Display Panel
The Display Panel is a fixed sidebar located between the Project Panel and the canvas. It consolidates all visual-rendering controls in one place. Changes take effect immediately.
Rendering
Three mutually exclusive rendering modes are available. The active mode is highlighted.
| Button | Mode | Description |
|---|---|---|
canvas | ERD Canvas | Default graph view — draggable nodes connected by typed edges |
outline | Outline | Collapsible hierarchy tree — useful for large schemas |
table | Table | Spreadsheet-style bulk-edit grid (feature-flagged; see Developer below) |
The mode set here is the global default. A Named View can override it with its own render mode, which takes effect when that view is activated.
Edge Filters
Toggle which edge types are drawn on the canvas. A hidden edge type is still part of the schema — it is only visually suppressed.
| Toggle | Edge type |
|---|---|
range | Slot → range-class edges |
is_a | Inheritance edges |
mixin | Mixin-application edges |
union_of | Union edges |
Tip: Hiding
rangeedges reduces clutter when there are many slot references. Range types can still be seen inline — see Range Edges below.
Highlight
Two independent highlight behaviours can be toggled on or off.
| Toggle | Effect |
|---|---|
| Hover | Edges connected to the node under the cursor are highlighted while the cursor is over it |
| Selection | Edges connected to selected nodes stay highlighted (sticky) after the click |
Selection
These buttons expand or modify the current node selection without changing the schema. They are most useful before saving a Named View.
Selection buttons are disabled when nothing is selected.
Neighbour expansion
| Button | Selects |
|---|---|
| neighbors | All nodes directly connected to the selection (both directions) |
| ← in | Nodes with edges pointing to the selection |
| out → | Nodes with edges originating from the selection |
Ancestry / descent
| Button | Selects |
|---|---|
| ancestors | Transitive is_a + mixin ancestors |
| descendants | Transitive is_a + mixin descendants |
Graph reachability
| Button | Selects |
|---|---|
| component | All nodes reachable from the selection (full connected component) |
Range navigation
| Button | Selects |
|---|---|
| range → | Classes that are slot-range targets of the selection |
| ← range | Classes whose slots reference the selection as a range |
N-hop expansion
Enter a number (1–9) in the hop field and click n-hop (the button label updates, e.g. 2-hop) to expand the selection by up to n relationship hops in all directions.
Utility
| Button | Effect |
|---|---|
| invert | Selects all entities not currently selected |
| clear | Clears the entire selection |
| save as view | Saves the current selection as a Named View |
Range Edges
Controls how slot → range relationships are displayed.
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| show | Range relationships drawn as explicit ERD edges |
| inline | Range type shown as a clickable chip inside the class box — no edge drawn |
| auto | The app chooses based on schema density |
When an active Named View has its own range-edge override, a view override notice appears below the buttons.
Hop Dimming
When hop dimming is on, nodes farther than n hops from the selected node(s) are dimmed to reduce visual noise.
- Click the off button to enable hop dimming (it changes to on).
- Set the hop distance in the adjacent number field (1–9). The label
hopsconfirms the unit.
Nodes within n hops of any selected node remain fully visible; all others are dimmed. Dimming resets when the selection is cleared.
Clustering
Toggle by import source to group nodes into swimlane clusters based on the schema file that defines them. This is useful when a project imports multiple schemas and you want to see which classes come from which file.
Note: The swimlane layout overrides manual node positioning. Disable the toggle to return to free-layout mode.
Developer
The Developer section contains a feature flag for Table view. It is intended for testing and may be removed in a future release.
| Button | Effect |
|---|---|
| table: off / table: on | Enable or disable the table rendering mode button in the Rendering section |
Enabling this flag unlocks the table button in Rendering. See Table View for details on using it.