Snap, Targeting, Rigging, Connections

Written By Clayton Combe

Last updated 5 days ago

Connecting items on a Diagram allows you to move more quickly when illustrating your ideas.

Snap

Snapping allows you to align items quickly on the Diagram, as well as enabling targeting, rigging, and connection behavior. Click the “magnet” button or press the N key to turn it on and off, or hold the Shift key to enable it temporarily.

There are different types of items that interact in different ways:

  • Center-based: uses a single center point to determine its position

    • Fixture, Camera, Actor

    • Power Source and Load, distro Box

    • One center point

  • 1D-scale: resize in one dimension

    • Pipe, Text

    • Point-based (segments)

    • Has two endpoints, one center

  • 2D-scale: resize in two dimensions

    • Image, Stairs, Rectangle, Ellipse, Group, Frame

    • Has four corner points, one center

  • Point-based: uses control points to determine its position and shape; also has sub-items (segments and points)

    • Wall, Arrow, distro Cable

    • Has any number of points, and a rectangle for bounds

When an item is being moved, it compares specific points of itself to points of other items that are visible on the screen. If they’re close in value, the dragged items will align themselves with those points – typical “snap align” behavior.

Snap also rounds to whole numbers when changing position values, nudging items with keystrokes, etc

  • Angle → Snap On = 5º changes, Snap Off = 1º

  • Distance (feet) → Snap On = 1’ changes, Snap Off = 0.1’

  • Distance (meters) → Snap On = 0.5 m, Snap Off = 0.1 m

Targeting

When Snap is on, items with crosshairs-based rotation (Actors, Cameras, Fixtures) can target other items. This means:

  • When either item moves, the “targeter” rotates to continue pointing at the “targeted” item

  • To remove targeting, use the crosshairs to focus the targeter somewhere else

Rigging

When Snap is on, items can “rig” to some other items. This allows you to put items together in most common ways, by rigging a “child” item type onto a “parent” item:

Rigged item ("child")

Rig onto item ("parent")

Camera, Fixture, Box, Frame, Generic Item

Pipe, Generic Item

Actor, Pipe

Generic Item

  • Drag the item onto a compatible item to rig

    • Rigging also changes the item’s order in Layers, to be just above its parent

    • Once rigged, the item can be moved around anywhere on its parent

    • To de-rig, drag the child item off its parent

  • Moving or resizing the parent moves all child items to maintain their position on the parent

    • If any child items are targeting, that will still work

  • Duplicating a child item will rig that new item to the same parent

  • Duplicating a parent item will duplicate all its child items (same with deleting)

Connections

When Snap is on, some items can connect to other items.

  • Power Distribution items like Boxes and Cables can connect to each other

  • Arrows can connect to other items

  • Floor plan items like Doors and Windows connect to Walls, and Walls to each other