Innoslate Power User Tips & Best Practices

By category, you'll find below our support and software engineering teams specialized Innoslate technical insights and best practices,

1. Workspace, UI Navigation & Customization

• Browser Zoom Alignment: If dashboard views look misaligned or toolbar buttons disappear, check your browser zoom. Resetting your zoom to 100% standard zoom resolves display and layout issues.

• Pinning Views: Pin your most frequently used views from the Menu dropdown to the top navigation bar by clicking the pin icon. Drag and drop tiles on the navigation bar to reorder them to your liking.

• Pinning Projects: Pin active projects to the top of the Switch Projects dropdown menu for instant context switching.

• Dark Mode: Enable Dark Mode via your Profile Icon.

• Saved Queries: Save frequently used search queries in the Left Sidebar for quick access across sessions.

• Entity Creation Window: Most entity creation prompts only require a Name or Number to generate a new item quickly.

• Sign Out for Floating Licenses: Always click the Sign Out button in your profile menu when finished to immediately release floating concurrent licenses for other team members.

2. Database, Schemas & Entity Modeling

• Custom Class Deletion Rule: Custom classes in the Schema Editor cannot be deleted—they can only be hidden or unhidden. Best Practice: Always create a dedicated "Sandbox" project to test custom schema changes before applying them to production databases.

• Organization Schema Defaults (v4.14+): Organization Admins can edit default attribute fields directly within the Organization Schema Editor.

• Understanding Root vs. Parent Entities

  • Root Entity: Enforces consistency across an aggregate structure (e.g., an Action Diagram).

  • Parent Entity: Defines a hierarchical structural relationship (e.g., a Requirements Hierarchy).

• Understanding is:top vs. is:root Queries

  • is:root: Queries the absolute highest level in the project database.

  • is:top: Queries entities that contain child entities directly beneath them.

• Bulk Label Removal: To remove labels in bulk inside Database View, select the target entities and click the active label again to toggle it off.

• Applying DoDAF & UAF Schemas: Apply DoDAF or UAF schemas to a project by selecting DoDAF/UAF Dashboard from the navigation bar Menu dropdown.

• Inspecting Default Schemas: To analyze Innoslate's base schema structure, export an XML file of an empty project using the Schema Only option from the Manage Project Dashboard.

 3. Document Management, Rich Text & Formatting

• Custom Date-Time Defaults (v4.14+): Establish a global default time for all Date-Time attributes across your project in your Profile Information dialog (Profile Settings > Date-Time Defaults).

• Rich Text Embedded Links & Files:

  • Embedded Link: Hyperlink directly to another Innoslate document inline within a text field.
  • Embedded File: Upload and inline-preview files directly within Rich Text fields

• Rich Text Navigation Indicator: Use the interactive breadcrumb header at the top of Rich Text fields to see your cursor location and jump between specific field sections.

• Hot Keys in Rich Text: Use standard shortcuts like Ctrl+I (Italic) and Ctrl+U (Underline) in the Rich Text Editor.

• Unformatted Text Pasting: Always paste copied text into description fields without formatting (Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows / Cmd + Shift + V on Mac) to prevent XML export/formatting bugs.

• Toolbar Scrolling: If Rich Text toolbar icons aren't visible, click into the rich text field, hold Shift, hover over the toolbar, and scroll with your mouse wheel.

• Angled Brackets in Text: Use HTML entities for angled brackets in text fields:

  • Less than (<): &lt;

  • Greater than (>): &gt;

4. Data Import, Export & File Handling 

• Export File Formats: Standard exports default to JSON. Change your baseline preference between JSON and XML within your Profile Management Settings.

• Smart Artifact Naming on Export: Leave the filename field blank during exports; Innoslate will automatically append the source artifact's name and type (e.g., “– Discrete Event Simulation”).

• CSV Spreadsheet Imports: Always save Excel files as CSV (Comma Delimited) using Save As prior to importing to prevent text/column formatting errors.

• PDF Import Best Practice: For cleaner PDF imports, convert PDFs to MS Word (.docx) in Adobe Acrobat first, clear up heading styles and formatting, then import to Innoslate.

• Innoslate File Viewer Capabilities: Upload files to an Artifact class entity to preview inline files including PDF, DOCX, XLSX, TXT, PNG, JPG, MP4, JSON, XML, JS, TS, CPP, JAVA, and LOG.

• PPTX File Viewing: PPTX files are not directly viewable in the File Viewer. Convert PPTX files to PDF before uploading for inline previewing.

• Cloud File Size Limit: The maximum upload file size for Innoslate Cloud is 100MB.

• Cross-Project Re-imports: Using "Include Cross Project Relationships" during export copies external entities into the file. Upon re-importing into a new project, these entities become independent copies and break connection to the original project.

5. Diagrams, Views & Matrix Navigation

• Quick Save: Use Quick Save across Charts, Diagrams, Entity View, Presentation View, Schema Dashboard, and Traceability Matrix to commit work frequently.

• Interface Control Document (ICD) Widths: Adjust parent asset construct widths in ICDs to comfortably display long asset titles without truncation.

• Removing Entities vs. Deleting Entities: Selecting "Remove from Diagram" inside Diagram View removes the visual object and its active diagram relationships, but does not delete the entity from the database.

