Guided Modeling supports you in placing or moving items.
When you place or move objects or connections in a model, lines and arrows appear informing you of the orientation and distance of the items from adjacent items. The items snap into place at the point where Guided Modeling "suggests" that they be positioned.
You can enable or disable Guided Modeling, which uses lines and arrows to help you place objects or connections at the selected distance in the modeling area.
Open the model.
Activate the Model tab bar.
Click Modeling area >
Show guides. The check box is enabled (
), and the guides for placing items are shown in the modeling area.
To disable the guides, click Modeling area >
Show guides. The
check box is disabled.
You have enabled or disabled the guides for Guided Modeling.
You can set the default distance for Guided Modeling.
Please note that this procedure will layout the current model, but you can easily undo the layout as described below. Keep in mind that the change of the default distance affects future layouts operations.
Procedure
In an open model, activate the Model tab bar.
Click Layout. The layout options are provided.
Enter values for Horizontal item spacing and Vertical item spacing.
Keep the Use as default check box enabled.
Click OK. The changed layout is applied to objects that have already been placed.
If the new layout does not meet your requirements, click Undo. The layout operation is undone and the model looks as before.
The item spacing you entered is set as the default distance. When you place objects, the default distance is indicated by the following cursor:
When Guided Modeling and the
are enabled, you can temporarily switch off Guided Modeling and the grid when dragging items.In models, the grid makes it easier to place or move model items at the correct spacing. When you place or move model items, they are inserted or moved according to the grid width.
Procedure
In an open model, activate the Model tab bar.
Click Modeling area > Use grid. The check box is enabled, and the dot grid is displayed in the modeling area.
To hide the grid, click Modeling area> Use grid again. The dot grid is hidden and model items are placed or moved pixel by pixel.
You have used the grid.
If you want to set the grid width, click Modeling area > Change grid width. The corresponding dialog opens.
Procedure
Open a model.
Select the item you want to drag.
Press the Alt key.
Drag the item.
The item is not fixed by Guided Modeling and/or the grid and can be moved pixel by pixel. Depending on how you want to align objects, you can turn off the grid and align objects using Guided Modeling only.
Guided Modeling supports you in placing or moving items. When you place or move objects or connections in a model, lines and arrows appear informing you of the orientation and distance of the items from adjacent items. The items snap into place at the point where Guided Modeling "suggests" that they be positioned.
If Guided Modeling and the
are enabled, Guided Modeling has priority when you position items.In models, the grid makes it easier to place or move model items at the correct spacing. When you place or move model items, they are inserted or moved according to the grid width.
Procedure
In an open model, activate the Model tab bar.
Click Modeling area > Use grid. The check box is enabled, and the dot grid is displayed in the modeling area.
To hide the grid, click Modeling area> Use grid again. The dot grid is hidden and model items are placed or moved pixel by pixel.
You have used the grid.
If you want to set the grid width, click Modeling area > Change grid width. The corresponding dialog opens.
Lines show the horizontal and vertical alignment to the adjacent items.
Guided Modeling always considers the nearest relevant items for the alignment lines.
Arrows indicate the distance between the moving object and the adjacent items.
Distances are only displayed for items that are in the visible area of the modeling area.
When you place objects, the default distance is indicated by the following cursor:
The default distance is the distance set for the horizontal and vertical item spacing of an optimized layout. To set the default distance, you must perform an optimized layout with an item spacing setting.
Guided Modeling is also provided for multi selections and connections.
The item of several selected items that you select for dragging is used as the reference item. It is highlighted in bold when dragged and the orientation and distance guides are displayed for this item.
Guided Modeling for connections allows you to link connections centrally at the border of the object regardless of the grid. (The blue highlighting of the guides in the screenshot serves only for clarification.)