CA ERwin Data Modeler r8 New Feature Guided Tours › Diagrams, Subject Areas, Layout, and Customization › Annotation and Connector Objects

Annotation and Connector Objects

Use the following steps to become familiar with annotation and connector objects.

  1. Create a new logical model. Right-click the toolbar area and make sure that the Drawing and Toolbox options are selected to display the corresponding toolbars.
  2. Click the Annotation object Click the Annotation Toolbar Icon on the Toolbox toolbar, then click the diagram. Enter some text in the rectangle created to denote it as an annotation. Similarly, click the Rectangle object on the Drawing toolbar, place it on the diagram, and enter some text in it.
  3. In the Model Explorer, observe that the Annotation object is created as a model-level object, whereas the Rectangle object is created as a shape object within the default model-level ER Diagram.
  4. Create a new subject area called ‘SA1’ and launch the Subject Area Editor from the Model Explorer. Click the Members tab and observe that the Annotations object is present in the Available Objects list. Include the Annotation object in the subject area SA1 and click Close.
  5. From the Model Explorer, launch the Diagram Editor for the default diagram SA1. Click the Members tab and include the Annotation object in the diagram and click Close. Make sure that the diagram to which the Annotation object has been added is the current diagram.
  6. Right-click the Annotation object in the current diagram and click Properties to launch the Annotation Editor. Click the Style tab and select a Theme of your choice from the Optional Theme drop-down, to apply on the Annotation object.
  7. Click the Where Used tab and note that all the subject areas and diagrams where the current Annotation object has been used are listed. Click Close to save your changes.
  8. Create a new entity in the current diagram and connect it to the Annotation object using the Connector shape (available in the Drawing toolbar), just like creating a new relationship between two objects.
  9. Move around the objects connected using the Connector, or layout the diagram again using one of the Auto-Layout options. Observe that the Connector does not lose its connections with the objects it connects. Close the model.