SysML Diagrams

Block Definition Diagram Modifications & Settings

Below we'll cover the Block Definition Diagram's construct editing options and Settings.

Block Editing Review of the options provided for the Block Construct
Port Editing  Review of the options provided for the Port Construct
Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing  Review of the options provided for these Constructs
Multiple Entities Selected Editing Review of the options provided for Multiple Entities selected
Logical Connection Editing  Review of the options provided for the Logical Connections
BDD Settings Review of the Settings provided for the BDD

The previous article covers the basics of the constructs on the Block Definition Diagram. Below we will cover the constructs' editing options and more.

Block (Asset) Editing Options

bdd block edit options

Upon selecting a Block construct on the BDD, users have options on the top toolbar frame to modify it on the canvas, below we will cover each option.

Bold

bold bdd block  

This option will Bold the name of the entity selected on the canvas.

Italicize

italicize bdd block

This option will Italicize the name of the Block selected on the canvas.

Change Text Fill Color

change text color bdd block

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Text Fill Color Option, users can change the text color of the Block selected on the canvas by selecting the color associated to the desired color simply inputting in the Hex, R, G, B fields the proper codes and numbers.

Change Fill Color

change flll color bdd block

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Change Fill Color Option, users can change the color of the Block selected on the canvas.

Change Stroke/line color

change line color bdd block

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Change Line/Stroke Color Option, users can change the color that borders the Block selected on the canvas.

Reset Color back to default

reset color bdd block

The Reset color back to default option will change the entity selected on the canvas back to the default gray and black colors.

Port Editing Options

bdd port edit options

Upon selecting a Port, the following editing options appear on the top of the toolbar frame. 

bdd port edit options 2

We will cover each option below.

Bold

bdd bold port edit options 

This option will Bold the name of the Port selected on the canvas.

Italicize

bdd italicize port edit options

This option will Italicize the name of the Port selected on the canvas.

Change Text Fill Color

bdd change text color port edit options

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Text Fill Color Option, users can change the text color of the Port selected on the canvas by selecting the color associated close to the desired color simply inputting in the fields the proper codes and numbers.

Change Fill Color

bdd change fill color port edit options

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Text Fill Color Option, users can change the color of the Port selected on the canvas.

Change Stroke/line color

bdd change line color port edit options

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Change Line/Stroke Color Option, users can change the color that borders the Port construct of the entity selected on the canvas.

Reset Color back to default

bdd reset color port edit options

The Reset color back to default option will change the Port selected on the canvas back to the default gray and black colors.

Port Options Dropdown

bdd port label edit options

Options in the dropdown provide users the ability to hide or show the label for the Port or reset the label if it had moved or changed color.

Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options 

Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options 

The 4 constructs, Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) have the same editing options when any of them are selected. Below we will cover those in more detail. 

Bold

bold Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options  

This option will Bold the name of the construct selected on the canvas.

Italicize

italicize Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options 

This option will Italicize the name of the construct selected on the canvas.

Change Text Fill Color

change text color Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options 

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Change Text Fill Color Option, users can change the text color of the construct selected on the canvas by selecting the color associated close to the desired color or simply inputting in the Hex, R, G, B fields the proper codes and numbers.

Reset Color back to Default

reset color Value (Characteristic), Input Parameter (I/O), Return Type (I/O), Constraint (Equation) and Action Editing Options 

The Reset color back to default option will change the construct selected on the canvas back to the default black color.

Multiple Entities Selected

multiple entities Editing Options 

Users may drag their cursor outside of the constructs and a box will appear to select as many multiple entites the user desires. Many features on the top toolbar will appear upon doing so for the user to utilize. Let's go over each option as highlighted below.

multiple entities Editing Options 2

Bold

bold multiple entities Editing Option 

This option will Bold the name of the constructs selected on the canvas.

Italicize

italicize multiple entities Editing Option

This option will Italicize the name of the constructs selected on the canvas.

Change Text Fill Color

change text color multiple entities Editing Option

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Text Fill Color Option, users can change the text color of the multiple constructs selected on the canvas by selecting the color associated close to the desired color or simply inputting in the Hex, R G, B fields the proper codes and numbers.

Change Fill Color

change fill color multiple entities Editing Option

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Text Fill Color Option, users can change the color of the constructs selected on the canvas.

Change Stroke/line color

change line color multiple entities Editing Option

Using the HTML Color Picker that drops down from the Change Line/Stroke Color Option, users can change the color that borders the constructs selected on the canvas.

