Enhanced Layout

In the real world applications, the diagrams could be very large that span over 2000x2000 pixels. This kind of giant diagrams are very hard to manage and navigate even you are using a dual monitors machine. Sometimes you just want to make the diagram a little bit tidier, but you found that it’s really a hard job. With the Enhanced Layout introduced in VP-UML 4.0 and SDE 2.0, your diagram can be laid out and formatted in a smart way.

Base on the characteristic of your diagram Your diagram will be laid out base on its characteristic. Different types of diagram will have its own layout heuristics. Furthermore, even the same type of diagram with different amount of models will have different layout effect when applying automatic diagram layout.

 

Layout only what you want You don’t need to layout the whole diagram every time. The Enhanced Layout allows you to layout part of your diagram, even only a single connector.

 

Fully customizable properties The configuration for each type of layout can be customized to meet your specific requirements. The last layout action will be memorized so that you can re-apply the same layout after you have modified the diagram.

 

Some layout examples for applying automatic layout

Layout of Class Diagram – different approach will be used for the class diagram with more associations or more generalizations:

 

Associations more than generalizations – Orthogonal layout will be selected automatically.

 

Generalizations more than associations – Hierarchic layout will be selected automatically.

 

Layout of Use Case Diagram – By default, orthogonal layout will be selected.

 

Layout of State Diagram – States and transitions will be aligned automatically.

 

Related Resources

Interactive demonstrations of Enhanced Layout

Layout whole or part of the diagram

Auto routing connectors

Layout class diagram

VP-UML User’s Guide Automatic Diagram Layout Section