Automatic Layout Inspector

The Automatic Layout Inspector is used to set up the layout style used for automatic layout.

You can either layout your entire graph by clicking the Layout Graph button, or simply layout the currently selected objects by clicking the Layout Selection button.

The automatic layout is not designed to correctly touch-up something that has been organized by hand. It is much more for initial organization that can then be touched up by hand.

There are two different automatic layout types: Hierarchical Layout and Force-directed Layout:



For Hierarchical Layout you can choose the layout orientation, specify the child ordering, set the rank assignment for objects, and specify whether the page setup should auto-adjust when a layout is performed.



In a Hierarchical Layout a parent is an object that has other objects connected out of it, while a child is an object that is connected from a parent. The rank of an object is the level in the hierarchy that it will be positioned at.

The layout orientation can be set by clicking one of the orientation direction buttons, with the default being downward layout.

The child ordering can be set to one of three values: Any, Left-to-right/Top-to-bottom, and Back-to-front.

When Any is selected, the layout rearranges the children in an attempt to reduce line crossings.

When Left-to-right/Top-to-bottom is selected, the layout arranges children based on their current positions relative to each other, minimizing the amount of re-ordering of the children.

When Back-to-front is selected, the layout rearranges children based on the order that they were created (assuming the back-most object was created first).

The rank assignment for an object can be set to one of four values: Any, Same, Min, and Max.

When Any is selected, the layout will place the object in its default position in the hierarchy.

When Same is selected, all selected objects are assigned the same rank value so they will layout at the same level.

When Min is selected, the layout will place the object at the Rank 1 level (Top of the hierarchy).

When Max is selected, the layout will place the object at the highest Rank level (Bottom of the hierarchy).



For Force-directed Layout you can control the strength of the forces, set a magnetic field type, and specify if you want to animate the layout, or have random start locations.

The different forces can be controlled by using the forces sliders. To increase the force, move the slider to the right. To decrease the force move the slider to the left.

The magnetic field can be set to one of three values: None, Linear, or Radial.

When None is selected, there is no magnetic field applied to the layout.

When Linear is selected a linear magnetic field is applied to the layout. The Directed checkbox toggles whether the field is generated from a central point or exists over the whole document. The linear field angle can be changed by either entering an angle into the text field or moving the rotation slider.

By holding down the shift key while moving the rotation slider you will change the linear field angle in 15º increments.

When Radial is selected a radial magnetic field is applied to the layout. The Directed checkbox toggles whether the field is generated from a central point or exists over the whole document. The position of the center of the radial field can be changed by either clicking a spot in the position well or clicking and dragging the center marker around the position well. You will see the center marker change positions to represent the new center position.

If you drag the center position marker towards the centerlines of the position well the marker will snap to the centerlines.

The Animate Layout checkbox toggles whether the layout process will be animated or not.

The Random Start checkbox toggles whether the layout will randomize the start locations of the objects before performing the layout or not.