Appearance Menu Section

Lock Element

Lock the element so it can't be edited; to unlock the element, select Lock Element again

This does not apply in the Corporate, Business and Software Engineering, Systems Engineering and Ultimate editions when security is enabled; in that situation, use the Lock option for model elements

Lock model elements

Selectable

Toggle whether the element is selectable or not

• If an element is selectable, you can move it around the diagram and perform right-click context menu operations
• If an element is unselectable, you cannot move it around the diagram and the only right-click operation available is to make the element selectable

This option has no effect on double-click operations on the element, such as displaying child diagrams or Properties dialogs

An element on a locked diagram is also unselectable - if you click on it, the element outline displays in red

In a diagram, you can filter the display to show selectable or non-selectable elements only

Diagram Filters

Dockable

Align and join two elements either vertically or horizontally, on the current diagram only

Both elements must have the Dockable option selected, and must have the joining edges parallel

As the distance between the elements narrows, the moving element snaps to the edge of the other element

For Activity Partitions, the option is selected by default.

Deselecting the Dockable option does not separate the elements; if necessary, you can simply move the elements apart again

Partition

Appearance

Display the Appearance submenu; see the table below

Z-Order

Set the Z-Order of the element

Z-Order Elements

Default Appearance

Override the global default appearance of all elements (which you set on the Options dialog, Standard Colors page and Diagram Appearance page) with a different default for just the selected element on all diagrams in which it is found

To change the appearance of the selected element on the current diagram only, use the Format toolbar

F4

Standard Colors

Appearance

Set an Element's Default Appearance

Format toolbar

Apply Image From Clipboard

Paste the image held on the clipboard onto the selected element

Select Alternate Image

Select an alternative image using the Image Manager

Ctrl + Shift + W

Using the Image Manager

Hide/Show Name Under Image

Hide or redisplay the name label under an element with an alternative image

Set Font

Change the font type, size, color and effects for the text in an element

Set Element Font

Show Labels

Reveal any hidden labels on the element

Copy Appearance to Painter

Copy the default element appearance (set using the Default Appearance option, above) to the painter

You then paste the default appearance using the Paste Appearance option on the Diagram toolbar

Diagram toolbar

Copy Image to Clipboard

Copy the element image to the clipboard