MDG Default Line Color

[Eve]

FWIW, I'm not suggesting there shouldn't be a user specific customisation.  My beef is that it needs to be part of a coordinated hierarchy of defaults.  It's haphazard and inconsistent at present.

From an enterprise perspective, you need to be able (if necessary) to enforce consistency.

Paolo

What's the beef then? There is a coordinated hierarchy of defaults. It's just deeper than you initially thought.

You can enforce consistency when required. You have always been able to set a color on the elements to override the user defaults. Both html and document generation support an option to set the diagram theme used for generation. (Perhaps that could be extended to printing as suggested by qwerty, it's not something I see as particularly important) Overriding the user default. Version 13 also adds the capability to set a specific theme on a diagram, again overriding the user defaults. Any of these can be used to enforce consistency where needed.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

From an enterprise perspective, you need to be able (if necessary) to enforce consistency.

I find myself siding with Simon.  I work with someone with no colour vision and I play board games with 3 people who have different types of red/green colour-blindness.  People with with colour vision which is regarded to be "normal" perceive the same colour to be different colours depending on what borders the colour or the size or the size of the coloured area.  The cultural meanings overlaid on colour differ massively between cultures.

Colour is inherently an inconsistent communicator of information, outside of an individual's own visual idiolect.

That's NOT my point.  As I said, each user should be allowed to make their changes.  My point is there is NO project wide consistency that allows the enterprise to say: In this repository, unless you personally make changes, things shall look like...  I can make changes to the default renderings in one repository for whatever reason - say default connector colour green.  Those changes will apply to another repository that I didn't intend the changes to apply to.

@Simon, it's NOT about changing an individual diagram; it's about providing consistency for diagrams that haven't been modified for some specific reason.  Its also about the inconsistency between what I can do for vertices and what I can't do for arcs - define, reliably, the color of the arc from the MDG.  In our repository, the default line colouring for vertices is defined in the MDG - not in the repository.  This means that if we decide to change the rendering of a vertex, it changes everywhere it hasn't been overridden.  I can't do that for arcs.  This whole thing has ONLY (really) been about that.  See my original post.  When you have, literally, tens of thousands of diagrams control over consistent rendering becomes important.  You attempt ti abstract the rendering to the greatest scope you can.;

Just as there is a User default for diagrams (on a per repository basis), there needs to be a repository wide and user default for rendering settings.

Paolo

[Eve]

I can make changes to the default renderings in one repository for whatever reason - say default connector colour green.  Those changes will apply to another repository that I didn't intend the changes to apply to.

...

This means that if we decide to change the rendering of a vertex, it changes everywhere it hasn't been overridden.  I can't do that for arcs.  This whole thing has ONLY (really) been about that.  See my original post.  When you have, literally, tens of thousands of diagrams control over consistent rendering becomes important.

...

Just as there is a User default for diagrams (on a per repository basis), there needs to be a repository wide and user default for rendering settings.

Paolo

1. You can't do that. There has never been an option to change the rendering defaults in a repository. Those options are located in the user options, and the only options in EA that depend on model and user are default user diagrams when security is enabled.

2. Obviously, you weren't clear enough with your problems. Perhaps not starting off by talking about sql updates would help... It may just be that the v10 change to move stereotype color from being applied on creation to being an extra default layer didn't apply to connectors (contrary to my belief)

3. As I said, there is a "User default for diagrams (on a per repository basis)". If you feel that a model level default is something that will benefit all EA users, feel free to submit a feature request.

[Glassboy]

That's NOT my point.  As I said, each user should be allowed to make their changes.  My point is there is NO project wide consistency that allows the enterprise to say: In this repository, unless you personally make changes, things shall look like...  I can make changes to the default renderings in one repository for whatever reason - say default connector colour green.  Those changes will apply to another repository that I didn't intend the changes to apply to.

Beyond being able to define a default theme your suggestion is quite dangerous as it could be used to a) destroy information inside the repository, b) prevent some users from perceiving elements on diagrams.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

That's NOT my point.  As I said, each user should be allowed to make their changes.  My point is there is NO project wide consistency that allows the enterprise to say: In this repository, unless you personally make changes, things shall look like...  I can make changes to the default renderings in one repository for whatever reason - say default connector colour green.  Those changes will apply to another repository that I didn't intend the changes to apply to.

Beyond being able to define a default theme your suggestion is quite dangerous as it could be used to a) destroy information inside the repository, b) prevent some users from perceiving elements on diagrams.

At the moment:
a) I have to destroy information in the repository - I have to overwrite the LineColor Column to ensure that the arcs render in the appropriate colour.  If -1 worked as per vertices, I'd just set the value to -1 and let the MDG determine the colour.
b) The current situation could/will prevent some users from perceiving arcs on diagrams - again, since you have to "jam" the column with a specific colour value.  If -1 worked as per vertices, it would be relatively easy to create an MDG variant that altered the colours for various renderings (not necessarily for specific disability).  We might, for example, have a "presentation" mode MDG that would allow for bolder colours, thicker lines etc. - especially for Presentation software (such as PowerPoint)

We already have toolbox variants on a per-role basis so that even though all the diagrams nominate the same toolbox, the instantiation of that toolbox depends upon the user role, so we're already handling variations from a common base.

As Simon indicates, even he expected the arcs to have the extra default layer (as I did) - but it doesn't.

So, do I have to submit a bug report or is it in hand?  I accept that the repository levefl default rendering is a new feature and will submit that separately.

Paolo