Modeling - Diagram Appearance Options

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Tools > Options > Modeling > (level) > Diagram > Appearance

Here (level) is used to specify that the Diagram Appearance options page can be selected in the Diagram, Project, Project Group, and Default branches of the Modeling options tree. (See Hierarchical Levels of Modeling options in the Modeling Options dialog box topic for more information).

The Diagram Appearance options control the default behavior and appearance of diagrams.

General options

Option	Description and default value
Diagram background color	Defines the background color for diagrams, if the Use default background color option is False. The default value is WhiteSmoke.
Diagram background gradient color	Defines the second background color used for gradient coloring of diagram backgrounds.
Diagram background gradient mode	Defines the Horizontal or Vertical direction of gradient coloring of diagram backgrounds. The default is Horizontal.
Diagram background gradient ON	Turns ON (True) or OFF (False) the gradient coloring of diagram backgrounds. The default is True.
Diagram background image file	Defines the file that stores the image to be used to fill the diagram backgrounds.
Diagram background image mode	Defines how to draw the image specified in Diagram background image file: Backdrop—draws the image behind diagram elements. Overdrop—draws the image in front of diagram elements. In this case, the image will obscure the diagram elements. Use the Diagram background image transparency option to make the image partially transparent and to show the diagram elements otherwise hidden by the image. The default is Backdrop.
Diagram background image transparency	Defines the image's level of transparency. Possible values are between 0 and 1. When the value is 0, the image is totally transparent (it becomes invisible.) When the value is 1, the image totally hides diagram elements. When the value is 0.5, the image partially obscures diagram elements. The default is 1.
Diagram detail level	Defines how much information to display for UML elements in diagrams: Design—names and types. Show visibility specifiers. Analysis—names only. No visibility specifiers. Implementation—names and types, parameters for the methods, and initial values of attributes. Show visibility specifiers. The default is Design.
Font in diagrams	Options in this group define the Font Name, Font Size, Italic, Bold, and other parameters of the font to use in diagrams. The default font is Microsoft Sans Serif, 12pt.
Maximum width of text labels (pixels)	Specifies the width limit for all text labels outside nodes (for example, link labels). A label text automatically continues on the next line when it reaches this limit. If 0, each label is always displayed on one line. The default value is 200.
Member format	Controls the format of members in class diagrams. UML—format members as accepted in the UML standard. Methods are displayed as: <name> (parameters) : <type> Fields are displayed as: <name> : <type> Language—methods are displayed as accepted in the currently used programming language (Delphi or C++). The default value is UML.
Show page borders	Defines whether to show gray borders that represent page margins in the Diagram View and the Overview pane. The default is False.
Use default background color	Defines whether the system background color is used as the main background color in diagrams. True—the background color is defined by the current Windows color scheme. False—the background color is defined by the Diagram background color option. The default is True.
Wrap text in link labels	Defines whether the text displayed in a link label automatically wraps on the next line when it reaches the right border of the label. The right border is specified by Maximum width of text labels (pixels). False—do not display the part of the text that exceeds the right border of the label. The default is False.
Wrap text in nodes	Defines whether the text displayed in a node rectangle automatically wraps on the next line when it reaches the right border of the rectangle. False—do not display the part of the text that exceeds the right border of the rectangle. The default is True.

