Simple Diagram Panel

The Simple Diagram panel can be used to edit or display simple nodes-and-edges diagrams. These diagrams are intentionally kept very simple: Users can create nodes, give them a label and color, and then draw edges between those nodes.

Click on an empty area to add a new node. Drag from one node to another to add an edge. Double-clicking a node or edge allows you to enter their label.

The interpretation of those nodes and edges is up to the user, but may be used for conceptual diagramming and brainstorming on assets that may later be turned into a more formal structure.

The diagrams themselves are represented as assets in RDF using a dedicated diagrams ontology. Nodes become instances of diagrams:Node and edges become instances of diagrams:Edge. Nodes store the x/y position and width/height information in an extensible data model. This means that the diagrams and its content can be linked to other assets via user-defined relationships.

The RDF-based representation also means that EDG features like importers, exporters, SPARQL query and ADS scripting can be applied on them. For example, diagrams can be generated programmatically from other data.

A consequence of the representation is also that edit permissions are required to modify the diagram, even to move or resize nodes.

Toolbar Features

  • Remove all nodes from diagram clears the diagram. You can use the Undo Button or the Change History Panel to revert if you clicked on this by accident.

  • Refresh diagram forces a manual refresh of the visualization from the underlying RDF representation. This is usually not necessary because the diagram should update itself after any edit, regardless of where they originated from.

  • Focus diagram globally selects the asset that represent the diagram itself. This can be used, for example, to edit the label of the diagram, or add descriptive comments.

  • Delete selected items deletes the selected nodes or edges.

  • Export diagram can be used to save the diagram as an image.

  • Select a diagram shows the available diagrams, allowing users to switch between them. This includes diagrams that are stored in the current asset collection, but also any included asset collection. Diagrams that are stored in included collections are always read-only.

  • Create simple diagram can be used to create a new, empty diagram.

See Also

Further Reading on TopBraid