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Drawing connector lines

You can draw connector lines, also known as “flow lines,” in flowcharts and wiring diagrams to link shapes and demonstrate how different elements in the drawing are connected. After you attach a connector line to an object, it remains attached to the object even when you move it. You can also leave an end of a connector line unattached to any object, and you can add arrowheads to connector lines to demonstrate the flow direction. For information about drawing flowchart shapes, see Drawing predefined shapes.

There are several types of connector lines that you can draw. In addition to drawing straight lines, you can draw right-angle connector lines and automatically create right angles as you draw. You can choose between the Right-angle connector tool, which draws a right angle with a sharp corner, and the Right-angle round connector tool, which draws a rounded corner. You can also draw curved connector lines by using either the B-spline connector tool or the Bézier curve connector tool.

Examples of connector lines

Connector lines are attached to objects by anchor points. By default, each object has four anchor points, located on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the object. Each anchor point appears as a small red diamond on the object. You can move an anchor point along the edge of an object, or you can move an anchor point to any area inside or outside the object. You can also add an anchor point to an object.

Anchor points appear as small red diamonds.

When you move an object in a drawing, the connector line will snap to the nearest available anchor point. When you add an anchor point to an object, it is not available as a snapping point for connector lines. However, you can set a property on the anchor point to make it available as a snapping point.

You can set an object to repel right-angle, round right-angle, and B-spline connector lines. If the object is in a connector line route, the connector line flows around it. If there is no route for the connector line to follow without intersecting the object, it flows through the object. Straight-line and Bézier-curve connector lines cannot flow around objects.

You can add halos to connector lines. A halo is a mask behind the connector line that makes the line easier to see when it is on top of another object. Usually, the halo is the same color as the page, although you can choose any color you like. Halos also let you modify a connector line without requiring extra node editing.

You can also convert connector lines to curves. When you convert a connector line to a curve, any attached text label changes to an artistic text object.

To draw a straight connector line

1.

Click the Connector tools button, and click the Straight-line connector tool .

You can also
Draw a right-angle connector line	Click the Connector tools button, and click the Right-angle connector tool or the Right-angle round connector tool . Click where you want to start the line and drag to where you want to end the line.
Draw a curved connector line	Click the Connector tools button, and click the B-spline connector tool or the Bézier curve connector tool . Click where you want to start the line and drag to where you want to end the line. To change the shape of the line, reposition the control points as needed.

To change the direction of a connector line

1.

Click the Connector tools button, and click the Edit anchor tool .

3.

On the property bar, click the Adjust anchor direction button .

To add an anchor point to an object

1.

Click the Connector tools button, and click the Edit anchor tool .

By default, anchor points that you add to an object are not available as snap points for a connector line when the object is moved around in the drawing. To make an anchor point available as a snap point, select it with the Edit anchor tool, and click the Auto anchor button on the property bar.

By default, the position of the anchor point is calculated relative to the page. You can set the anchor point position relative to the object that it is attached to, which is useful if you want to set anchor points in the same relative position in multiple objects. To set the anchor point position relative to the object, select the anchor point with the Edit anchor tool . On the property bar, click the Relative to object button , and type the coordinates in the Anchor position box.

To move or delete an anchor point

To	Do the following
Move the anchor point anywhere along the perimeter of an object	Drag the anchor point to another point on the perimeter.
Move the anchor point to the middle of an object	Drag the anchor point to any point inside the object.
Delete an anchor point	On the property bar, click the Delete anchor button .

To set a connector line to flow around objects

1.

Using the Pick tool , select the object to which the connector line is attached.

2.

Click Window Property manager.

To convert a connector line to a curve

You can also convert a curve or a shape, such as a rectangle or an ellipse, to a connector line by clicking Arrange Convert to connector.

To add a text label to a connector line

To add a halo to a connector line

1.

Using the Pick tool , select the connector line.

2.

On the property bar, click the Halo properties button .

To remove a halo from a line, select the line, click the Halo properties button , and disable the Halo options check box.

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