Tools are commonly used for creation and connection events but it is also possible to use them to edit figure attributes. The abstract ActionTool class provides a starting point for tools to operate in this manner.

• For information about the tool hierarchy see [The Tool Hierarchy]
  

The JavaDraw example program (JHotDraw5.1/CH/ifa/draw/samples/JavaDraw) contains an example of an ActionTool. BorderTool creates a border around any figure that is clicked on when the tool is active.

ActionTool provides the action(Figure) method that when defined in a subclass, performs its action whenever the tool is applied to a figure (i.e. the mouse is clicked on it).

ActionTools are represented by buttons on the ToolBar.

• To add an ActionTool to the toolbar follow [Adding Buttons to the Toolbar]