Diagrams

A diagram is a Content Pane that you use to create and edit diagrams within your UML model. It contains the following controls:

Pen Options Button : This button will display the Pen Options Dialog to control the pen and ink used in the Diagram Pad.
Pen Mode Buttons : Use these buttons to select a drawing mode .
Recognize: Check this box to enable UML recognition within diagrams. Why wouldn't you want recognition enabled? Well, some people prefer to work quickly without waiting for the recognizer to clean up their drawings. These users might prefer to turn off recognition, and then use manual recognition to process the diagrams.
Clean Up: Check this box to enable Clean Up, which will replace your drawings with cleaned-up icons. Uncheck this box for "natural" drawings that look precisely the way you draw them (for better or for worse). Recognize must be checked to enable Clean Up.
Dash Mode: Check this box to enable Dash Mode, meaning that Connectors that you draw will be dashed lines or dashed arrows. Outside of Dash Mode, Tablet UML will attempt to intelligently use dashes where approrpriate, but will default to undashed. Recognize must be checked to enable Dash Mode.
Manual Recognition Dropdown : This contains a list of element types recognized in the current diagram. If Tablet UML can't recognize something that you draw, you can select the drawing, and then select an element type from this combo box. This is one of two manual recognition modes in Tablet UML.
Diagram Title: This field lets you name the diagram.
Update Button: This button lets you read the names and contents of all elements of the diagram. (Note: This button only appears if the Content Editing Mode is set to On Demand or Background.
Diagram Pad: This is the large drawing surface where you'll draw your diagram.
Vertical Scroll Bar: Use this scroll bar to move up or down within the Diagram Pad .
Horizontal Scroll Bar: Use this scroll bar to move left or right within the Diagram Pad .
Zoom Button : Press this button to open the Zoom Dialog.

When you draw shapes in a diagram, Tablet UML will examine the type of diagram you're drawing and interpret each shape as one of the standard UML elements for that diagram type. Thus, the same shape may have different meanings depending on the diagram type. For example, a rectangle on a class diagram is interpreted as a class, and converted to a class element; but a rectangle on a component diagram is interpreted as a component, and converted to a component element. For the most part, you don't have to worry about this. You just draw the "natural" shapes for each diagram, and Tablet UML interprets them correctly. (For details on how to draw each diagram, see the specific diagram types listed below.)

If your Tablet PC pen supports a barrel button or barrel switch, you can easily override the default recognizer rules, and choose the recognized element for each shape that you draw. If you draw a stroke with the barrel button pressed, the automatic recognizer will be temporarily disabled; and when you finish the stroke, the context menu will appear, allowing you to manually recognize the stroke (as described under Context Menus) This has proven to be a simple and practical way to draw different connectors, since it can be tricky to draw different arrow types all as a single stroke.

For specific drawing instructions, see Connectors , Naming, Notes, Selecting , Erasing, Delete from Model, Context Menus, and the individual diagram types.

Diagrams

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