Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.
Dock Windows
When you are doing work using one or more of the Enterprise Architect windows, you can re-position and/or group the windows to make them easier to use. You can easily move any window around the application workspace and either dock (anchor) it against the top, bottom, left or right edge of the workspace for long-term use, or just drop it where it is most convenient for the moment (that is, leave it floating).
All the windows are resizable, so you can also drag the window margins to make the window a convenient size and shape to display either just a column or row, or a large section of the information it contains.
Dock a Window Against an Edge
Step |
Action |
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1 |
Click on the title bar of the window and start to drag it towards the appropriate edge of the workspace. A set of positioning icons display, consisting of a navigation compass in the body of the application workspace and a compass pointer in the middle of each edge. |
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2 |
Drag the window onto a compass point. The screen display shades the area that the window will fill, once you release the mouse button.
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3 |
Release the mouse button to dock the window.
The docked window initially fills the previously-highlighted space, but you can drag the margins to resize the window, if you wish.
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Notice that the window docking is an insert, not an overlay; in the illustration, the left border of the Start Page now sits just under the 'ticked man' icon in the toolbar.
The docking behavior varies depending on whether you have already docked other windows on the screen, whether you use the navigation compass or the compass point icons, and where you drag the docked window before you release the mouse button. If you drag and release the window over:
· | A point of the navigation compass in the center of the screen, the window sits inside existing docked windows (for example, in the illustration a window released on the bottom, top or left icons of the navigation compass would be docked to the right of the Traceability window) |
· | A separate compass point icon on the edge of the screen, the window is docked on the outside edge of the screen and existing docked windows are pushed inwards |
· | A point of the navigation compass at the edge of the screen (only when there is already a docked window there) the window is docked within the area occupied by the previously docked window (for example, in the illustration you could dock your new window as the left, right, top or bottom segment of the Traceability window space; the Traceability window itself is reduced in size to accommodate the new docked window, but you can then adjust the margins of the two docked windows to improve readability) |
· | The center of the navigation compass at the edge of the screen (only when there is already a docked window there) the window is docked as a tab of a window frame; see below |
The highlighted area always indicates exactly where the moved window will be docked, so you have an indication of the effect before you release the window.
A docked window does not overlap any other window, so if you are docking several windows you progressively fill up the workspace; however, you can avoid this by combining the docked windows in a single tabbed frame by either:
· | Dragging the title bar of each window up to the title bar of the first docked window, or |
· | Dragging each window over the 'tabbed frame' icon in the middle of the navigation compass, when the compass is over the previously-docked window that you want to combine the dragged window with; when you release the mouse button, the window becomes a tab of the frame The Project Browser becomes a tab - |
You can move and re-dock a frame of windows as if they were a single window.
To separate a window from a tabbed frame, click on the window's tab at the bottom of the frame and drag it away.
Floating Windows
To float a window anywhere on the screen, click on its title bar and drag it to where you want it to sit. The navigation compass displays, but you ignore it in this situation. Floating windows can overlay each other, which is convenient if you want to compare information displayed in two windows. You can drag one window under or over another so that the relevant pieces of information are adjacent, do your check, then move the windows apart again.
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