2.4.8.6. DDS Data Type View

The DDS Data Type View has two tabs:

DDS Data Type view type tree
DDS Data Type View Equivalent IDL

2.4.8.6.1. Overview

The DDS Data Type View presents hierarchical and textual (IDL) views of a data type used by a DataWriter or DataReader.

  • Name - The name of the type or field represented by this row. If the row is a field and the field is part of the type’s key, then it will have the key icon ICON_KEY as well as having the text "(key)" following the name.

  • Type / Ordinal - The field’s type or enumerate’s ordinal.

  • Extensibility - Indicates the field’s extensibility status. Note that not every row will have this indication, for example, enumerates inside an enumeration will have no indication here.

  • Optional? - Indicates if the field is optional (true), not optional (false) or blank if this concept is not applicable for the row.

  • Min Sample Size - The minimum size that samples of this type can be when serialized for distribution. Note that this size does not account for protocol overhead.

  • Max Sample Size - The maximum size that samples of this type can be when serialized for distribution. Not that this size does not account for protocol overhead.

  • TypeCode Size - The serialized size of the TypeCode. Note that this is not the size for samples, those are explained above in the Min/Max Sample Sizes. Rather, this is the size needed to transfer information about the data type itself.

  • TypeObject Size - The serialized size of the TypeObject. Note that this is not the size for samples, those are explained above in the Min/Max Sample Sizes. Rather, this is the size needed to transfer information about the data type itself.

  • Union Labels - If the field is part of a union, then the associated labels will be shown here.

The equivalent IDL view is a read-only textual representation of the data type. The text in this view can be exported to a file or selected and copied to the clipboard through the standard OS shortcuts or through the right-click menu.

Note

The min and max sample serialized size columns are provided as a guide to show representative sizes. The actual sizes may vary somewhat from the calculated values due to byte alignments as a sample is serialized. Also, row 1 is calculated to include encapsulation whereas other rows are not (since only the top level type includes encapsulation). As a result of this, the sum of rows 2 and greater may not be equal to the value displayed in row 1.

2.4.8.6.2. Toolbar

The toolbar in this view contains controls to:

  • CDR and CDR2 buttons choose how the min and max sample serialized sizes are calculated.

  • ICON_EXPORT_TO_FILE Export IDL to a file.

  • ICON_EXPAND_ALL Expand all tree nodes.

  • ICON_COLLAPSE_ALL Collapse all tree nodes.

  • ICON_CONNECTED Link with selection - Toggling this button will link/unlink this view to/from displaying information about the current selection. One way to use this feature is to select something and then unlink this view from the selection. Then, a new instance of this view can be created and a populated with a new selection. Data can then be compared between the first and second selection.

  • Minimize and maximize the view.