Connector Types

Click ＋ on the Connectors heading in the left panel to create a connector type, a named kind of connection with its own colour, line and arrow.

Where: Space Studio › Left panel › Connectors · Keys: Double-click a type to edit it

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What it is

A connector type names a relationship: "uses", "owns", "reports to", "depends on". Every connector of that type shares its name and its look, so the meaning is carried in the line itself and different relationships stay distinguishable in one picture. Every project has Universal, a plain connector that's always at the top of the list. You make the rest, inside Filamental, in a form.

How to use it

Create one

1. Click ＋ (Add connector type) on the Connectors heading.
2. In New Connector Type, type a Display Name, such as "Uses". The key Filamental stores is shown beneath it.
3. Set its look:
• Colour: the colour of its lines.
• Thickness: 1 (thin), 2 (medium) or 3 (thick).
• Directionality: None, or Unidirectional to give new connectors of this type an arrow.

Click Create type.

Edit one

• Double-click a connector type for Connector Properties: its Name, Line weight and Colour, with a preview. Click Save changes.
• Right-click it for Rename, Edit (the full form, Edit Connector) and Delete. Universal can be edited but not renamed or deleted.

A change shows on every connector of that type at once.

Delete one

Right-click it, choose Delete and confirm with Yes, delete. Filamental then asks what to do with the connectors of that type:

• Permanently remove all connections
• Preserve as Universal, which keeps every connection as a plain one

Either can be undone. See Undo and Redo.

What a click does

A click on a connector type depends on what's selected:

• Nothing selected: it lights up that type's connectors, and the nodes at both ends, while the rest dims. Click again to turn it off. See Highlighting.
• Two nodes selected: it connects them with that type (Connect selected nodes as …).
• Connectors selected: it changes them to that type (Retype selected connector(s) to …).

Click empty space first if you only want the highlight.

Tips

• Direction is set per connector as well. A type's directionality is only where new connectors of that type start. See Arrows, Direction and Pull.
• Keep connector types few. A handful of well-named relationships reads far better than a dozen near-synonyms.
• Renaming or recolouring a connector type can't be undone, so change it back by hand.
• Templates add ready-made connector types for a kind of work. See Templates.

How this helps you

• Use one type per real relationship, so "funds" and "advises" look different at a glance.
• Use Preserve as Universal when you're tidying the vocabulary but want to keep the connections themselves.

Related

• Connectors: drawing and editing connectors.
• Arrows, Direction and Pull: direction and influence on each connector.
• Classifications: the same idea, for nodes.
• Highlighting: lighting up one connector type.