Several functions are available for navigating and displaying the open diagrams and views.

On this page:

Navigation and zoom functions

You can navigate or scroll through a single diagram or view using the arrow keys of your keyboard and with Page Up (scroll up), Page Down (scroll down), Home (to the beginning of the diagram/view) and End (to the end of the diagram/view).

The other navigation and zoom functions are located on the Home ribbon tab and in the right part of the status bar at the bottom of the application window:

Move and resize

Selecting, moving and resizing of elements in a diagram or view can be done using the arrow pointer .

Make room

The Make Room function makes it possible to move elements aside in order to make room for new elements or just add space to the diagram or view. To activate the function, click the  control in the Layout group on the Home ribbon tab.

When making room in container objects (objects that contain other objects), you can select a single container object and make room in it, but you can also select several container objects at the same time and make room in order to keep the relative layout between the container objects the same. This could be desirable when relations lead from objects in one container object to objects in another container object.

When making room for several container objects, it has effect on the clicked-on container object and the objects directly placed in it, but also on the other selected container objects and the objects directly placed in this objects. It has no effect on the objects in a container object that are container objects. In order to also make room in these underlying container objects, you need to select them too before you perform the Make room operation.

Making room in container objects

Helicopter selector

The Helicopter selector function automatically zooms out maximally such that all objects become visible and indicates which part was visible within the diagram or view before the function was activated. Then, you have two options:

• You can select another part of the diagram or view, which consequently will be shown with the same zoom factor as before;
• By dragging the rectangle you select another part of interest of the diagram or view, which consequently will be shown zoomed out.

To activate the helicopter selector, click the control in the status bar at the bottom of the application window.

Scale to fit

The Scale to fit function zooms out maximally, making all objects shown within the graphical diagram. To activate the function, click the control in the status bar at the bottom of the application window.

Scale to 100%

The Scale to 100 function shows the diagram or view at the normal 100% size. To activate the function, click the control in the status bar at the bottom of the application window, or press Ctrl+0. Use the 0 from the numeric keypad.

Zoom in and out

With a combination of the Ctrl key and the plus + or minus - keys on the numeric keypad you can zoom in or out, respectively. The Ctrl key together with the mouse wheel has the same effect, while keeping the view "underneath the cursor" visible.

To zoom in and out, use the resize bar at the bottom of the application window:

Full-screen view

The Full screen function hides all dockable panes, resulting in a maximum drawing space on the computers monitor. Only the ribbon and the status bar of the application remain visible. The full-screen display can be activated by pressing F11 or clicking the control in the status bar at the bottom of the application window. By pressing F11 or clicking the control once again you can return to the regular display.

Navigating diagrams and views

If multiple diagrams and/or views are open, you can navigate them by just clicking the different tabs, but also by using the Ctrl+Tab key combination. When pressing and holding it, a window appears showing the active diagrams and views. Hold down the Ctrl key, and press Tab to navigate the diagrams and views.

Navigating diagrams

Display of grid and guides

Snap to grid

By default, objects in the view are automatically positioned on the grid via the Snap objects to grid setting at the graphics options for diagrams and views. This makes it easier to line elements, in order to make neat models. If the automatic positioning is turned off, you can manually position all objects in the view at once by clicking Snap to Grid on the Home ribbon tab.

Grid visibility

The visibility of the grid can be set via the Display grid on screen setting at the graphics options. It can be set for a specific diagram or view, but also as a default setting for all diagrams and views in the model package.

Guides visibility

Via Home > Snap to Grid > Guides you can handle the visibility of the drawing guides. The guides are the horizontal and vertical construction lines you see when you move an object in the view. The guides help you align the object to other objects horizontally and vertically. You can align to the borders and to the center of objects. When one or more sides, or the horizontal or vertical center of the object actually snaps to another object, the guide lines become bold.

The guides functionality works best in combination with the Snap objects to other objects setting at the graphics options.

Guides visible when moving an object

Display of automatic page breaks

In the drawing area of a diagram or view the automatic page breaks are displayed by default. The page breaks are indicated by small light purple dotted lines.

The automatic page breaks can be displayed and hidden by switching them on and off via Home > Snap to Grid > Automatic Page Breaks.

Detail of page break on a (zoomed out) view

The displayed page breaks include the page margins, so everything that is drawn between the page breaks falls within the printable area of the page. The page breaks correspond to the settings as defined in the page settings (File > Print > Page Setup). When you change the page settings (page size, orientation and/or margins), the automatic page breaks in a diagram or view are automatically adjusted according to these changes.