Working with Diagrams

The process, organization, and data type definition files can contain diagrams which visualize their content. To edit the content of these definition files, you can use diagram editors: In these editors, you can edit the content of the definition file on a canvas typically by dragging-and-dropping elements onto the canvas.

Note: An element of such a definition does not have to appear in a diagram: it can exist in the definition without its Diagram representation. And one element can appear in multiple diagrams but is still the same element that exists in the definition only once. Hence diagrams can contain the following:

• one view of an element: graphical representations of elements from the definition;

  For example, a diagram in an organization definition can contain one view of any Role or Organization Unit in the organization definition.

• diagram elements such as annotations; such elements do not have any semantic value for execution but serve to provide information to the user.

For more information on the Diagram types, elements, and content, refer to GO-BPMN Modeling Language Specification.

When you create a resource that supports Diagrams, the system automatically creates a default Diagram in the resource file and displays it in the respective diagram editor.

You can apply the following global settings to your diagram editors available in the main toolbar:

• Settings on displayed elements:
  • Show Diagram Annotations: if unselected, all Annotation elements are hidden (that is Annotations, Associations, hyperlinks, and diagram frames).
  • Show Validation Errors/Warnings: if unselected, all error and warning markers are hidden.
  • Show Modeling Statuses: if unselected, the properties applied on the diagram element due to their modeling status are cancelled.

  • Show Monitoring: if unselected, monitoring markers on elements with monitoring expressions are hidden.

    Monitoring expressions hold expressions that store monitoring data. Such data can be then used in monitoring applications.

  • Show Tooltip: if unselected, tooltips with descriptions of elements are not displayed on mouse hover.
  • Show Translations: if unselected, the form editor displays the localization identifier call instead of the default value of the identifier.

Menu with Global Diagram Editor Settings

• General settings such as line style, task visualization, etc. Go to Windows > Preferences, then Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
  

  General settings

Creating a Diagram

After you have created a definition, which supports diagrams (process, organization, or data type definition, or a process in the model update configuration), the system creates a diagram in the file and opens it in the respective diagram editor. However, you can decide to create multiple diagrams in one file with different element views. To create a new diagram, do the following:

1. In the Outline view, right-click the root node of the tree.
2. Select New -> Diagram.

Inserting Element Views

Any view of an element with a semantic value that you insert into a Diagram is automatically created in the definition file, for example, if you insert a Role view from the palette or from the context menu of the canvas into an Organization Diagram, the system automatically creates the Role element in the definition file.

To create a new element and insert its view into a diagram:

1. Click the element on the palette.
2. Click the area on the canvas, where you want to place the element view.

Alternatively, right-click empty space in the canvas and select the element from the context menu.

Inserting a new element through the context menu

For quick inserting of new elements onto the canvas, use the quicklinker:

1. Select a diagram element.
2. Drag the quick linker symbol to the target element view, or to an area, where you want to create the target element view; and in the context menu, select the element.

Quicklinker

You can insert an element view in between two elements connected with a flow by placing the view on the Flow element: the Flow will be split in two Flows with the element in between.

Aligning Element Views

To align element views in a diagram editor according to one of the elements, do the following:

1. Select the elements on the canvas: Either drag a select box around the elements or use the Ctrl + left-click.

   The align is performed according to the primary element. The primary element is the element in the selection with white border points. To mark another element as the primary element of the selection, press and hold the Shift key and left-click the element.

   

   Primary element view in a selection
2. Click the Alignment ( ) button on the editor toolbar and pick the align type.

Matching Element Views Size

To match sizes of several diagram elements to the size of one element, do the following:

1. Select the elements on the canvas

2. Select the primary element: it is the properties, that is, width and height, of this elements that are applied to the other selected elements.

   The primary element is the element in the selection with white border points. To mark another element as the primary element of the selection, press and hold the Shift key and left-click the element.

3. On the main toolbar, click the Size ( ) button, and select the resizing strategy:
   • Match Width to resize the elements' width according to the primary element
   • Match Height to resize the elements' height according to the primary element. To restore the original size of a diagram element, right-click it and select Auto Resize.

