A Canvas Connection is a line that you can draw from one Canvas object to another. You can lock the connection if you want to make it read-only.
Properties
Selecting a Connection in a Canvas View means that you can edit or view the following properties in the Properties window.
The Main Tab
Main Properties for a Canvas Connection
| Locked: | Selecting this ensures that the Connection cannot be moved or edited. |
| Name: | The name of the Connection. If present this will appear next to the Connection on the View. |
| Documentation: | A space to enter some documentation relating to this Connection. If Markdown is used it can be previewed by selecting the "View" toolbar button to the right of the documentation field. See Using Markdown in Text Fields for more details. |
The Properties Tab
For more information about creating and managing User Properties see User Properties.
The Appearance Tab
Appearance Properties for a Canvas Connection
| Show Label: | If selected will show the label if the connection's text is set. |
| Label Position: | Sets the position of the connection's label. Options are "Source", "Middle" and "Target". |
| Label Offset: | Sets the relative position of the connection's label if its position is "Middle". Options are "Centre", "North", "South", "East", "West", "North East", "North West", "South East", and "South West". |
| Line Style: | Sets the connection line's source and target head types and main line style. |
| Line Colour: | Sets the colour of the connection. Click on the main part of the button to set the colour. The "Default" drop-down option sets the line colour to the default setting as set in Preferences. |
| Line Width: | Sets the width of the connection line. Options are "Normal", "Medium" and "Heavy". |
| Text Alignment: | Align text to Left, Centred or Right. |
| Font: | Sets the font. Click on the main part of the button to set the font. The "Default" drop-down option sets the font to the default setting as set in Preferences. |
| Font Colour: | Sets the colour of the font. Click on the main part of the button to set the colour. The "Default" drop-down option sets the font colour to its default. |
The Label Tab
Adding a Label Expression to display in the View
By default, a connection's name will be displayed in any View in which it appears. Using a label expression per View instance, you can choose what is displayed for the connection in the View. For example you may wish to display the connection's name and its type. Or you may wish to display the value of one or more of its properties.
For a full list of expression types please refer to the Archi Wiki.