Moving Objects

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ER/Studio Data Architect lets you move data model objects to and from the Data Model Explorer and Data Model Window. ER/Studio Data Architect provides easy visual maintenance of your entity-relationship models, by letting you move, copy and paste, drag and drop, resize, and align all diagram objects. You can move individual or groups of diagram objects anywhere in your data model even if your model is in a specific diagram auto layout.

You can also move entire submodels to other models in the Data Model Explorer. ER/Studio Data Architect also lets you move objects between logical and physical models.

Using ER/Studio Data Architect you can also resize any diagram object. When you add entities, tables, or views to your diagram, ER/Studio Data Architect automatically determines the proper dimensions of the object to fit the text that it displays. You can manually resize these diagram objects to control the presentation of your data models. If you need to hide attributes in an entity or view, you can resize the entity or view to be smaller than the width of the longest attribute, therefore hiding text.

This section covers moving objects in the Data Model Window, in the Data Model Explorer, and from the Data Model Explorer to the Data Model Window. It is comprised of the following topics:

• Moving Objects in the Data Model Window
• Moving Data Model Objects in the Data Model Explorer

Moving Objects in the Data Model Window

To make your data model more readable, you can move entities, tables, and the relationship lines that join these objects. You can move individual or groups of objects anywhere in your data model even if you have chosen a specific auto layout for the model.

• Clicking an Auto-Layout option repositions the objects according to the rules of the Auto-Layout organization selected. For more information, see Changing Data Model Layout.
• Moving Data Model Objects
• Moving Relationship Docking Points

Moving Data Model Objects

1. On the Main Toolbar, click the Selection tool.
2. In the Data Model Window, select and then drag the object to the desired location.
3. Select multiple entities or tables by dragging the selection tool across them or pressing and holding CTRL while you click each object. Once the objects are selected, the cursor changes to

• The relationship lines joining the objects automatically adjust as the objects are moved.

Moving Relationship Docking Points

1. On the Main Toolbar, click the Selection tool.
2. In the Data Model Window, click the relationship line you want to change.
3. Move the cursor over the docking point of the relationship until the cursor icon changes to
4. Click and drag the relationship docking point to the desired location on the same entity or table.
5. You cannot change the relationship between entities or tables by moving the relationship line. To change entity or table relationships, see Working with Relationships.

Moving Data Model Objects in the Data Model Explorer

• Moving Objects to Different Nodes
• Moving Submodels

Moving Objects to Different Nodes

You can move objects, such as entities and attributes between the main logical model and its submodels within the Data Model Explorer.

1. On the Main toolbar, click the Selection tool.
2. In the Data Model Explorer, select the objects you want to move.
3. Drag to the objects to a new target node and then release the left mouse button.
4. If the move is permitted, your cursor will change to

Moving Submodels

To assist you in analyzing your data model, you can move submodels from one model to another. You can also move submodels to nest them within other submodels.

1. On the Main toolbar, click the Selection tool.
2. In the Data Model Explorer, click the submodel you want to move and then drag it to another model or submodel.
3. When the submodel selection is over an item it can be moved under, the cursor changes to
4. Release the mouse button.

See Also

• Copying Objects
• Resizing Objects
• Changing Data Model Layout