Diagram Navigator

The Diagram Navigator provides a view of the whole diagram, also known as bird view.
This preview of the whole diagram is very useful to keep the perspective when editing big complex diagrams.

Diagram Navigator

The red square displayed in the preview pane indicates what part of the diagram is currently visible on the editor. When a document (in our case a diagram) is bigger than the editor where it is opened, typically the user uses the scrolling bars to show some other part of the document currently not visible. With the help of the Diagram Navigator this can be done very easily, and quickly. One way would be by pressing the mouse, while within the boundaries of the red square (indicated by an open hand cursor), and then dragging to the desired new location. A second way would be to click with the mouse on the desired new location (the mouse cursor in this case is a hand with the index finger extended).

The controls at the bottom of the Diagram Navigator panel are used to change the diagram zoom. Going from left to right:

  • Zoom Text Field: to type new zoom factors.
  • Zoom Out Buttom: click to zoom out the diagram to the next zoom level.
  • Zoom Slider: slide the knob left to zoom out or right to zoom in.
  • Zoom In Buttom: click to zoom in the diagram to the next zoom level.