Creating Objects
Before you start, learn the basic operations for creating objects and lines. There are five ways to create model elements.
1. Using a tool palette
Choose the icon you want to create from the tool palette, then click on the diagram.
2. Drag from tree
Drag a model from the tree and drop it on a diagram.
3. Using a Suggest Feature
Hover over an object and click one of the mini icons that appear. To hide the mini icons, click the object or hold down the [Shift] key.
4. Double-clicking on the diagram
Double-clicking directly on a diagram creates the following model elements.
| Diagram | Model |
|---|---|
| Class Diagram | Class |
| Class Diagram | Instance Specification (hold the Ctrl key while double-clicking) |
| UseCase Diagram | UseCase |
| Statemachine Diagram | State |
| Activity Diagram | Action |
| Sequence Diagram | Lifeline |
| Communication Diagram | Lifeline |
| Component Diagram | Component |
| Deployment Diagram | Node |
| Deployment Diagram | Node Instance (hold the Ctrl key while double-clicking) |
| Composite Structure Diagram | Structured Class |
| Flowchart | Process |
| Data Flow Diagram | Process Box |
| ER Diagram | ER Entity |
| Mind Map | Root Topic |
| Requirement Diagram | Requirement |
5. Pasting texts from Clipboard
You can create models by pasting text onto a diagram. Since version 8.5, you can also add attributes and operations to a class, and ER attributes to an ER entity, by pasting text.
Create objects in a row
There are two ways to create the same model element several times in a row.
- Hold down the [Shift] key: keep clicking on the diagram while holding down [Shift].
- Turn on [Continuous] mode: click [Continuous] on the tool palette.
Wrap text
You can wrap text with [Shift+Enter], [Alt+Enter] or [Ctrl+Enter]. However, text cannot be wrapped for some models.
Specify color
You can specify colors for diagram elements, including lines. There are two ways to do so:
From Toolbar
Choose a color on the toolbar before you create diagram elements. You can also change the color of existing elements.
Select [Set Color] to open the detailed color chooser.
You can switch between two palettes, [Custom] and [Swatches].
If you turn on [Apply to Created Elements], the selected color is kept, and the elements you create stay in that color until you turn it off.
From [System Properties]
You can set a default color for each type of diagram element. Go to [Tools] – [System Properties] – [Default Item Color], select the colors, and click [Apply] – [OK].
NOTE:
- When [Apply to Created Elements] is on, it takes precedence over the default color set in [Tools] – [System Properties] – [Default Item Color].
TIPS: Set default size of model elements
You can set the default size of model elements in [Tools] – [System Properties] – [Default Item Size].
Expand and reduce space
To make space before inserting objects, or to remove unneeded space for a tidier diagram, use the [Gap Expander/Remover] tool.