Spreading Diagram Element Views

When spreading elements, the selected element are rearranged in such a way that the space they occupy remains unchanged while the "gaps" between the elements become equal.

To spread diagram elements in a diagram editor evenly, do the following:

1. Select the desired elements on the canvas: Either drag a select box around the elements or use the Ctrl + left-click.
2. Click the Spreading ( ) button on the editor toolbar and pick the spreading strategy:
   • Horizontal Spread Evenly spreads the elements horizontally.
   • Vertical Spread Evenly spreads the elements vertically.

Changing the Element Type

To change the type of a diagram element, do the following:

1. Right-click the element view.
2. In the context menu, click
   • Change To to change the element type: the original parameters will be dropped.
   • If applicable, Change Type to change the type: Original parameter values will be reused and, if incompatible, the system will detect an error. You can perform task parameter clean-up to remove such parameters. When changing other element types, the original parameters are dropped.

Deleting Elements from Diagrams

When deleting an element view in a diagram, you can either delete the element with all its view or delete only the view and preserve the respective element.

Note: You will not be able to add a breakpoint to elements with no diagram view (icon representing the element) when debugging.

To remove an element or its view:

1. In the respective diagram (opened in the respective diagram editor), locate the desired element view.
2. Right-click the element view:
   • Click Delete From Diagram to delete only the element view from the diagram;
   • Click Delete Element to delete the element (as a consequence all its diagram views are removed).

Snapping to Grid

The grid provides helping lines and allows you to align element views on diagrams automatically.

To set and display the grid, do the following:

1. On the main menu, go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling, and click Alignment.
3. On the Alignment page, set the grid properties:
   • Snap to grid: automatically aligns diagram elements to the grid;
   • Show grid: displays the grid;
   • define the grid size in pixels;

   • select Snap to geometry to snap element to the grid guidelines when moved

     When moving a diagram view or element, guidelines indicate a border (top, bottom, left, or right) of another diagram icon.

4. Click OK.

Resetting the Anchor Position of a Line Element

When you connect two diagram elements with a line element, such as a flow, annotation, etc., you can adjust where they connect to the element views: drag the anchors, the black squares, pointing toward the center of the element view to the required position.

You can restore the original anchor position from the context menu of the line element.

Resetting an anchor position

Customizing the Palette

You have activated a diagram editor.

1. Right-click anywhere on the palette (apart from its title bar) and select Settings.
   

   Customizing Palette
2. In the dialog box, define the palette properties.
3. Click OK to apply the settings.

Displaying and Hiding Page Borders in Diagrams

To display page borders in diagrams, do the following:

1. Click Window > Preferences.
2. In the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer.
3. In the left pane, click Modeling.
4. Under Show Page Borders on Diagram, select the respective option.
   

   Setting the borders

Limiting Diagram Frame Nesting Level

You can restrict the level of allowed diagram frame nesting in Window > Preferences and then Designer > Modeling.

Inserting Hyperlinks

To insert a hyperlink, do the following:

1. Open the respective diagram in the diagram editor.
2. On the palette, click the respective hyperlink button.
3. Click the canvas area, where you want to place the hyperlink.

Alternatively right-click anywhere on the canvas, and select New and the desired Hyperlink or drag the respective element onto the canvas (if applicable, select Create Hyperlink in the displayed menu).

Switching Iconic and Decorative Notation

Some diagram views can be displayed in two notation variants:

• Iconic notation is compact and used for element notation by default
• Decorative notation is descriptive and contains further details about the particular element.

Notation variants (iconic and decorative) are available for the following element views:

• goals;
• plans;
• roles;
• organization units.

To change notation of a diagram element, do the following:

1. Open the diagram with the desired element view.
2. Right-click the element view and select Notation and the type of notation (Iconic/Decorative).

When applying decorative notation, you may chose the details, which should be shown: in the context menu of the element icon select Compartments and select the compartments to be displayed.

