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Version: 15.1

Working with Navigation and View Tools

The navigation and view tools let you navigate through models, analyses etc. and control how you see your models.

Navigate through Open Models, Analyses etc.

In order to navigate through models, analyses etc. you recently viewed:

  • Click the < and > arrows at the top right corner of the program window. The previous or next model is brought to the foreground. The models are ordered according to the sequence in which they were opened.

  • Click the Opened views button at the top right corner of the program window. Any models you recently viewed are displayed as tiles. By clicking a tile, you can bring the selected model to the foreground.

Switch between Components in the Right-side Pane

The right-side pane in ADOIT can hold various components like the collaboration functions or validation functions. To open or switch between components in the right-side pane:

 Switch between Components in the Right-side Pane

  • When the right-side pane is empty, a list of available components is displayed. From the list, choose the component you want to open.

  • When the right-side pane already shows a component, you can switch to a different component. Click the icon in the upper-left corner of the pane, and then select the component you want to switch to.

Toggle Editor

In order to open the active model in another editor:

 Toggle editor

  • Click the Model or Table button in the menu bar of the model.

The graphical editor ("Model") lets you design, modify and update models. The tabular editor ("Table") is ideal for the large-scale editing of attributes.

View Object Tooltips

Object tooltips are small windows that display attribute information such as the Name and the Description of an object. They are displayed when you only have read access to a model.

To view an object tooltip:

  • Position the mouse pointer over the object in the graphical editor.
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The attributes which should be considered when viewing object tooltips can be configured in the Administration Toolkit.

Make Objects Coloured and Create Heat Maps

You can make objects in the graphical editor coloured depending on the value of an attribute to highlight some aspects of your data. This is a great way to create conditional formatting heat maps. For example, Capabilities could be coloured red if there is a need for action, and gray if there is no need for action.

To start colouring:

  • Click the More button in the menu bar of the open model, and then click Colour  .

The colouring options appear at the right side of the program window. You can use these options to determine what the objects should look like in the model:

  • Enable Colouring

    Click the Enable colouring button to enable colouring. All other options in this panel are inactive unless you click this button.

  • Select Element

    Choose the object type you want to colour.

  • Select Attribute

    Choose the attribute whose value determines how the objects will be coloured. If the attribute is an enumeration, you will immediately see the colour assignment to the values of the attribute. If the attribute represents a number or a date, you have to set values for colouring first (see below).

  • Reverse Colours

    To invert the colour scheme, click the Reverse colours button .

  • Change Colours

    To change colours, click the colour circles.

Set Values for Colouring

The initial colour assignment to the values of the attribute will differ depending on the data type of the selected attribute.

  • Enumeration

    If the selected attribute is an enumeration (= a predefined set of values you can choose from), then you don't need to do anything. Each value is automatically assigned a colour by ADOIT.

  • Number

    For attributes that store integers or floating point numbers, you can define up to 5 different value ranges and assign them to a colour. Define the value range in the From and To fields. A colour will be preselected for each value range. You can add or remove value ranges by clicking the "+" and "x" icons.

  • Date

    For attributes that store a date, you can define up to 5 different time periods and assign them to a colour. Define the period in the From and Until fields. You can either enter the start date and the end date manually or select them in the calendar. A colour will be preselected for each time period. You can add or remove time periods by clicking the "+" and "x" icons.

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After colouring, save the model so that other users can see the heatmap.

When a model is opened and colouring is enabled, the colouring options will appear automatically. The heatmap legend is exported along with the graphical representation of the model when printing the model to PDF or exporting the model as a graphic file.

Display Formatted Annotations in Models

In ADOIT, you can use Notes to provide annotations to the reader of a model.

 Example: Text Annotation Associated with a Goal

The annotation text can be freely formatted. Here is how it works:

  1. In the graphical editor, place the Note where you want to.

  2. Slowly double-click the newly created object to open the text editor.

  3. Enter the annotation you want to display in the model.

  4. Select the text you want to format, and then choose any of the options to change the font family, font size, text colour, or make the text bold, italic, etc.

     Format Text

  5. When you are done, click outside the text editor to close it.

  6. Resize the Note as needed to display the whole text.

Use Modes

In case of extensive, complex modelling methods it often happens that a single model type is used for several use cases. As a consequence, it will contain object and connector types that are only important for some or even one single application scenario.

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This is especially relevant for the ArchiMate Application Library, which contains only one model type.

To reduce complexity and at the same time enhance usability for the users, (view) modes can be predefined. In these view modes, unnecessary object and connector types are either greyed out or completely hidden.

Modes control the visibility of object and connector types in the following editors:

  • Graphical editor

  • Tabular editor

  • Model comparison

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Available modes vary depending on the Application Library in use and product configuration.

