Width of a note when pasting is too narrow ....

[Stevebo]

Posted this info in another forum section and it was suggested I post here. Well, actually to report it as a feature, but this is no feature any user I know would like.

The problem is that when pasting text from either another note, or from an external file into a new note, the new note defaults to its rather narrow width. It should default to something wider than that, perhaps the width of the widest single line.

The symptom for this problem is that once you paste your text and save it, you get a note displayed on the diagram that's very narrow, but pages and pages high. To fix this, a person has to use the stretch handle to make the width more reasonable (the width of a single widest line from the source text), and then go to the very bottom of the note and drag up its lower pull handle.

I've had notes that when pasting text in them were 2 inches wide on the screen and must have stretched vertically the equivalent of 10 pages.

This is an annoying "feature" that I wish would go away. I encounter it due to how we initially create use case descriptions in places like Word or emails that get circulated, and then paste the text in EA rather than retype it.

I don't think this occurred in older versions, but it may have been another tool I was using that I'm thinking of.

thanks,

steve

[thomas.kilian]

I would agree in that being a bug. The width of a memo should be size on creation upon the min. line width. Analogously the Alt-Z should size the memo field.

And don't forget to post this via the bug report page (see bottom of the page).

[Stevebo]

Why wouldn't Alt-Z just undo the last statement?

steve

[thomas.kilian]

Sorry, don't know what you mean. My intention: whenever you use ALT-Z with memos it does not respect the memo contents. It should widen up to the longest line and cut below the last line. This should be done automatically when creating a memo the first time.

[«Midnight»]

Steve,

I do this too sometimes. Control-Z is Undo. Alt-Z is (sometimes, for some elements) Resize.

David

[Stevebo]

yep, looks like I did it one more time than I needed too. Doh! Alt-Z, not Control-Z. jeesh

steve

[radle]

Hi,

could somebody tell me how i get the 'note' of the properties window wider on the diagram? The matter is, i would like to use these built-in notes to describe an actor. Such a built in note would appear in the diagram as well as in a rtf-report. But unfortunately the note is displayed very narrow and long in the diagram. And i don't find a way to resize it. After reading your discussion, i also tried Alt+Z. But this makes it even narrower.

Regards,
radle

[Eve]

Click on the Note, grab a handle (little black square) and drag it out.

If you're talking about a text element, it may have an invisible border, so try clicking somewhere near the top of the element.

[Stevebo]

Are you doing something similar to what I was doing in that you copy the text from somewhere else and paste it in the note? If you do, you will see the resizing problem. It will be rather narrow (maybe an inch or two wide) and very long (I've had to scroll down and down and down to get to the bottom of the note).

I agree with a previous poster that it's a bug. The width of the note field should not be any less than the narrowest line of text. If a person wants to size it after that, go ahead, but to make the note default to something as narrow as it does is a pain.

The other thing I've been able to do is create templates as someone else suggested. It doesn't help all the time though. Copying and pasting text is not an uncommon task given that many people use email or Microsoft Word to exchange requirments, use case scenarios, etc.

[Eve]

There are no lines of text when a text/note element is created so it can't be set to the longest of them.

If you were doing this when all lines are paragraphs you would get the problem of rediculously wide elements.

[Stevebo]

Sure I understand that, the implication was when copying and pasting text in a note that is first created (per the original thread).

In other words, copy some text such as a Use Case description from a Word document, change to EA and add a new note. When the note window pops up for entering text, do a control-V and paste the copied text from the Word document which looks OK in the Note. However, when you click OK to save the note, you will see a narrow very long Note that has to be resized since its default size is ridiculously narrow and long.

I hear what you are saying about the paragraph problem though. If a paragraph was pasted, the note would have a ridiculous width.

Looks like there should be some way other than using a template to define the size of a text box by default rather than letting the system auto-size it. In other words, if I want Notes to default to 80 characters wide, then give me the choice. If I don't like it, I can change it to something else.
This would address the two problem scenarios that appear to cause Note sizing problems. Templates are one way, but sometimes I add a Note that doesn't have a template or I use someone else's system to show them an example and they don't have templates set up. really a pain from a usability perspective.

[«Midnight»]

Perhaps another option could be added to some options dialog. Maybe in the same place as the rich text options.