Aspect Model text view

Besides the graphical editor, the Aspect Model Editor can show the current model as Turtle (TTL) text. This shows you which TTL the graphical editor writes, for example if you also edit your models in a text editor such as VS Code.

Switch between graph and text

Use the switch at the right end of the tab bar:

Edit: the graphical editor
Aspect Model: the text view of the model

There is no separate menu entry or keyboard shortcut for switching between these two views.

The view is remembered per tab. When you switch to the text view, an open Edit dialog, the element search and the sidebar are closed, because the text view uses the full width of the editor.

What the text view shows

The text is created the same way as when the model is saved: the current state of the editor, including unsaved changes, is formatted by the backend. The element order and the header comment are applied as described in Keep the structure of TTL files.

The text has line numbers, syntax highlighting and folding.
The header shows the number of lines and the number of problems, see Problems in the text.
If the backend formatter is not available, the raw serialization of the model is shown and marked as Unformatted.
If one graph element is selected when you open the text view, the text scrolls to the statement of this element.

The text view is read-only. To change the model, switch back to Edit. The text is updated automatically when you switch to another tab, change the model or change the prefixes. Reload creates it again on demand.

Problems in the text

Problems are underlined in red and marked with an error icon in the gutter. Hover over the underlined text or the gutter icon to see the message.

Problem	Where it is marked
Validation issue of the last validation	The element the issue belongs to, where it is defined. If it is not defined in the file, its first reference.
Referenced element that is missing in the workspace (shown as placeholder in the graph)	Every reference to the element. The message is Referenced element not found in the workspace: <URN>.

Problem

Where it is marked

Validation issue of the last validation

The element the issue belongs to, where it is defined. If it is not defined in the file, its first reference.

Referenced element that is missing in the workspace (shown as placeholder in the graph)

Every reference to the element. The message is Referenced element not found in the workspace: <URN>.

Comments and string literals are not marked, even if they contain the name of an element.

The header shows one counter for all problems, e.g. Problems: 3.

Click the counter or press F8 in the text to jump to the next problem.
Missing elements that are only used by referenced files are not written in the text and therefore not underlined. They are included in the counter and listed in its tooltip, e.g. Missing elements used by referenced files: <URNs>.
The marks disappear when the problem is solved: run the validation again, or add the missing file to the workspace and open the model again. If a validation fails because of missing references, the issues of the previous validation are removed, because they are outdated.

Actions in the text view

Action Description

Action	Description
Search (`Cmd/Ctrl+F`)	Opens the search panel of the text.
Sort elements alphabetically	Sorts the elements of the model once by name; the Aspect stays at the top. Save the model to write the new order to the file. Not available while the element order is defined by the formatter (Settings > Editor).
Manage prefixes	Opens the prefix management of the model, see Prefixes.
Reload	Creates the text again from the current state of the editor.
Copy to clipboard	Copies the complete text.

Search (Cmd/Ctrl+F)

Opens the search panel of the text.

Sort elements alphabetically

Sorts the elements of the model once by name; the Aspect stays at the top. Save the model to write the new order to the file. Not available while the element order is defined by the formatter (Settings > Editor).

Manage prefixes

Opens the prefix management of the model, see Prefixes.

Reload

Creates the text again from the current state of the editor.

Copy to clipboard

Copies the complete text.

Limitations

The text cannot be edited.
While the text view is shown, the actions of the toolbar that work on the graph (e.g. zoom, format, filter, connect, delete) are disabled; validation and prefix management remain available.
Comments inside the model and the formatting of single elements are created by the formatter. They can differ from the source file, see Keep the structure of TTL files.