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 generated network diagrams.
This topic focuses on the diagram rule and layout definition aspects and explains how they must be set up on 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 diagram template settings that control how network diagrams based on this template must be built. These settings are divided into three categories, which are described in the sections below.
Diagram template elementary build settings
The template elementary build settings are general settings that do the following:
- Specify the way the template handles 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.
Use the Alter Diagram Template tool to configure these elementary settings on a diagram template.
Diagram template rules sequence
You can use the following geoprocessing tools to add diagram rules to a diagram template:
- Add Collapse Container Rule
- Add Collapse Container By Attribute Rule
- Add Collapse Container By Category Rule
- Add Connectivity Associations Rule
- Add Diagram Feature Capability By Attribute Rule
- Add Diagram Feature Capability By Category Rule
- Add Expand Container Rule
- Add Expand Container By Attribute Rule
- Add Expand Container By Category Rule
- Add Reduce Junction Rule
- Add Reduce Junction By Attribute Rule
- Add Reduce Junction By Category Rule
- Add Reduce Edge By Attribute Rule
- Add Remove Feature Rule
- Add Remove Feature By Attribute Rule
- Add Remove Feature By Category Rule
- Add Set Root Junction By Attribute Rule
- Add Set Starting Point By Attribute Rule
- Add Spatial Query Rule
- Add Start Iteration Rule
- Add Stop Iteration Rule
- Add Structural Attachments Rule
- Add Trace Rule
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 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. Add <XXX> By Category Rule tools process diagram features representing network features or network objects tagged with or without particular network categories. In all cases, these three tool types add a rule to the end of a template's rule sequence.
All of these tool types require two inputs: a network data element and the name of a diagram template (existing for that network). All 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 diagram template settings.
Diagram template layouts sequence
You can use the geoprocessing tools listed below to configure the diagram layouts you want to apply to diagrams based on a particular template. The layouts can either be configured to apply automatically when the diagram is generated, or preset to apply at a later time.
- Add Angle Directed Layout
- Add Compression Layout
- Add Force Directed Layout
- Add Grid Layout
- Add Linear Dispatch Layout
- Add Mainline Tree Layout
- Add Partial Overlapping Edges Layout
- Add Relative Mainline Layout
- Add Radial Tree Layout
- Add Reshape Diagram Edges Layout
- Add Smart Tree Layout
- Add Spatial Dispatch Layout
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 an impact on the final diagram layout. This order can be maintained and controlled when using geoprocessing models to configure and maintain diagram template settings.
Additional resources
To learn about diagram rule and layout definitions management, see the following topics: