The Designer is a state-of-the-art tool for designing state machines. The tree browser allows you to overview and navigate through your embedded project. All elements of the system are visible and accessible through the browser, and a double-click on the desired element brings up the appropriate configuration dialog box on the screen.

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In the main window you create your state machine model using states, transitions, events, actions, initial states, variables, assignments, concurrent regions, unit states, history states, deep history states, guards, signals, parameters, entry, exit, and do reactions—according to the UML notation.
To give your state machine designs maximum clarity you have the option to individually color and size all drawing objects. This makes it possible to distinguish between for instance normal operation and error handling in your application.
The use of state machines enables a truly interactive and iterative working model where you begin with an outline of your application, and then step-by-step add functionality at a more detailed level. It is possible at any time to simulate the behavior of the model using the visualSTATE® Validator, and you can also create a prototype or target implementation whenever you want.