Local Visualization – “View Neighboring Connections”

The object of this tutorial is to display a specific set of connections, including those inside the SysML model and those between SysML and external elements. The process is initiated from a specific element and can be used to follow chains of connections leading toward or away from (or both) the starting element.

In the same model created in Global Visualization – “View All Connections”, right-click on the Payload block in the MagicDraw browser and selecting Syndeia → Visualize → View Neighboring Artifacts – Auto Layout.

The initial display should appear similar to the figure below. Explore the features of this display.

The SysML project name is displayed in the upper left corner.

1. Hover your cursor over an artifact on the perimeter of the circle and it is identified in the upper left corner.

2. Hover your cursor over a connection inside the circle and it is identified in the upper left corner.

3. Reposition individual nodes by clicking and dragging them

4. Move the complete network by clicking and dragging anywhere else in the diagram.

5. Click the starting node, shown with a red border (Visualization::Payload, in this case), to hide the nearest neighbors, Click it again to re-expand.

6. Change the options in the Connection Direction to show or hide connections. Click the starting node twice to contract and expand the node to refresh with the new options.

   
   
   

Expand the graph further by clicking on the artifacts with the green borders, which represents unexpanded nodes. The final expansion should appear similar to the image below, showing three SysML elements connected among themselves by intra-model dependencies and each connected to an external PDF file by an inter-model Reference connection.

Several limitations to this display should be noted:

1. Certain intra-model relationships, specifically incoming compositional relationships, cannot be displayed. For example, the connection from the UAV block to the Payload block is not shown.

2. The Auto Layout feature may behave unpredictably when nodes are contracted, then re-expanded, causing the graph to fragment. It can always be re-initialized by reloading the webpage.
   
    

   These issues and other visualization challenges will be addressed in future releases of Syndeia, driven strongly by customer input. Please send us your comments and requests to be part of that process.