Corporate Modeler Suite 2009.2 includes a number of exciting new features and enhancements which both extend the capabilities of the software and improve user experience, particularly in Corporate Modeler itself.
New Explosion based on Diagram Rule region types
The powerful regions functionality within Corporate Modeler has been extended to include three new Explosion region types which enable you to link to diagrams based on properties of those diagrams.
Until now an Explosion (drill down) region could only link to or list all the detail diagrams the selected object was a parent of.
Now there are two new explosion region types which provide much greater flexibility and customization over what you can link to. They are:
- Explosion based on Diagram Rule - only link to diagrams of a specified rule
- Explosion based on Diagram Rule and Reference Property - only link to diagrams of a specified rule where a specified drop-down list has a specific value.
Docking points
By enabling Docking points you can force lines to connect lines to shapes only at specified points on the outline of the shape.
When Docking points are enabled you can connect lines to shapes only at specified points on the shape, which helps keep diagrams consistent and neat.
Docking points can only be used on diagrams where the line Behavior is Bent and Maintain right angles is switched on. You cannot use Docking points with Straight lines.
Set object size
With this useful new feature you can use any object on a diagram to specify that any new shapes added to the diagram should be the same size as the one selected.
There are three ways you can set the size of a new diagram object based upon the size of another object:
- Make all new shapes the same size as a selected object, while the diagram remains open
- Make only new shapes, of the same Object Type and Category as the one selected, the same size as a selected object
- Permanently change the default size of an item in the New Object's palette to be the same size as a selected object.
Note: This affects both new objects added by the New Objects palette as well as existing objects added by the Existing Objects palette.
Line routing enhancements
The way that lines between connected shapes re-route when you move a shape on a diagram has been improved significantly over previous releases.
A new Maintain Right Angles option ensures that Bent lines always retain right-angled points between segments, when you move connected shapes around the diagram canvas. Previously, Bent lines would have non-right angled points introduced if a shape was moved.
| START POINT |
WITH MAINTAIN RIGHT ANGLES |
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| WITHOUT MAINTAIN RIGHT ANGLES |
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There have also been improvements to Automatic Line Routing which cleverly re-routes lines around other shapes and lines on a diagram when you move connected shapes. Now when you have Automatic line routing enabled, only those segments that need to move do actually move - and any segments you have manually routed will stay in place.
When the Automatic Line Routing and Maintain Right Angles options are combined, they present a sophisticated solution for diagram editing.
Set Existing Object as diagram parent
To aid the creation of drill-down diagrams, you can now select any object listed in the Existing Objects window of Corporate Modeler and make it the parent of the current diagram.
An object can drill-down to a diagram which explains in further detail what that object represents. For example, a Process on one diagram could be broken down into a set of smaller Processes which are represented on another diagram. That object is the parent of the drill-down diagram.
Now, while viewing or editing a diagram, you can use the Existing Objects window of Corporate Modeler, including its new search filter, to locate an object in your model and specify that it should be the parent object that drills-down to the current diagram.
If the object is represented on another diagram, then it will be shown with an explosion symbol denoting the fact that it drills-down to a detail diagram.
Search Existing Objects
New search functionality in the Existing Objects window in Corporate Modeler makes it quicker and easier to locate objects to place on your diagram
When using the Existing Objects window in Corporate Modeler to find an existing object to add to your diagram, you can now filter the list using a text search.
Use the Find Object field to filter the list of objects by entering text that matches the name of existing objects.
Enable automatic filtering while you type by using the down-arrow button to the right of the Search button.
Specify the filtering behavior to look for a name which Begins with or Contains the text you enter by using the button to the far right of the Search button.
Case-insensitive filtering in AutoComplete
In the previous release of Corporate Modeler Suite, the AutoComplete feature, which enabled you to locate an existing object to reuse on a diagram while adding a new object, was always case-sensitive. Now you can choose whether the search matches the case of your entered text or not. The default setting is for Match case to be disabled.
| Match case - OFF |
Match case - ON |
| All objects of the type and category where the name Contains the text "al" are listed. |
Only objects of the type and category where the name Contains the text "al" are listed. |
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| Only objects of the type and category where the name Begins with the text "al" are listed. |
Only objects of the type and category where the name Begins with the text "al" are listed. |
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Corporate Publisher support for explosion regions
Corporate Publisher now supports explosion regions on diagrams. It means that if you have objects on diagrams that explode to a drill-down diagram, you can click on the hyperlinked explosion region to navigate to that drill-down diagram. The clickable explosion regions are supported in both HTML and Word output.
Object names in Diagram Tree
The Corporate Modeler Diagram Tree now expands to show the names of objects on each diagram. This useful enhancement makes it much easier to navigate your diagrams, objects and drill-down diagrams.