V15 Creates SIMPLISTIC Diagrams!

[Paolo F Cantoni]

The new v15 apparently allows us to create Simplistic diagrams:

Simple Drawing Style

• Introducing a new diagram drawing style that will make it easy to draw flat and simplistic diagrams

Please DON'T...      The term Simplistic means:
characterized by extreme simplism; oversimplified:

In case it's NOT clear, the term oversimplified means:
to simplify to the point of error, distortion, or misrepresentation.

So a simplistic diagram is one that is in error... 

This is what happens when people use words without knowing (or checking what they mean).

DO NOT USE the term simplistic except to denigrate something.  It's NOT a good characteristic; it's a bad characteristic!

Paolo (the pedant)

What it should have said is:
Simple Drawing Style

• Introducing a new diagram drawing style that will make it easy to draw flat and simple diagrams

As Einstein is reported to have said:
"Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler. " (i.e. simplistic)

[qwerty]

Maybe they actually mean what they say?

q.

[skiwi]

Could diagrams be more simplistic than they are now? see for example this historic thread.

Rather than a drawing style, I'd be looking for a better set of shapes and shape and entity formatting to use in diagrams.
While not looking to recreate Visio, - and I prefer by and large the UI and design decisions EA has for developing diagrams, I am constantly pulled up short by the lack of simple formatting options such as placement, alignment, and direction of text on entities and connectors, the inconsistency of line styles (e.g. bezier is a tag, model wide preferences only offers custom, direct, routed), the missing ability to format connector labels, the inconsistent properties of legends and boundaries for example, the still inconsistency of colour dialogues. I could go on, oh I am ...


We could do worse than go back and look at some of the previous suggestions and requests made for diagrams here and here.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Could diagrams be more simplistic than they are now? see for example this historic thread.

Rather than a drawing style, I'd be looking for a better set of shapes and shape and entity formatting to use in diagrams.
While not looking to recreate Visio, - and I prefer by and large the UI and design decisions EA has for developing diagrams, I am constantly pulled up short by the lack of simple formatting options such as placement, alignment, and direction of text on entities and connectors, the inconsistency of line styles (e.g. bezier is a tag, model wide preferences only offers custom, direct, routed), the missing ability to format connector labels, the inconsistent properties of legends and boundaries for example, the still inconsistency of colour dialogues. I could go on, oh I am ...


We could do worse than go back and look at some of the previous suggestions and requests made for diagrams here and here.

WOT 'E SED!  (+10)

Paolo

[KP]

Yes, we know what simple and simplistic mean, which is why we changed the name of the feature to Custom Style. We appear to have missed the release notes when making the change; Thanks for the heads up.

You can change a single element to custom style by right-click>Appearance>Enable Custom Draw Style or you can change the whole diagram by checking the Custom Style option in the Diagram Properties window. Hopefully people will find it useful.

[jules_cesar_44]

Totally agree with Skiwi here... Consistency of UI drawing should be top priority, not to mimic Visio... so sad

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Totally agree with Skiwi here... Consistency of UI drawing should be top priority, not to mimic Visio... so sad

Our favourite word...  As Uffe says:
Concistency, konsistency, consistensy! ^TM_{Uffe - after Paolo}


Paolo

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Yes, we know what simple and simplistic mean, which is why we changed the name of the feature to Custom Style. We appear to have missed the release notes when making the change; Thanks for the heads up.

You can change a single element to custom style by right-clicking>Appearance>Enable Custom Draw Style or you can change the whole diagram by checking the Custom Style option in the Diagram Properties window. Hopefully, people will find it useful.

So how do I customise a Custom Drawing Style?

If I can't, it isn't a Custom Drawing Style.

What you may have meant is Simplified Drawing Style.  Where the Simplified style is defined as a Rectangle with the name and base with the stereotype etc.

HTH,
Paolo

[Eve]

So how do I customise a Custom Drawing Style?

If I can't, it isn't a Custom Drawing Style.

What you may have meant is Simplified Drawing Style.  Where the Simplified style is defined as a Rectangle with the name and base with the stereotype etc.

HTH,
Paolo

All elements used in that style start as a simplified view showing as a box with the name/stereotype.

The context menu (or the toolbar above it) provides options for:

• Shape
• Opacity
• Text Alignment
• Text Rotation
• Line Style
• Stack number and direction
• In addition to all the normal EA options

There are examples in the example model that cover this and how to do it.

Sorry, I can't get rid of the trailing end list markup.[/list]

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Thanks, Eve,

I have local help enabled (for my work on the bus  ) So I can't see the v15 help.  Is there a link I can use?  Is the v15 local help available (even as beta)?

Anyway, back to the issue at hand.  Now I've had a chance to play with it - it looks good!  A couple of beta issues, however.

