The node browser, which is the modeless dialog box with the tree control, serves as a sort of "contents" of a data file.  To be clear, the node browser does not actually represent a table of contents; it shows what the file contains verbatim, much like an operating system's file explorer for a disk drive.  For all practical purposes, the content you see in the node browser is the data file.

Like any tree control, you can select nodes with the mouse or keyboard, and expand or collapse parts of the tree.  With the mouse, you can directly select a node by clicking on it, and expand or collapse part of the tree by clicking on a +/- button located to the left of some nodes.  Most files are large enough to have a fairly long tree; use the scrollbar on the right side of the control to navigate to a specific part of the tree.

The keyboard can also be used to navigate this control.  The Up and Down arrow keys move the selection up and down, while the Left and Right arrow keys are used, respectively, to collapse and expand the current selection.  You can also jump to the beginning or end of the tree with with Home and End keys, or page up or down with the Page Up and Page Down keys.

For BARfly Silver or better, you can perform operations like copying, pasting, node insertion, and node deletion by first selecting a node, then using either the keyboard or the Edit and Insert menus.  You can find more information about how to do these operations in the section on node editing.

Once you select a node in the node browser, the data display window updates its contents with more detailed information about the node you just selected.   There are several different types of views that can appear in the data display window; you can find more information about these views here.

Remember, each I.F. will give you a different set of node names and unique identifiers for use in the data file you are viewing.  You cannot edit these names in the node browser; they are determined by the I.F.  It is possible, though, to change what the node browser shows on each line.  Select Options.Tree Control Line Info from the menu to change what is reported in the node browser.

BARfly uses images to identify the type of node present on the line.  The image key is as follows:

	Organized Block:  A block of data of indeterminate size and variable byte-aligned data contained within.  This type of node can have children in the tree control.
	Bit Scan Block:   An organized block with variable bit-aligned data contained within.  This type of node can have children in the tree control.
	Unorganized Block:  A block of indeterminate size, but known type.  The type is always a variable-length sequence of simple units.
	Text Block:  An unorganized block whose contents should be interpreted as text.
	Data Structure:   A fixed-length, byte-aligned node with known types.  The data contained within always have the same layout for every structure of the same type.
	Bit Field Structure:  A data structure with bit-aligned data instead of byte-aligned data.
	Derived-from-simple Structure:  A special data type that represents a simple type, but is meant to be displayed using enumerated constant names.
	Simple Type:  A single, basic unit of data, from 1 to 8 bytes in length.
	One-dimensional Array:  A fixed-length sequence of data of the same type; appears as a child of a data structure.
	Two-dimensional Array:  An "array of an array."  Appears as a child of a data structure.

You can learn more about these node types in the section on node editing.

  See also: [Viewing files in BARfly] [Creating a new file] [Opening an existing file] [Using the node data viewer]