8.0 diagram enhancements

[beginner]

Honestly, in my former life on this thread we worked out a single topic very well over a long discussion with a lot of effort and people. Guess what happened.

Now, guess what will happen with such a wish list. I can tell you, but you will likely not hear it. Has anybody insight in Sparx' bug fixing? Or in their development process? Or in their QA?

b.

[skiwi]

I guess I try to be constructive and optimistic.
Can you refer me to to topic you mention.

OF course it would be great if the forum community were to weight in with a few Bumps and Votes.

Here are a few references to related threads
new associations or links in diagrams
Feature Note tool-tips
Notes for attributes
Select multiple "things" on a diagram ***
Setting label visibility
Default appearance not overridden by local
Same Element Multiple Times on Same Diagram

[KP]

Some very good suggestions on this thread. Here's a few thoughts...

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

That should already happen. It will only wrap at whitespace though.

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

Instead the behaviour should be to retain the existing selections.

Did you mean "click" where I highlighted? I would expect Click to clear the selections made by Ctrl+Click, which it does. And I would expect Ctrl+Click on a connector to add or remove a line point (and clear the previous selections at the same time), which it does.

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

I think we had a whole thread on this subject a long time ago. The reason we don't allow it is because it would be impossible to tell at a glance the difference between a line going behind an object and two lines attaching to an object.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

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

I think we had a whole thread on this subject a long time ago. The reason we don't allow it is because it would be impossible to tell at a glance the difference between a line going behind an object and two lines attaching to an object.

Well actually that's NOT the real problem...  It isn't rocket science to figure out a mechanism the indicate that a line is going behind a shape...  I could list some just off the top of my head.  

The REAL problem is where there is MORE than one line behind the shape which end is connected to which end?  You need an identification mechanism for each end of a suppressed segment.

Oh gosh... I believe EA already has such a mechanism...

Paolo

[beginner]

Can you refer me to to topic you mention.

http://www.sparxsystems.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1101322647

Just one of those things.

b.

[Ericga]

By priority:

1. be able to display the fully qualified name instead of just a truncated name. We have been waiting for this bug fix forever...

2. In the Relationship pane, allow multiselection so we can select multiple classes and do "Place in target" on the diagram all at once. This will speed up work 10x

3. Support different layout algorithms. Orthogonal and hierarchical layouts are common, efficient and widely used in other good products.

[skiwi]

Some very good suggestions on this thread. Here's a few thoughts...

Thanks

Did you mean "click" where I highlighted? I would expect Click to clear the selections made by Ctrl+Click, which it does. And I would expect Ctrl+Click on a connector to add or remove a line point (and clear the previous selections at the same time), which it does.

I meant ctrl-click (and have corrected my previous post).

The reason we don't allow it is because it would be impossible to tell at a glance the difference between a line going behind an object and two lines attaching to an object.

I think that this is an issue that the author of the diagram should be left to deal with, and not proscribed by the tool.

[skiwi]

In a diagram when the shift key is depressed when an element is being dragged the movement of the element is restricted to vertical only.
(Although I can't track down the documentation of this feature).

This feature should be extended so that if the element is dragged horizontally the movement of the element is restricted to the horizontal only.

Note both of these are common functionality in diagram tools.

not in v11

[beginner]

Just to save EA users from more frustration they should avoid to look into Keynote (on the Mac; what Windozers call Powerpoint, haha) and see how easy a layout could be managed.

b.

[skiwi]

Allow the corners of connectors to be rounded (perhaps to a radius of the user's choosing).

This has the additional benefit that line crossings are then obvious (no rounding).

Added in 9.0

[skiwi]

One feature I miss very much in EA is the ability to adjust the centre part (vertical) of a connector when in auto-routing mode.
I simply want to be able to drag the centre part of the connector (as indicated above) left or right.


Obviously this should also apply when the centre part of the connector is horizontal, and can be adjusted up or down.

Not in version 9
Use the orthogonal line style to achieve this

[mperry247]

Yes please to all.

Bridging connectors is a high priority for me as I constantly get asked about overlapping connectors from business users.

[salayande]

I support the views expressed on usability of EA. I am sure more could be done in this area.

Segun

[Thelonius]

+1.

But nobody from Sparx is listening anyway, so who cares?

[RoyC]

Some of us are listening, as KP has demonstrated. However, once you have aired and refined your wishlist, you will have to submit it to Sparx Support as a feature request (or several, thereof) in order for them to log and sanction the requests.