Diagram Details vs Notes

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Currently, EA has two methods for displaying some details about a diagram:

Show Details on Diagram - in the Diagram properties dialog.  This will display the Diagram Name, Package, Version and Author.  The resultant object is absolutely unselectable and unmovable.
You can also drag  a New Diagram Notes object onto the diagram.  This will display the Diagram Name, Author, Version, Creation Date and Modification Date.  This latter object is selectable and movable.

Setting aside the inconsistency of having two different mechanisms, I think it would be a good idea for the Diagram Notes object to be dropped onto the Diagram with the selectable flag turned off.  This means if you do a select all, it won't be selected.  If you subsequently want to move it you can make it selectable and move it.

Thoughts?

Paolo

[Jan ´Bary´ Glas]

I never drop things onto right place. The case of two notes elements are more important.
And what about to be able to decide what will be displayed there? (And I am currently missing Status line there; and package may be also useful.)

[Paolo F Cantoni]

I never drop things onto right place. The case of two notes elements are more important.
And what about to be able to decide what will be displayed there? (And I am currently missing Status line there; and package may be also useful.)

Yes Bary, I thought of that, but since the Diagram Details cannot be moved, I thought we wouldn't really be any worse off...  Besides, for this kind of object, a default location wouldn't be hard to devise (such as where the current Details goes).  Then if it didn't prove to be good, you could make it selectable and move it.

Paolo

[«Midnight»]

I'm with you Paolo, that's another vote. Perhaps the diagram notes element should never be selected by a select all. It would only be selectable by itself - but could be added to an existing selection group by control-click like other elements. That way you would not get strange results when selecting everything, you could move the notes if need be, and you don't have to manage a 'selectable' flag.

AFAIK the inflexible version of diagram notes is a legacy item from earlier versions. Perhaps Sparx could give it the same properties and behaviour as the droppable kind. Of course, the selectable nature would be as you've described.

David

[Jan ´Bary´ Glas]

the diagram notes element should never be selected by a select all.

Yes, that's it.  

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Both forms of Diagram Provenance need to have a Printed: attribute which is updated if the Diagram is printed.

The reason this is necessary is that, without changing the diagram (and therefore the version), the content of the displayed shapes and connectors may have varied since the last time the diagram was printed.  Thus if I print it again, it will be different from the last version - but with no way of distinguishing which one is which.

Paolo