Move Components

You have created a project containing packages, diagrams and elements, and you have connected the elements. You might have arranged your components in the wrong project structure. How do you change where things are?

In this topic, the explanations refer to the following example:

Move Components Within a Package in the Project Browser

To move a diagram, child package or element within its parent package, click on it in the Project Browser and click on or in the toolbar at the top of the window.

You could move Class3 in the Project Browser above Class1, or move the Actors package underneath Classes A.

To revert to listing components in alphabetical order, right-click on the package and select the Contents | Reset Sort Order menu option.

Move Components Between Packages in the Project Browser

You might have created a diagram, child package or element in the wrong place in the Project Browser. To move a model component to another package, click on the component and drag it to the new package. This can be at either a higher level or a lower level.

You might, for example, drag Class1 from the Use Case Model package into the Business Process Model package. Class1 then is listed in the Business Process Model package in the Project Browser. As a similar example, you could drag Class Diagram into the Business Process Model package.

Moving elements in the Project Browser does not affect the use of elements in diagrams. In our example, Class1 is initially in a diagram in the Use Case Model package. When you move Class1 in the Project Browser from Use Case Model to Business Process Model, it still shows in the diagram in Use Case Model, and does not display in any diagram in Business Process Model.

To remove Class1 from the Use Case Model diagram, click on it on the diagram and delete it. Nothing happens to the element in the Project Browser. To put Class1 into a diagram in the Business Process Model package, open the diagram in that package and drag the element from the Business Process Model package in the Project Browser onto the diagram.

Move Elements in a Diagram

If an element is not in the right position in the diagram, just click on the middle of it and drag it to the correct place. In the diagram above, you might move Class2 below Class 3, and move Class3 to the left. The element brings its connectors with it.

To make fine adjustments, press [Shift]+["], [!], [#] or [$].

Move Elements Between Diagrams

If an element is in the wrong diagram, you can delete it from that diagram and then drag it from the Project Browser into the right diagram.

Alternatively, select the element and cut it from the source diagram ([Ctrl]+[X], or the Cut icon in the Default Tools toolbar) and then paste the element ([Shift]+[Insert] or the Paste icon in the Default Tools toolbar) into the target diagram.

You can also copy and paste elements between diagrams. In the source diagram, select the element and press [Ctrl]+[C] (or click on the Copy icon in the Default Tools toolbar), then in the target diagram press [Shift]+[Insert] (or click on the Paste icon in the Default Tools toolbar).

Move Connectors in a Diagram

You might have connected the wrong pair of elements. To move the end of a connector to a different element (for example, Class2 instead of Class3), click on the end to display a black 'handle' box and drag the end to its new position. Be aware that the connector does not break from the original target element until the cursor is on the new target.

You can also tidy up a connection by dragging the end of the connector to a better position on the edge of the element, or move both ends at once by dragging the middle of the connector.

Additional Information

See the Delete Components and Save Changes topics.

For additional information on moving connectors and elements, see the Arrange Connectors topic and the Order Package Contents topic.