Change Modes

Use the following options to change the active view mode:

Change Mode in Graphical Editor or during Model Comparison

To change the active mode in the graphical editor or during model comparison, proceed as follows:

  • Click the Show/hide objects according to pre-defined modes button in the modelling bar, and then select a mode.
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When a model is write protected, the modelling bar will not be displayed. You can still change the mode. Click the More button in the menu bar of the editor, point to Switch mode, and then select a mode.

Change Mode in Tabular Editor

To change the active mode in the tabular editor, proceed as follows:

  • Click the Property filter button in the menu bar of the tabular editor, and then select a mode.

Optionally, when changing the mode in the tabulator editor, you may also:

  • Select a property filter.

  • In the Attribute Selection area, select the desired attributes. Only attributes that match the active property filter are listed.

Use Property Filters

When a property filter is active, unnecessary attributes are hidden. Depending on your system role(s) in ADOIT and the application scenario, you will get access to different property filters.

Example

A property filter for users with a simple reading role could e.g. reduce the amount of visible attributes in the Notebook of an object drastically. A property filter designed for a modeller, on the other hand, would filter no or only a few attributes from the same Notebook.

Property filters control the visibility of attributes in (the):

  • Tabular editor

  • Notebooks

  • Reports

  • Model comparison

Property filter settings will remain in effect until you switch to another scenario. The property filter settings will be saved in the background and reapplied when you switch back to the original application scenario.

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Property filters can be configured in the ADOIT Administration Toolkit.

Change Property Filter

Use the following options to change the active property filter:

Change Property Filter in Tabular Editor or during Model Comparison

To change the active property filter in the tabulator editor or during model comparison, proceed as follows:

  • Click the Property filter button in the menu bar of the editor, and then select a property filter.

Optionally, when changing the property filter in the tabulator editor, you may also:

  • Fine-tune which attributes are displayed. In the Attribute Selection area, select the desired attributes. Only attributes that match the active property filter are listed.

  • Select a mode.

Change Property Filter in Notebook

To change the active property filter in the Notebook, proceed as follows:

  • Click the Property filter button at the top of the list of Notebook chapters, and then select a property filter.

Change Property Filter during Report Creation

You can change the active property filter in the report options.

Display or Hide Empty Attributes

To display or hide all attributes with no value in Notebooks in read mode:

  • In read mode, click the Property filter button at the top of the list of Notebook chapters, and then select or clear the Hide empty attributes check box.

Whether this filter is enabled or disabled by default depends on the Application Library and product configuration. You can combine this filter with any property filter to control which attributes are visible in Notebooks in read mode.

Which Attributes are Considered "Empty"?

The following attributes are considered empty by the filter:

  • Empty text attributes

  • Reference attributes which do not contain a relation

  • Table attributes without any rows

  • Enumeration attributes, when the value "No entry" is set (if only one value can be selected) or when no value is set (if multiple values from the list can be selected at the same time)

Change Visible Model Area

The following sections provide an overview of functions for adjusting the focus and zoom value of the drawing area.

Scrolling

In some cases, a model in normal view will be larger than your screen. To adjust the model area, in other words, to scroll in ADOIT, follow these steps:

  • Drag the scroll bars at the right or bottom border of the model until you reach the desired model region.

  • To scroll up or down the display detail, use the mouse wheel.

  • Click the Pan icon in the Zoom tool, and then hold the left mouse button while you move the mouse pointer over the drawing area.

  • Press and hold the space bar and the left mouse button. Then move the mouse pointer over the drawing area.

Select Display Detail in the Drawing Area

In order to specify a concrete section of a model for displaying:

  • Hold the right mouse button and drag the mouse pointer over the drawing area.

The necessary zoom factor is calculated automatically.

Zoom

With the zoom function, the scale factor of the active model on the screen can be changed from 1% through to 200%. 100% shows the model in original size.

The display size and the visible part of the drawing area in the workspace both depend on the zoom value. For new models, the zoom value is by default 100%.

You can set the zoom value in the Zoom tool:

 Set Zoom Value

  • Click the icons or to increase or decrease the zoom value to the next 10% (from 43% to 50%, from 70% to 60%…).

  • Click the icon to display the model in its original size (zoom value 100%).

  • Click the icon to fit the model to the window size.

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In order to switch rapidly from “factor 100%” to “fit to window size” hold the right mouse button and click on the left mouse button consequently.

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In order to change the zoom value using the mouse wheel hold the <Ctrl> key while scrolling the mouse wheel up/down.

Use Snap Grid

The snap grid is a useful drawing aid for aligning objects and connectors. It is a uniform and unbroken grid covering the whole drawing area of a model. In order to access the snap grid options:

  • Click the More button in the menu bar of the open model.

  • Point to Grid   , and then select the desired settings from the submenu.

Depending on your preferences you can:

  • Activate or deactivate the snap grid

  • Show or hide the snap grid

  • Change the snap grid settings

Collapse/Expand Model Header

If the model type has a model header configured, this header is shown above the open model. The model header contains basic information such as the name and description of the model.

To expand the model header:

  • Click the button .

To collapse the model header:

  • Click the button .