Connector Alignment

[Jeanine Norden]

Hi All,

I might be asking a simple question...

I've been using version 7 & 7.1 for a long time and there was no automatic alignment of connectors.  I've heard version 8 & 9 has that.  Can anybody PLEASE tell me how to do this.  I've got my 'snap to grid' on but it's still not working.

Help please!  Fixing lines are just a waste of time!  

Thanx!

[skiwi]

Using an old version also is a waste of time.
Try the v9 beta and see if it does what you want ...

[Jeanine Norden]

Thank you.

I am currently now running the Version 9 Beta - but don't know where to find it in V9.

Any tips please?

[RoyC]

I'm not sure what you want to do. There are many facilities in Enterprise Architect for aligning elements, and there is a suite of options for laying out a diagram in a range of orientations. However, there is nothing to specifically align connectors (what would you align them on?) and to do so could destroy the meaning of the connectors - the exact placement of connector ends on the source and target elements can be very significant.

The nearest things to aligning connectors would be:

1)   The 'center to center' option on the Links page of the Options dialog (Tools | Options | Links) which will push each connector end to the center of the side of the element you anchor it on. [Edit: Neil corrected me: man, that stock whip really hurts!] This is overridden on any connector operation where the end placement is significant (such as 'link to feature'). It also keeps diagrams reasonably neat if you lay them out automatically; if you select the converse option 'exact placement' then the connector ends are anchored exactly where you put them and can therefore lean and lurch at all angles across the diagram after autolayout.

2)   The orthogonal line styles, which ensure that the connectors are always perpendicular and horizontal; however, you currently have to set these on each connector - they are not on the list of default line styles

If none of these comments help, please give a couple of examples of what you are trying to acheive.

[Takeshi K]

I guess following steps are what you want:

1. Main menu | View | Layout Tools
2. select 'Auto Route' in the dropdown list
3. press Apply Layout button (green right arrow button)

HTH