8.0 diagram enhancements

[skiwi]

Elsewhere I suggested that there was no reason why EA diagrams and diagramming should not be on a par with Visio for both look and ease of editing and layout.

As I struggled to do some basics today I thought it might be instructive to list some of the issues, in the hope that
1) someone will tell me that it can be done, and why
2) others in the community will add to the list
3) at some point lots of us will submit these as feature requests
4) Sparx will implement the feature requests  

[skiwi]

Working with multiple connectors.
Be able to select multiple connectors, and format or change their properties at the same time

Not in v9
Not in v11
Not in EA 12

See also Select multiple "things" on a diagram

[AG NZ]

Bridging intersecting lines would be very handy  

[skiwi]

Provide the same formatting for connector labels as for object names.
Specifically change type face, font size, font style,  effects, box alignment, box sizinf.

not in v9
not in v11
not in v12

[skiwi]

I can move or resize an object using cursor keys.
I can move labels using cursor keys.

It should be possible to move connectors using cursor keys.

Not in v9
Not in v11

[skiwi]

Sometimes labels can be too long for the horizontal space available.

It should be possible to manually change the width of a label and have the text in it reflow to multiple lines



not in v11

[skiwi]

When I use ctrl-click to select multiple elements such as a number of artefacts, and then I [edit] continue to ctrl-click on a connector all the artefacts I have selected become no longer selected. Oick!

Instead the behaviour should be to retain the existing selections.

Reported, not in 9.1
still broken in v11

[fwoolz]

My tuppence(s):

1. Editing common properties of multiple selected items at the same time - very nice to have, for both elements and connectors.
2. Resizable ports!
3. Ability to reposition/change angle of realized interface "lollipops".
4. Layout fails to find elements completely "shadowed" by larger elements - s/b fixed.
5. Intersecting connectors - should have option to show "jumps" at crossings to make it clear that one connector is passing over another.
6. Difficulty at times in selecting elements nested graphically within other elements - provide pop-up dialog to resolve "ambiguous" selections?
7. Connector ortho only mode!

Note that some of these are "aye" votes for suggestions already posted in this thread.

Cheers,
Fred W

[fwoolz]

Oh, and one more:

Allow the same element to be shown multiple times on the same diagram. This requires a clean separation between the definition of the element itself and its graphical representations on diagrams.

[skiwi]

Allow the z-order for connectors to be specified, ie send back, forward, to back, to front.
So that connectors can be placed behind objects

not in v11

[skiwi]

Allow dynamic filters in diagrams to work with connectors (1)

not in v11

[beginner]

Nice wish list. Do you have Santa's address?

b.

[skiwi]

[email protected]

but see also
http://www.emailsanta.com/                          
or perhaps
http://www.northpole.com/

I am hoping that Santa might comment on this thread in the forum before christmas  

[Thelonius]

Santa is off sailing his yacht - leaving the oil well problem for others to solve ...

[skiwi]

On some connectors using F2 allows the same to be created or modified in place.
On other connectors (eg Cause and Effect flow) F2 does nothing.

Recommendation: F2 should work on every connector (and object) to allow in place edit of the name.

not in v11