General Techniques of Using Diagrams
This section describes some general techniques applicable to the various types of diagrams (Hibernate and JPA ER diagrams, Seam navigation rules, Grails domain classes dependencies etc.)
In this section:
- Selecting elements in diagram.
- Managing diagram layout.
- Zooming in and out.
- Using the magnifier tool.
- Navigating to source code.
- Invoking refactoring commands.
- Finding usages of the selected node element.
- Drawing links between node elements.
To select elements in diagram
- To select an element, just click it in diagram.
- To select multiple adjacent elements, keep Shift pressed and click the desired elements, or just drag a lasso around the elements to be selected.
- To select multiple non-adjacent elements, keep Ctrl+Shift pressed and click the desired elements.
- To select a member of a node element, double-click the node element, and then use the arrow keys, or the mouse pointer.
To manage diagram layout
- Right-click the diagram background, and choose command of the diagram context menu. Next, select the desired layout from the submenu.
- Use Drag-and-drop technique to lay out entities in diagram manually.
- Apply the current layout selected on the context menu of the diagram, by clicking .
To zoom in and out, do one of the following
- Use the and toolbar buttons.
- Keeping Ctrl key pressed, rotate your mouse wheel up or down.
- Press NumPad+ or NumPad-.
To use the magnifier tool
- Keep the Alt key pressed, and hover your mouse pointer over the most interesting, or problematic areas of the diagram.
To jump from an element in diagram to the underlying source code
- Select an element in diagram.
- Do one of the following:
- On the context menu of the diagram, choose
- Press F4.
- Double-click selected element.
The source code of the corresponding source file opens in a separate tab in the editor.
To draw a link between nodes
- Click the source node, and drag a link to the target node. This technique slightly differs for the various types of diagrams. Refer to the corresponding procedures for details.