Back to start page

The Canvas

The canvas displays a diagram of the actual selected package in UML notation.

The canvas supports zooming and scrolling which is very helpfull when large diagrams are displayed. Elements in the canvas may be selected. Selected classes and nodes appear gray, selected generalization, associations and dependencies appear blue. The canvas provides context sensitive menus. Clicking with the right mouse button on a diagram element shows the context sensitive popup menu for this diagram element.

The canvas provides different modes, the navigation mode and the layout mode. There is always exactly one mode active and this active mode defines the interaction between the user and the cancas.

Navigation Mode

The navigation mode makes it easy for the user to navigate through the class diagrams at the different levels of the package hierarchy.

Clicking the left mouse button on a package symbol sets the content of this package as the new diagram.
Clicking the left mouse button on the background moves one step up in the package hierarchy.
Dragging the left mouse button scrolls the content.

Layout Mode

The layout mode allows the user to modify the layout of the diagram.

Selection

Clicking the left mouse button on a diagram element sets this element as the current selection.
Clicking the left mouse button and simultaneously the shift button on a diagram element sets adds this element to the current selection.
Dragging the left mouse button opens a box. All diagram elements which are inside this box are set to the current selection.
Dragging the left mouse button and simultaneously pressing the shift button opens a box. All diagram elements which are inside this box are added to the current selection.

Moving

Dragging the mouse when the pointer is over a selected element moves this selection indirection of the mouse pointer.