Introduction to the diagram rule and layout definitions

A diagram template has a set of configuration properties. These configuration properties state which network features and network objects are allowed to participate in diagrams (rule and layout definitions), and in the presentation (diagram layer definition) of network diagrams generated.

This topic focuses on the diagram rule and layout definition aspects and explains how they must be set up on your diagram templates. To learn about the network diagram layer definition, see Introduction to the diagram layer definition

The diagram rule and layout definitions are the set of diagram template settings that dictates how network diagrams based on this template must be built. These settings are divided into three categories detailed below—the elementary build settings, the sequence of diagram rules that builds the diagram contents, and the sequence of diagram layouts that are automatically run or preset for the diagrams.

Then, to learn about diagram rule and layout definitions management, see the following topics:

The diagram template's elementary build settings

The template elementary build settings are general settings that do the following:

  • Specify the way the template deals with vertices on network edges.
  • Define the margin size between containers and their content for a template.
  • Enable or disable diagram storage and diagram extension capabilities for all diagrams based on this template.

Alter Diagram Template is the tool to use to configure these elementary settings on a diagram template.

The diagram template's rules sequence

There is a large set of geoprocessing tools to add diagram rules to a diagram template:

You can configure one or several diagram rules for a template. Add <XXX> Rule tools generally allow you to configure a set of rules that process on different network source classes or object tables at once. Add <XXX> By Attribute Rule tools are dedicated to the configuration of rules that run on a specified network source class or object table by filtering the impacted sources by attributes. In both cases, Add <XXX> Rule and Add <XXX> By Attribute Rule tools add a rule to the end of a template's rule sequence.

These two tool types require two inputs: a network data element and the name of a diagram template (existing for that network). Both tools generate two outputs: an output network and an output diagram template. The diagram template has an additional rule, while the network has a modified diagram template.

During the generation of a diagram based on a template, each rule in the template rule sequence is generally chained in order based on the sequence in which it was added. The first rule runs on the diagram features built from the set of network elements used as input for the diagram generation. The resulting output diagram features are then used as input to the next rule.

Since the rules specified on the template determine the content of the generated diagrams, the order of each rule in the rule sequence is decisive and must be controlled. To control this type of ordering and have a clear, logical view of the rules sequence, it is recommended that you use geoprocessing models to configure and maintain your diagram template settings.

The diagram template's layouts sequence

There are Add <XXX> Layout geoprocessing tools you can use to configure the diagram layouts you want to apply to diagrams based on a given template. The layouts can either be configured to apply automatically when the diagram is generated, or preset to apply at a later time:

Each tool adds a new layout to the end of a template's layout sequence; this layout is active by default to be automatically run at diagram generation.

During the generation of a diagram based on a template, the order in which the active layouts are applied to a diagram reflects the order of the template's layout sequence. This order has a real impact on the final diagram layout. This order can be maintained and controlled when using geoprocessing models to configure and maintain your diagram template settings.

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