How to add elements to a diagram

Create a new element from the Palette

1. Open a diagram on the Canvas
2. In the Palette, find the element type you want
3. Drag it onto the Canvas
4. The new element appears — type a name and press Enter

This creates a new element in the model and places it on the diagram.

Add an existing element from the Explorer

If an element already exists in your model but isn’t on the current diagram:

1. Find the element in the Explorer
2. Drag it from the Explorer onto the Canvas
3. It appears on the diagram at the drop location

The element is now visible on this diagram. It still exists in its original package — you’re adding a view of it, not moving it.

Bring in the elements related to one already on the diagram

To see what an element is connected to, add its neighbours in one step:

1. Right-click the element on the diagram and choose Insert Related…
2. The list shows every element joined to it by a relationship, in either direction, with the relationship beside it (→ from the element you clicked, ← to it). Everything not yet on the diagram is ticked. Elements already on the diagram are greyed and marked On diagram
3. Untick any you don’t want, or use Clear All and Select All
4. Click Insert

The new elements appear in a circle around the one you clicked, with their relationships drawn. With more than 12, a second, larger circle is started.

• One step out. Only directly related elements are listed. To go further, repeat on one of the new elements.
• Nothing you placed is moved. Only the new elements are positioned. If a spot is taken, the element is placed further out, so it never lands on another shape.
• Nothing is nested. A new element is never put inside a container, and no element changes owner in the model.
• All relationships are drawn. A new element also gets a line to any other element on the diagram it is related to, not only to the one you clicked.
• One undo. The new elements are left selected so you can move them together, and Ctrl+Z takes the whole insert back. Like any diagram change, it is not saved until you press Ctrl+S.

Only the diagram changes. No element or relationship is created or altered in the model.

Create a new element from the Palette to the Explorer

To create an element in the model without placing it on any diagram:

1. Drag an element type from the Palette onto a package in the Explorer
2. Name it and press Enter

The element is created in the model. You can add it to a diagram later by dragging it from the Explorer.

Notes

• An element can appear on multiple diagrams — it’s the same model element shown in different views
• Removing an element from a diagram (Delete key) removes it from that diagram only. The element still exists in the model.
• Deleting an element from the model (Ctrl+Delete / Cmd+Delete) removes it from all diagrams.