Gradient coloring of nodes options

Option	Description and default value
Gradient area	Defines which parts of nodes to fill by the gradient coloring. Whole Shape—whole rectangles of nodes Caption—only captions of nodes Caption and Compartments—only captions and compartment names The default is Whole Shape.
Gradient color 1	Defines the first color used by the gradient coloring. Ignored if Use metaclass colors is True.
Gradient color 2	Defines the second color used by the gradient coloring. Ignored if Use metaclass colors is True.
Gradient mode	Defines the Horizontal or Vertical direction of the gradient coloring. The default is Horizontal.
Gradient ON	Defines whether to use the gradient coloring of nodes. The default is True—use the gradient coloring of nodes.
Use global gradient colors	True—use gradient colors specified by Gradient color 1 and Gradient color 2. If Use metaclass color is True, use the default gradient colors defined for program language elements (classes, interfaces, enums, and so on). False—use specific gradient colors specified for particular nodes in the Object Inspector. Gradient colors specified by Gradient color 1, Gradient color 2, and Use metaclass color are global colors. This means that these colors work for all nodes in the diagram (or in all diagrams). However, we can set specific gradient colors for particular nodes using the Gradient color 1 and Gradient color 2 options in the Object Inspector. The default is False.
Use metaclass colors	True—the Modeling default gradient colors defined for different language elements (classes, enums, interfaces) are used. False—use the specified Gradient color 1 and Gradient color 2 for the gradient coloring of nodes. The default is True.

Grid options

Option	Description and default value
Grid color	Defines the color of the grid in diagrams. The default value is Light Gray.
Grid height (pixels)	Sets the height of grid rectangles in pixels. The default is 20.
Grid style	Defines whether the grid is displayed as dotted (Dots) or solid (Lines) lines. The default is Lines.
Grid width (pixels)	Sets the width of grid rectangles in pixels. The default is 20.
Show grid	True—a design grid is visible in the background behind diagrams. The default is True.
Snap to grid	True—when you move a diagram element, it snaps to the nearest intersection of the grid guidelines. The snap function works regardless of the grid being visible or not. The default is True.

Nodes options

Option	Description and default value
3D look	True—a shadow appears under each diagram element to simulate a three-dimensional effect. The default is True.
Enable manual ordering	Defines the order of members displayed within elements. True—fields, methods, subclasses, and properties are sorted within a compartment as they are manually positioned inside a compartment. The default is False.
Round off rectangle corners	True—rounds off corners of rectangular nodes. The default is True.
Show compartments as line	True—lines are displayed instead of compartment names (Fields, Methods, Classes, Properties, and so on) in nonselected diagram nodes. Compartments are represented as expandable nodes that can be opened or closed by mouse clicking. The default is True.
Show imported classes with fully qualified names	Defines whether imported class names are shown in the fully qualified or short form. The default is True.
Show metadata attributes	Defines showing or hiding metadata attributes. The default is False.
Show referenced class names	Defines showing or hiding referenced class names. With this parameter, you can optionally show or hide the name of the base class or interface in the upper-right corner of a classifier in the Diagram View. You can hide these references to simplify the visual presentation of the project. The default is True.
Show referenced classes with fully qualified names	Defines whether referenced class names are shown in the fully qualified or short form. The default is True.
Sort members according to their positions in source code	Defines the order of members displayed within compartments. True—fields, methods, subclasses, and properties are sorted within compartments according to their positions in the source code. If True, then the Sort members by visibility and Sort members alphabetically options are ignored. The default is False.
Sort members alphabetically	Defines the order of members displayed within compartments. True—fields, methods, subclasses, and properties are sorted alphabetically within compartments. If Sort members by visibility is also enabled, then members are sorted alphabetically within visibility groups. The default is True.
Sort members by visibility	Defines the order of members displayed within compartments. True—fields, methods, subclasses, and properties are sorted by visibility within compartments. Sorting by visibility has higher priority than Sort members alphabetically. The default is True.

UML In Color options

Option	Description and default value
Enable UML in color	Defines whether to use the UML in color profile. When True, the color of a diagram element depends on the stereotype selected. For each stereotype existing in this group of options, you can select its individual color from the drop-down list. The default is True.
Description stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "description". The default is Light Blue.
Mi-detail stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "Mi-detail". The default is Light Pink.
Moment-interval stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "moment-interval". The default is Light Pink.
Party stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "party". The default is Light Green.
Place stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "place". The default is Light Green.
Role stereotype	Defines the color of classifiers with the stereotype "role". The default is Yellow.
Thing stereotype	Controls the color of classifiers with the stereotype "thing". The default is Light Green.

See Also

• Configuring UML Modeling
• Modeling Options