• Port-to-Port Connections in IBD: Enable the Level 2 filter under Settings in Interface Block Diagrams (IBD) to display all port-to-port connections.

• Duplicate Conduits on I-Squared Diagrams: Check the Origin attribute on the connects to relationship. Ensure it is set to 'Yes' on only one asset to maintain a single true origin.

• IDEF0 Input vs. Control Lines: An Input/Output line's position on an Action depends on its Trigger attribute:

  • Trigger = No: Optional I/O entering on the Left (Input).

  • Trigger = Yes: Triggered I/O entering on the Top (Control).
    

• Class Diagram Conduits: When modeling subclasses of an Asset, build conduits in the I-Squared diagram or construct logical connections in the Class Diagram.

• Locked Relationship Sidebar: A relationship showing a lock icon in the left sidebar indicates it is actively driving the current view. Modify locked relationships directly inside the entity's Entity View.

• Hierarchy Tab Syncing: Use the Synchronize Button on the right sidebar in Compilations, Documents, and Test Suite Views to auto-scroll the tree view to your exact cursor position.

• Diagram Baselining: To baseline a diagram, create a new Compilation and import the diagram's root entity—this captures all associated entities for baselining.

6. Search, Quality & Intelligence Tools

• Expanded Metadata Search: Document Search queries visible body text as well as metadata and specific column attributes in visible columns.

• Requirements Quality Checker: Run the Quality Checker in Requirements View to evaluate requirement statements against natural language rules.

• Intelligence View Diagnostics: Run Intelligence View to assess your project against 62 automated MBSE heuristics to identify missing relationships, orphaned entities, or data inconsistencies.

• Traceability & Suspect Assistants:

• • Traceability Assist: Uses AI to suggest probable relationship links across the X & Y axes of a Traceability Matrix.

  • Suspect Assist: Flags existing matrix relationships that may be invalid due to upstream model changes.

7. Simulation, Scripting & Process Automation

• Process Checklist Widget: Add the Process Checklist Widget to project dashboards to track task coverage against defined MBSE processes.

• Saving Simulation Settings: Always click Save Settings inside the Discrete Event Simulator to retain custom widget placements and dashboard layouts.

• Exporting Simulation Artifacts: Save simulation results as an Artifact Entity to keep a persistent execution history inside your project database.

• Scripting API Resources: Refer to the updated Innoslate Scripting Guide for code samples and reference models when extending discrete event or Monte Carlo simulations via the INNO API.

8. Roles, Permissions & Project Security

• Shared Permission Resolution: If a user is assigned permissions individually and via a Team, Innoslate enforces the higher of the two project permission levels, capped by their global Organization Permission level.

• Project Roles (Owner vs. Collaborator): Review your project role under Project Settings to understand your editing, baselining, and administrative access.

• Organization License Boundaries: Your system role options are tied to your organization's total license tier.

• Cross-Project "Redacted" Dashboard Widgets: Widgets displaying a "Redacted" watermark indicate that the underlying diagram/document contains cross-project references that you do not have permission to view.

• Automated Email Rules: Email notifications trigger when:

  • An entity you authored or follow changes status.

  • You are included on a workflow notification list.

  • A change request or comment is posted to an entity you created or edited.

9. AI Integration Best Practices

• Supported LLM Providers: Innoslate’s AI Assistant and Help Chatbots are tested exclusively on OpenAI, AskSage, and Azure OpenAI. Unapproved third-party LLM integrations may produce unexpected formatting or system errors.

10. System Administration & Environment Management

• Verifying Environment URLs: Always check your URL bar to verify environment contexts:

  • Public Cloud: cloud.innoslate.com

  • GovCloud: gov.innoslate.com

  • Enterprise: Dedicated company/organization domain URL.

• Clear Browser Cache After Updates: Force-clear browser cache (Settings > Privacy/Security > Clear browsing data) immediately after system upgrades to load updated UI assets.

• Admin Dashboard Reports: System Admins can track system adoption using three built-in reports: Login Activity, Teams Report, and Users Report.

• Enterprise Database Backup Warning: Upgrading Enterprise databases to v4.12.3+ (Java 21 / Tomcat 11 stack) renders them permanently non-backward compatible with v4.11.x or older. Always perform a complete database backup prior to upgrading.

• JVM Memory Tuning: For large Enterprise installations, increase Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory allocation settings to maintain optimal platform speed.

• Save Settings Properties Files: When performing manual Enterprise updates without an executable updater, back up your existing settings.properties file prior to running clean installations.

• Educational Workspace Maintenance: Academic organization admins should back up project data and delete inactive student accounts at the end of each term to preserve database performance.

11. Support, Help & Resources

• Innoslate Customer Portal: Submit, track, and manage all helpdesk support requests via the Innoslate Customer Portal  in our Help Center.

• Submitting Cloud Support Tickets: Always include the direct browser URL of the specific project or entity when submitting support tickets to help technicians troubleshoot faster.

• In-App Help Access: Click the Help Icon (?) on the top navigation bar inside Innoslate to reach support resources directly.

• In-App Feedback Widget: Use the Feedback Widget directly on your Project Dashboard to submit bug reports and feature requests to the Innoslate product team.

• Digital Curation Station: Access ready-to-use project templates, MBSE frameworks, and domain examples directly on the Help Center Digital Curation Station.