Objects tab


Tools > Options > Objects

This page provides an explanation of the various options that can be set to optimize and modify the behavior of objects and links in the Graphical View.

Objects

Double Click call dedicated Application Selecting this option will cause a dedicated application to launch when you double click an object. 

To find out more about the Dedicated Application option, click here.

Show Full Names for Server Objects Selecting this option will cause any server objects displayed in the Graphical View to be displayed with their full name, i.e.: database.object_name.

Show Full Names for Client Objects Selecting this option will cause any client objects (i.e.: those that are part of analyses) to be displayed with the full name, i.e.: analysis_name.object_name.extension.

Small Objects in Graphical View Select this option to reduce the size of objects displayed in the Graphical View. By default this option is not selected.

CAST recommends that you refresh the Graphical View after selecting this option.

Choose Font Clicking the Choose Font button will launch the Font dialog box enabling you to choose the Font, Style and Size of the text used for the objects displayed in the Graphical View.

You can also change the Script used if you have another stored on your PC.

Links

Use Square Links as Default If you select this option, links between objects will be in square form as shown below.

This option will not affect existing links in your Graphical View - they will remain as normal straight lines - only newly added links will be displayed in square form. For more information on Square Links, click here.

Use Spline Links as Default If you select this option, links between objects will be in spline form as shown below.

This option will not affect existing links in your Graphical View - they will remain as normal straight lines - only newly added links will be displayed in spline form. For more information on Spline Links, click here.

Show Access Mode on Links Selecting this option will display an abbreviation of the link type existing between two objects as shown below. To find out what an abbreviation means, roll the mouse pointer over it and a small information box will explain the link type.

Separate Overlapping Links

Select this option if you want to permanently turn off the default Overlapping Links option. When the option is in use, links between objects in Graphical Views can overlap each other. 

When this Separate Overlapping Links option is selected, links in the Graphical View will NOT overlap each other, thus rendering the view more understandable.

For more information on the Separate Overlapping Links option, click here.

Show Cardinalities on Links Select this option to automatically display table cardinalities. To explain this feature in more detail, take for example a "parent object" (Invoice) with a primary key and a "child object" (Invoice_Line) with a foreign key:

On the "parent" side:

The cardinalities show the minimum number (1st value) and the maximum number (2nd value) of existing records in the "child" table for each record of the "parent" table.

The minimum cardinality is either '0' or '1'. '1' indicates that one of the "parent" table records cannot exist without a record in the "child" table. If not the value is '0'.

The maximum cardinality is either '1' or 'n'. '1' is displayed when the columns of the foreign key in the "child" table have a unique condition (for example if a foreign key is also declared as the primary key of the "child" table, or if a unique index relates to the foreign key columns).

On the "child" side:

The cardinalities show the minimum number (1st value) and the maximum number (2nd value) of records in the "parent" table corresponding to one specific record in the "child" table.

Since a primary key is unique, the maximal cardinality (2nd value) is always '1' (one record in the "child" table cannot have more than one parent).

The minimum cardinality is either '0' or '1'. '1' indicates that there is always a parent for each record of the "child" table. '0' indicates that one record of the "child" table can exist without a parent (the foreign key columns can be null).

Tables

Highlight Foreign Key Columns If you select this option, Foreign Key Columns in Tables will be highlighted using italic text as shown below:

Display Null Flag On Column Selecting this option will force the application to display the flag "Null" on corresponding Table Columns as shown below:

Position

This section enables you to specify how objects are placed in the Graphical View during an automatic object placement operation such as:

In essence the options available here define how Enlighten will decide where to place your objects. Imagine that there is a hypothetical set of circles (you can define the number of circles) over your Graphical View emanating from the selected item, i.e. object or link  - as shown in the image below:

Each circle can be divided into a number of sectors (you can define this). Each time Enlighten carries out an automatic placement of objects in the Graphical View, a "cost statistic" is calculated for each of these sectors.

If a sector already contains an object, or the sector is not visible on the screen then this "cost" is higher. When a "cost" has been calculated for each zone, Enlighten will locate the sectors with the lowest cost statistic and automatically place the objects in them.

Precision Defines how many sectors each circle will be divided into - the higher the figure, the more detailed the "cost" search will be and the more precise the result will be.

A higher figure also takes longer to process.

Size of search domain Defines the size of the search domain - essentially, how many circles will be searched concentrically from the center point. The higher the figure, the more detailed the "cost" search will be and the more precise the result will be.

A higher figure also takes longer to process.

Visible Favors automatic placement of objects in the area visible on the screen. In some cases, however, objects may still be placed outside the visible area.
Avoid superimposition Favors automatic placement that avoids the superimposition of objects. In some cases, however, objects may still be superimposed.

Arrange Object

Auto arrange up to "n" objects

In normal circumstances, when placing objects in the Graphical View (by dragging them from the Object Browser window) the objects will be automatically arranged using the "Spring" option. Use this option to define an upper limit for  the number of objects to be placed in the Graphical View and once this threshold is reached (i.e. you drag in more objects than specified in this option), the auto arrange mechanism will not be activated. Instead the objects will be placed in a standard grid formation.


CAST Website