• I couldn't see how to change the shape.  All the other properties worked.
• Maybe because I don't have the help, I couldn't see what Stacks/Direction did. The EAExample file didn't help.  I had a play with two shapes and it didn't seem to do anything.
• It would be REALLY COOL to add the Boundary ability to create User Defined shapes on a per diagram basis. (I note there are now 3 forms!)
• Is this technology going to be made available to shapescripts?  For us, it would seem to solve many of our existing problems with a Shapescripting - especially for our presentation diagrams
• Can I set multiple elements to custom style at a time? I had a go and couldn't see how to do it.

That's enough to be going on with...

However, I strongly support this direction, so long as we can automate the management of the shapes.  Otherwise, it's mainly eye candy for Enterprise use.  We need to manipulate, tens to hundreds of items in a consistent way.

Paolo

[Eve]

The local version of the help has been built, although I don't know if it's just for testing.

1. The layout of the toolbar put the shape as the last item on the top line.
2. Something like a number of shadows of the shape (used to indicate multiples of that item exist)
3. You can always use boundaries on these diagrams too.
4. What capabilities do you think need to be added to shape scripts?
5. The menus are in exactly the same place when you have multiple selection.

I don't think there's any automation functionality around this at this stage.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

The local version of the help has been built, although I don't know if it's just for testing.

1. The layout of the toolbar put the shape as the last item on the top line.

Not for me.  My menu shows 8 controls (including Find and Help). From L-R: Opacity, Text Rotation, Text Alignment, Disabled (so I can't see what it represents), Line Style, Stacks, Find & Help.

2. Something like a number of shadows of the shape (used to indicate multiples of that item exist)

I get it now...  And I can see them now. The sample shapes were very light and the stacks didn't stand out - at least to my decrepit eyes... 

3. You can always use boundaries on these diagrams too.

That isn't my point.  I want the same functionality on normal shapes.  I note Boundaries are excluded from custom shapes.  What we're after (as users - and echoed by the other posters)

Totally agree with Skiwi here... Consistency of UI drawing should be the top priority, not to mimic Visio... so sad

as JC says, whatever level of customisation is available, make it universal.  (and for my part automatable)

4. What capabilities do you think need to be added to shape scripts?

The ability to do what you can do here.  Whatever you can do in the background with the internal APIs, give us access to them.  Opacity, Text Rotation, Text Alignment, Shape, Line Style, Stacks
ONE OTHER THING! (since you asked) Allow shapescripts to all each other.  We need library shape scripts (see below).

5. The menus are in exactly the same place when you have multiple selections.

I see that.  That's not what I was asking.  I was asking about Enabling Custom Drawing on multiple items, but I now see you can.

I don't think there's any automation functionality around this at this stage.

As I said above, how hard would it be to provide either direct access to the same APIs or via a Shim?

We've written our own Shapescript routines to do pretty much what can now be done with Custom Drawing  (which we have to embed in each script - absence library scripts).  It would be so much easier to just make a simple API call.

Paolo

[Eve]

Not for me.  My menu shows 8 controls (including Find and Help). From L-R: Opacity, Text Rotation, Text Alignment, Disabled (so I can't see what it represents), Line Style, Stacks, Find & Help.

That is exactly what I have on the bottom row. I said it's the last item on the top row. Which has (L-R): Set Font, Text Color, Fill Color, Line Color, Line Width, Apply Style, Get Style & Select Shape

Text Alignment, Shape, Line Style, Stacks

These are already available to shape scripts.

As I said above, how hard would it be to provide either direct access to the same APIs or via a Shim?

As I said... Nothing has been added to the API at this stage. It could be easy, but it's not there.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Not for me.  My menu shows 8 controls (including Find and Help). From L-R: Opacity, Text Rotation, Text Alignment, Disabled (so I can't see what it represents), Line Style, Stacks, Find & Help.

That is exactly what I have on the bottom row. I said it's the last item on the top row. Which has (L-R): Set Font, Text Color, Fill Color, Line Color, Line Width, Apply Style, Get Style & Select Shape

I told you my eyes were decrepit - blame my missing top vs bottom on the bouncing bus... 
However, what's the missing control that's disabled (and why is it)?

Text Alignment, Shape, Line Style, Stacks

These are already available to shape scripts.

v15 scripts?  They're not in the v14 Help - which is all I have.

As I said above, how hard would it be to provide either direct access to the same APIs or via a Shim?

As I said... Nothing has been added to the API at this stage. It could be easy, but it's not there.

Keep 'dem cards 'n letters rollin' in, Folks!

Paolo

[KP]

However, what's the missing control that's disabled (and why is it)?

Icon position (because you haven't got an icon)

You can drop an Image Artifact from the Project Browser to create either a full image, or an element with an image icon.