MWB Diagram Bench

Diagram Drawing Tool

 

The Messaging Workbench (MWB) Diagram Editor is an MWB plug-in that allows creation and maintenance of Conformance Profile related diagrams. The diagrams are primarily intended to be integrated within the MWB profile file (.mwb), but may also be exported to and managed from stand-alone diagram files (.mwd).

 

From the workbench, the diagram editor is invoked from the toolbar.

 

 

The diagram editor consists of a tool bar form, and a form for each integrated diagram. For a profile without integrated diagrams, just the tool bar form is displayed. If the profile has associated profiles, then a form for each will be displayed in stacked fashion underneath the tool bar form.

 

                   

 

Tool bar form

 

 

 

Diagram form

 

The objects displayed on each of the forms come from a menu of objects on the tool bar.

 

 

To start a new diagram click on the New button. Select an object from the Tool Menu select an object to be placed on the diagram, then click on the diagram. The object will be place on the diagram at the point where it is clicked. To place several of the same type of object on a diagram, click the Stick Pin button, select the object of interest, then each click on the form will insert a new copy of the diagram object on the form. Be sure to click the stick pin again to turn off the auto selection feature when done.

 

Objects placed on the form may be moved by dragging them with the mouse. Objects may be resized, by clicking with the mouse, then dragging the surrounding tabs in the appropriate direction. Note that when objects are linked (as discussed below) it is necessary to hold the shift key down to resize them.

 

A right mouse button click on a shape object brings up a menu that allows changing the color of the object, adding a caption to the object, or deleting the object. Similarly, on the text and image objects a right mouse click permits adding/changing the caption, or deleting the object.

 

 

A right click on a line object, brings up a more elaborate menu, that permits assigning the appearance of line termination points e.g. (arrow, circle), line style (solid, dashed etc), line thickness and line color. Line deletion is also an option.

 

Lines may be freestanding or they may be used to link objects together. When objects are linked, the line sticks to the object and move with the object when it is moved. To link two objects together hold the shift key down, click on the source object and drag the mouse to the destination object.

 

Link lines may also be bent. To bend a line, left click on the line at the point of interest, and drag in the direction of the desired angle apex. Release the mouse button to visualize the bent line. A given line may be bent at any number of points. To adjust an angle bend, it is necessary to visualize the line joints, which can be accomplished by pressing the shift key, and left clicking on a line segment. The segment’s joint(s) will appear as circles. To adjust the angle, left click on a joint node and drag in the desired direction. Release the mouse button to set the angle. When the angle is adjusted satisfactorily, press the shift key again and left click on the line segment to toggle the joint node display off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

File menu

 

The MWB Diagram Bench is designed to work with multiple diagrams from a single source file. The source file may be a message profile (.mwb) or a stand alone diagram file (*.mwd). The first and second sections of the File menu operate on the individual diagrams within the source file.

 

New – this option will cause a new blank diagram form to appear

Open – will show a list of diagrams in the source file (if any) from which you may select for editing

Save – saves the current active diagram within the source file

Save As – saves the active diagram to the source file under a different name, thus adding to the list of diagrams in the source file.

Save All - saves all of the open diagrams to the source file.

Close – closes the active diagram

Close All – closes all open diagrams

Remove – removes the active diagram from the source file

 

Load Template – presents an opportunity for loading a diagram template

Save As Template – saves the active diagram as a template

 

Save Image – saves the active diagram as an image file – either Jpeg (.jpg) or Bitmap (.bmp)

 

Import – Opens a source diagram file (either .mwb or .mwd) and adds the import file’s diagrams to the current diagram list.

Export – Saves the current source diagram file as a standalone .mwd file

 

Commit/Exit – commits all of the diagram changes for a session to the source diagram file and closes the MWB Diagram bench session.

Exit – exits the MWB Diagram Bench session abandoning any changes to diagrams made during the session

 

Print – sends the active diagrams image to the printer

 

Vocabularies menu

The vocabularies menu presents the user with a list of vocabularies from which to select text values to be associated with diagram objects. Vocabulary lists are essentially a list of associated meta data names and their associated data. For example, one vocabulary source is the profile specification information, such as Profile Name, HL7 version etc. The value of these meta data elements is taken directly from the associated profile so for example Profile Name might have a value of “Big Red ADT” and an HL7 version of “2.3.1”.

 

The vocabulary lists can work in conjunction with the “stick pin” tool to quickly build a diagram. For example, with the stick pin down and the round rectangle object selected from the list, a user could iteratively select a vocabulary item, click on the diagram form, and the round rectangle object would be added to the diagram with the text of the selected vocabulary item as a caption.

 

Vocabularies are the basis of creating and using diagram templates too. When a diagram is saved as a template, the actual data associated with the meta data is removed from the profile. Only the meta data tag is retained. When a diagram template is loaded, the Diagram Bench replaces the meta data tags with actual values from the currently associated profile. This too can be a great productivity aid in the creation of profile diagrams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options menu

 

 

 

 

The Options menu allows user selection of line point orientation and line point style for object connector lines. The example above indicates the user’s preference for connector lines to have a circle at the point of origin and an arrow at the end of the line. With the properties set this way, each time the user connects two objects together; the connector will be automatically drawn with a circle at the starting object and an arrow at the terminating object.

 

These preferences may be set as a default for all Diagram Bench sessions, or just for the current session. Defaults however may be overridden for any particular line on the diagram form by right clicking on the line and selecting other values.