Goal hierarchy with views in decorative and iconic notation

Hiding and Displaying Compartments of Diagram Elements

You can hide the task type compartments of the task elements, inherited fields in a record, etc.

To hide or display the compartments on a diagram element, do the following:

1. Right-click the element on the canvas.
2. In the context menu, select Compartment and select the compartment to hide or show.

Note that the element settings can be overridden by global settings: to access the Settings go to Window > Preferences and in the dialog go to Modeling > Appearance. The setting are in the Compartment Settings section.

Changing Line Style

The line style defines the behavior of line elements and their bending.

The following line styles are available:

• Direct: No bend points are allowed (only straight lines are used).
  

  Diagram with direct line style
• Tree: Lines are bent only automatically and only at the right angle.
  

  Diagram with tree line style
• Custom: Lines are direct and the possibility to add bendpoints
  

  Diagram with custom line style
  To change the style of line, do the following:

1. Select the line element in the diagram.
2. In the Properties view, click the Appearance tab.
3. In the Line style drop-down menu, select the style to apply on the line element.

Note that the default line style is defined by global settings: to access the Settings go to Window > Preferences and in the dialog go to Modeling > Appearance. The setting are in the Line Style section.

Formatting Settings

Formatting settings define how the diagram elements are depicted and organized in the diagram.

Every diagram element defines a set of its formatting properties, such as its fill color, outline color, text font, displayed compartments etc. (refer to Defining Custom Format of Elements and Compartments of Diagram Elements). Apart from the element formatting properties, diagram editors define global formatting settings, which override the local settings and define additional formatting properties.

Using Custom Format Style

To get and apply a custom format style on an element view, do the following:

1. On the canvas, select the element with the format you wish to apply to another element.
2. In the main toolbar, click the Get Style button ( ).
3. On the canvas, select the element to apply the format style to.
4. In the main toolbar, click the Apply Style ( ) button.

The format style is applied to the element. The custom format style may not be visible since custom formatting is overridden by the monochrome and status formatting style.

Activating Monochrome Style

Monochrome style is a two-color style applied to diagram elements. By default the style is set to black-and-white.

It overrides any custom style (if applied to diagram elements with custom color style, the elements loose their coloring). However, it does not influence the status coloring.

To activate or deactivate and modify the monochrome style, do the following:

1. Go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the left part of the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
3. On the Appearance page on the right, select or unselect Use monochrome color style in Diagrams.

Appearance page of the Preferences dialog box

Optionally, customize the colors used by the style in the Monochrome Style Details area below (available if the Use monochrome style in diagrams checkbox is selected).

Activating Gradient Style

To deactivate or activate the gradient style of diagram elements:

1. Go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the left part of the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
3. On the Appearance page on the right, select or unselect Use gradient style in diagrams.

Appearance page of the Preferences dialog box

Activating Transparency on Text Annotations

To deactivate or activate and define transparency property of Text Annotations:

1. Go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the left part of the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
3. On the Appearance page on the right, select or unselect Text annotation transparency (alpha 0-255) and enter a valid value (255 stands for no transparency).
4. Click Apply.

Changing Primary Element Color

To change the color of the primary element, do the following:

1. Go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the left part of the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
3. On the Appearance page on the right, click the Selection handle color box and select a color.

Changing Default Line Style

The line style defines the style how the line elements bent.

To change the default line style, do the following:

1. Go to Window > Preferences.
2. In the left part of the Preferences dialog box, expand Designer > Modeling > Appearance.
3. On the Appearance page on the right, select the default line style in the drop-down menu. You can define enable or disable the line rounding using the checkbox below.
4. Click Apply.

Select with the Primary Element in custom color

Note that the default line style is applied only on new line elements. The style of existing line elements remains unchanged.

Changing Formatting of Element Views

You can define the formatting of every diagram element view. Such custom formatting is however overridden by the monochrome and modeling status format.

