release the mouse button. If the transition
is not attached to a destination node when the mouse button is
released, the transition will be deleted.
To modify or delete a transition
- Click on the arrowhead of the transition. An Edit
Transition panel will appear in the upper right corner
of the applet.
To change the symbol(s) associated with the transition, edit
the contents of the Transition Label list at the
top of the panel. To add a symbol or remove a symbol, click
on that symbol in the list. There are three buttons below the
list which will select three commonly used ranges of symbols:
digits (0-9), lowercase letters (a-z) and uppercase letters
(A-Z).
To delete the transition. Click the Delete Transition
button at the bottom of the panel.
To load a sample fsa
- If no components in the FSA panel are selected
(highlighted in red), there will be a File panel in the
upper right corner of the applet. Use the dropdown menu near the
top of the panel to select a sample fsa to load. Once the fsa
has loaded, it can be modified or run like normal.
If one of the components in the FSA panel is selected,
it can be deselected by click on an unoccupied area of the
FSA panel.
To clear the FSA panel
- Make the File panel appear by clicking on an unoccupied
area of the FSA panel. (This only needs to be done if a
component in the FSA panel is selected.) Press the
Clear button on the File panel to remove all
components from the FSA panel.