Reset Color back to default

reset color multiple entities Editing Option

The Reset color back to default option will change the constructs selected on the canvas back to the default gray and black colors.

Align Vertically

align vertically multiple entities Editing Option

This selection will align the constructs vertically for the multiple entities selected on the canvas. The vertical line will start with the highlighted green Block, as shown below.

align vertically multiple entities example

Align Horizontally

align horizontally multiple entities Editing Option

This selection will align the constructs horizontally for the multiple constructs selected on the canvas. The horizontal alignment will start with the green highligthed Block as shown below.

align horizontally multiple entities example

Logical Connection Construct Editing Options

Logical Connection Construct Editing Options

When a Logical Connection is selected, the top toolbar frame provides options for users to modify it, as shown above.

Let's delve into the following editing options for the Logical Connections.

Change Stroke/Line Color

change color Logical Connection Construct Editing

Users may change the color of the Logical Connection and the diamond (if included in the Path) with this option.

Reset Back to Default

reset color Logical Connection Construct Editing

This option will set the Logical Connection back to the defaulted black (or white diamond) color according to the Path.

Line Options

Logical Connection options menu

Following along with the dropdown, users may change the line to straight or orthogonal. If there is a label users may hide or show the label. Also, if the label is dragged and dropped away from the line, a line will be tied to the label to indicate the connection the label is tied to. Users may modify this line to be straight or curved (example below). Lastly, users may reset their label modficiations with the Reset Label option.

label line bdd

Paths

paths menu bdd

With the Paths dropdown, the selected Path can be changed.

Multiplicity

bdd multiplictiy indicators

Circled in red above, these indicators are the multiplicity values applied to the logical connections via relationship attributes. These can be changed simply by clicking on the value in the canvas or in the entity's left sidebar Relationships tab.

Block Definition Diagram Settings

The wrench icon on the top right of the toolbar frame is a fixed dropdown and does not change dependent on what the user has selected. Let's delve into the many options available below.

bdd settings menu

Levels

levels settings and indicator bddThe settings dropdown provides users the option to display up to 10 levels of decomposition. When not in the dropdown, note the blue box to the right of the wrench icon, indicating how many levels are selected and displayed in the diagram canvas.

Hide/Show Constructs

hide/show constructs settings bdd

The next section of the Settings Dropdown allows users the ability hide (or show) Ports, Constraints, Operations and Values constructs of the diagram.

Cross-Project Indicators

x-project indicators setting bdd

If using Cross-Project Relationships, users may show or hide indicators on the constructs from other projects in the canvas. 

SysML Frame Edits

edit sysml frame bdd setting

⚠️The SySML Frame is the green space the model is placed in on the canvas.

bdd sysml frame

The Edit SysML Frame option will bring up the following modal.

edit sysml frame window bdd setting

Users may select the color of the frame with the change color button indicated in green (the green color on the button will change to whatever color a user sets it to). Or bring it back to the defaulted green with the reset option reset color.

The remaining options on the Modal are in relation to the textual part located at the top left of the SysML frame, example below.  

sysml frame header bdd

The changes made to the Select SysML Diagram option refer to the Model Element Type in the first brackets (ex. [Model] in the picture above). Note, the example above is from a BDD but shows the Model option as displayed in the aforementioned Modal. Therefore it is important to note, users may select any Model Element Type here, even in a different diagram. The text will change but this option will not change the diagram itself.

The Select Parent option is a dropdown to select the Parent entity to be the Model Element Name. This will change the text in between the bracketed texts. In the example above it is the 'Model' text.

Hide/Show SysML Frame

hide/show sysml frame setting bdd

Users may use this option to hide (or show, if hidden) the SysML Frame as they wish.

Auto Number, Layout and Reset Diagram

auto number setting bdd

Users may also Auto Number their diagrams, where a pop up shows up to allow users to use the action order to determine the number sequence, provide a Prefix or enumerate the single level, as shown below.

auto number window bdd

Lastly, the final options in the Settings dropdown provides users to reset their diagram from changes and layout the diagram from previous changes.

The last option, 'Help,' will send users directly to the Help Center page for the Use Case Diagram for convenience.

layout,reset,help settings bdd

Frame Fix

frame fix indicator bdd

When a construct is ouside of the SysML Frame, Innoslate will detect that and bring up a fix for this as indicated with the orange exclamation point that appears next to the Settings dropdown.

When selected, a modal pops up to provide users the ability to fix or ignore the issue.

frame fix window bdd

 

To continue learning about SysML Diagrams, Click Here.

(Next Article: Parametric Diagram)