A graphical user interface (GUI) is provided with a specifiable edit control field that is accessed in conjunction with a non-edit field, the non-edit field for example being a check box, or radio buttons. The specifiable edit field can be accessed for example by right clicking or double clicking on the non-edit field or overall GUI. The specifiable edit field allows changing parameters of the non-edit field via entry of a programmatic expression that evaluates to an valid input to the non-edit field. For example in a high-level modeling program that enables modeling modules of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), when a normal editing field can modify only one module at a time, the specifiable editing field can allow modifying a plurality of modules at one time that are hierarchically linked together by the associated non-edit field, such as a check box.