How to nest elements on a diagram

Nest an element

1. On the Canvas, drag an element into the bounds of another element
2. Release — the child element snaps inside the parent
3. The parent node auto-resizes to contain the child

The child element now moves with the parent when the parent is dragged.

Unnest an element

1. Drag the child element outside the parent’s bounds
2. Release — the element becomes a standalone node again

Auto-resize

When you nest elements, the parent automatically grows to accommodate them. When you unnest or remove children, the parent can be manually resized back down.

Containment edges

If a containment relationship exists between the parent and child elements in the model, the edge is automatically hidden on the diagram when the child is nested inside the parent — the visual nesting already communicates the containment.

Notes

• Nesting is a diagram-level visual grouping — it doesn’t change the element’s package location in the Explorer
• Multiple elements can be nested inside the same parent
• Nested elements can themselves contain further nested elements (multi-level nesting)
• The same element can be nested inside one parent on one diagram and standalone on another