To customize the formatting of a diagram element, do the following:

1. Select the element on the canvas.
2. In the Properties view, display the Format tab.
3. On the Format tab, select the formatting attribute and choose the formatting property. Alternatively, use the format buttons available in the editor main toolbar.

Diagram Printing

When printing Diagrams, the system follows the global page setup by default. However, you can override its setting in a local setup defined per Diagram.

You can export and import local page setups so you can share them with other users and print your Diagrams with the same settings.

Defining Global Page Setup

The setting is applied on every diagram printing and PDF export unless the local page setup is applied.

To define the global page setup, go to File > Page Setup.

Page setup

Defining Local Printing Setup

To define printing setup for a Diagram, set the printing properties in the Printing tab of the Properties view. Mind that this setting is applied whenever the diagram is included in a PDF or image export and you need to disable the local page setup to re-apply the global page setup on the diagram.

Defining Header and Footer

To define header or footer in a global or local page setup, do the following:

1. Go to the respective page setup (for global page setup: File > Page Setup; for local page setup: Printing tab of the Properties view).
2. Click the Manage button next to the Page header/Page footer drop-down box.
3. In the displayed dialog, click the respective tab label (Page Headers or Page Footers).
   • To add a new definition, click the Add button.
   • To edit an existing definition, select the definition and click Edit.
4. In the displayed dialog (Page Header or Page Footer) define:
   • Name of the definition
   • Font to be used (click Change to define font settings)
   • Number of lines
   • Content of the left, middle, and right part of the header or footer in the areas below: Click the respective button above, to enter variable data.
     

     Page header setup

Exporting and Importing Page Setup

To export or import the global page setup, do the following:

1. Go to File > Page Setup.
2. In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Export or Import button.
   

   Exporting/Importing page setup
3. In the displayed dialog box, define the location and name of the export/import file.

Exporting Diagrams as Images

The Designer allows exporting diagrams as images, and groups of diagrams as a structured PDF document.

A diagram can be exported into the PDF format and as an SVG, PNG, JPG, or BMP image.

Important: When exporting a diagram to SVG, make sure the diagram font is installed on your system. The default font used in diagrams is Arial, which is installed on MS Windows by default. Hence this applies especially to users of other operating systems.

Alternatively you can change the diagram font for Designer: go to Window > Preferences and in the Preferences dialog, go to General > Appearance > Colors and Fonts, and under Designer, select Diagram Font and click Edit.

Note that the exported SVG diagram has the clip attribute on the <svg:text> Element. The attribute might cause the text to be cut off. Delete the attribute in your SVG to resolve the issue.

Printing Diagram Element Selection

To print a selection of diagram elements:

1. Go to File > Print.
2. Select the Print the selected elements option.
   

   Print Diagrams dialog with the Print the selected elements selected
3. Check the print preview on the right.

Printing Multiple Diagrams

Note: The page setup applied to individual diagrams is applied also on its printing (that is, the global page setup is applied by default; if a diagram defines a local page setup, for printing of this diagram the local page setup is applied, see Page Setup).

To print several diagrams from a project or Module, do the following:

Applying Automatic Layout in Diagrams

The automatic formatting of diagram views, does the following:

• Arranges elements in hierarchy levels
• Resolves any overlapping elements

To automatically adjust the element layout in your diagram, right-click into the diagram canvas and select Layout.

Performing autolayout

Auto layout automatically adjusts position of the diagram elements in a vertical manner.

Note: If an element displayed in a process diagram contains a boundary event, the layout feature is disabled.

If you want to adjust the layout of the elements in a Diagram whenever the diagram is opened, do the following:

1. Open the definition file for editing (double-click it in the GO-BPMN Explorer)
2. Select the Diagram in the Outline view.
3. On the Detail tab in the Properties view of the diagram, select Auto layout.
4. Close the editor with the diagram and open it anew.

The diagram elements will be laid out automatically anew whenever the diagram is opened: Note that the editor with the diagram will be marked as dirty (with the asterisk * sign).

Goal diagram opened after Auto-layout was selected