Object Menu

Object Menu

Properties...

opens a dialog to edit and object's (or objects') properties.  This menu item is only available when at least one object is selected.  Properties available for editing depend on the object type.  See Object Properties for more information.

Edit text...

• When objects overlap, one object may obscure the other, particularly if the object has a solid fill.  Using this tool brings the selected object(s) to the front, giving the appearance that the selected objects are on top of the formerly obscuring object.  This behaviour is opposite to Send to back.

• When objects overlap, one object may obscure the other, particularly if the object has a solid fill.  Using this tool sends the selected object(s) to the back, giving the appearance that the other objects are on top of the selected object(s).  This behaviour is opposite to Bring to front.

• This tool groups selected objects together, allowing them to behave as a single object.  Once objects are grouped together, they may be moved as a single object, but individual object properties are no longer available.  Link points associated with the former individual objects are also no longer applicable, although the user may assign new link points to the grouped object.  Note that groups may be nested; grouped objects may be collectively grouped.

• Objects that have been grouped together are separated (back to individual objects) by this tool.  Individual properties for each object are restored and may be edited.  If the original grouped object was a collection of groups, rather than objects, only the separate groups are restored by ungroup.

• attempts to rotate selected object(s).  Rotation of some objects may yield unpredictable results, especially polygons, etc.  While the general shape of the object may be rotated, any link points (already linked to other objects) may not be as expected after rotation.  Converting an object to a Windows® metafile object will enable all rotations (ie. any angle) to be done, but original object properties are no longer available.  Objects converted to a metafile cannot be converted back to objects - use metafile conversion with caution.

  Mirroring objects (left to right) will mirror any embedded text also (rendering it unreadable).  Likewise, Flipping objects (top to bottom) affects embedded text.

• allow the user to align object(s) relative to the current page.  The following settings are available
  • Left - shift to left edge, preserve vertical location
  • Center (horizontally) - center on page, preserve vertical location
  • Right - shift to right edge, preserve vertical location
  • Top - shift to top edge, preserve horizontal location
  • Center (vertically) - center on page, preserve horizontal location
  • Bottom - shift to bottom of page edge, preserve horizontal location
  • Fill - expand object to full page. 

  If more than 1 object is selected, Diagram Designer tries to align one (or more) object to meet another.  In general, the objects are aligned with that (selected) object closest to the final alignment location.  If Fill is used, one or more objects will try to fill another, with somewhat unpredictable results.

• converts a collection of objects to a polygon, one of Diagram Designer's composite objects.  The procedure for conversion is as follows:

  1.		Draw the outline using simple lines. In this example we will make a simple filled triangle.
  2.		Select all lines.  Lines must be connected with no gaps in the shape.  Use Diagram/Connect links, if necessary, to ensure lines are connected.
  3.		All lines should be combined to a group using Object/Group.
  4.		Group now be converted using Object/Convert_to_polygon.  The new Polygon is still selected; if not, select it to edit properties.
  5.		Polygon properties can now be edited, eg. addition of text, fill color, etc.

• Windows® metafiles are graphics files, but have a different structure from most other formats.  Essentially they consist of a collection of commands (in Graphics Device Interface language) to present a graphics image.  Diagram Designer can convert objects to Windows® metafiles using this command.  The simple procedure is
  • select an object or objects to convert
  • use the Object/Convert_to_metafile option

  The object is converted to a single metafile, which has a reduced set of properties.  Be aware that metafile objects (like polygons) cannot be undone back to Diagram Designer objects.  Many object properties (eg. Edit text) are not available once an object has been converted to a metafile.  Line widths, for example are fixed after conversion and are relative to the current size; enlarging the metafile enlarges the line widths as well.

  Why convert?
  Once a metafile is converted, it is a pure graphical object and can be rotated to any angle using the Object/Rotate functions.  In addition, converting an object to a metafile freezes its components relative to each other; no further modifications (other than shrink/grow/rotate) can be made.  This might be an advantage in a complex diagram, although grouping objects exhibits similar (and less permanent) behaviour.

• adds selected object to the current template palette in the template pane.  Since only a single object is added to the template, only one object should be selected.  If multiple objects are selected, behaviour may be unpredictable.

• shows/hides the object tree pane.  Once visible, the menu icon is changed to .