Default Visibility connectors on other diagrams

[ea0522]

When creating a new connector between two objects, it is drawn as expected on the diagram I'm working on.
For that connector, there is an option to manage the visibility of the connector on other diagrams. To be reached via the right mouse-click.
It seems that the default is that the connector is automatically drawn on all diagrams both objects are visible on.

Would it be possible to change that default behaviour to not automatically show the connector?
In my case, a lot of diagrams are 'polluted' with undesired connectors, leading to a lot of work to keep those other diagrams clean.

[Geert Bellekens]

If that is the case, you might be doing something wrong.

Hiding relations between objects should be an exception, not the rule.

I don't think you can set this as a default, but you can also "freeze" diagrams that should not get "polluted". Another option is to not show any relations on your diagram. For some types of diagrams that is good option.

What type of diagrams are you working on, and why do you want to hide relations between objects?

If it's "because this is an overview diagram and we don't want to be bothered with details" then it's OK.

If it's "because in this view/context these objects are not connected" then you are doing something wrong; because the relation exists in the model; regardless of the context. I often see this situation when people are modelling activities or business processes the wrong way.

Geert

[BobM]

It is possible to set for each specific diagram to not update connectors in the diagram properties -> connectors by clicking "Freeze visible" on:



If you want this for all diagrams you could set the default settings for the diagram types you want this to appear in but as Geert has mentioned this being the strength of the tool to actually do this behavior.

For Phase drawings I might suggest creating new elements for the newer version in the other phase in case changes occur (which I assume is the reason for drawing the new connectors)

If the reason for this you have modelers each with a different style of modelling, I suggest you sit together and put some conventions on paper to prevent this from occurring. All kinds of connectors on different drawings connecting the same elements sounds a bit crazy.

[ea0522]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The way I see it, is that the repository is a database with all information on the objects we could be interested in.
A diagram is a representation of a part of the repository for a particular purpose.
These diagrams come in two main flavours: Representative and Explorative.
Explorative diagrams are temporarily used e.g. for project diagrams and analysis purposes. They are mainly used within the EA client by more experienced collegues.
Representative diagrams should represent the actual situation and only need to change when a change is implemented. They are more static and used within WebEA by less experienced users and for reference and review purposes. On these diagrams, I can collect discussions and review comments to improve the quality of the repository.
The 'pollution' I mentioned is mainly on those representative diagrams.

In this case, I'm building a set of application profiles for different purposes of the same application for review in WebEA.
One application profile is used to show the data flows between the applications.
Another profile is of a more technical nature showing the interfaces used to link applications.
And for clarity, I would like to hide the data flows on the interface profile as they tend to clutter the diagrams.
Hope this makes some sense ;-)

[BobM]

And for clarity, I would like to hide the data flows on the interface profile as they tend to clutter the diagrams.
Hope this makes some sense ;-)

This makes sense, we did the same thing by adding some elements to layers and putting the layers off by default

In the end this was not feasible as Sparx Procloud services doesn't support layers enabling or disabling.
We did a workshop with the end-users for each diagrams to come to new conventions to simplify the high level and the detailed diagrams (making everything a lot easier to create and to read), creating less clutter on the diagrams.
A hint I can give is to do this only with the people that use it and not the managers as managers tend to respond to the what do you need to see to do your jobs with: "everything" without giving it a second thought, while the end users merely want a visual representation of how it should work and they document/maintain the remaining stuff in their own tools. Sparx EA is not a great tool to maintain stuff in the long run but its good at creating comprehensive building plans.

[Geert Bellekens]

And for clarity, I would like to hide the data flows on the interface profile as they tend to clutter the diagrams.
Hope this makes some sense ;-)

Yes, that makes sense. I think the Freeze Visible relations options is probably your best option then.

Geert