Add properties to icons and connections

Use D3M to record the data and settings for icons and connections.

David Chapman avatar
Written by David Chapman
Updated over a week ago

From a diagram

How to add and edit properties to an icon or connection:

  • Find the icon or connection and double-click it.

  • The Icon Editor/Connection Editor will appear on the righthand side.

  • Edit any of the property values here to store the data that you need.

    • Freely add and delete data properties on any device or connection.

Note: Any changes that you make in this way will affect all other devices or connections at the same time in this project. For example, all other SLR 5700s in this project will now have a Mode data property. If we were to delete Master IP, that would delete the Master IP data property from all SLR 5700s in this project.

How to show properties beside the icon or connection on the diagram:

  • Find the icon or connection and double-click it.

  • The Icon Editor/Connection Editor will appear on the righthand side.

  • Click the eye icon beside the properties you wish to show on the diagram.

How to create new properties and reorder them in the property editor:

Use the edit button at the top right of the Properties Panel to enable the edit mode of the properties. This will allow you to add new properties at the bottom of the list, delete properties that you don't use, and drag properties to reorder them in the list.

Of course, when you change the value of one of your visible data properties somewhere in D3M, it updates everywhere!

From a spreadsheet

When you want to change data property values for many devices at the same time, such as a fleet of portables, the best tool for the job is your project spreadsheet.

Change properties here just like you would in your favourite spreadsheet software. Stay productive by autofilling values using the small blue square in the bottom-right corner of your selection or copy-pasting columns of values from another spreadsheet in D3M or from another piece of software.

Data Ranges

When you have icons that represent multiple devices and each of those devices have a unique value in a data property, D3M will attempt to summarize the data values as a range. You might see something like [1-10] which means that all values in this range are unique and consecutive (i.e. all numbers in this range are represented once and only once). If the numbers are either not consecutive or not unique, you will see something like [1..10] instead.

Always up-to-date

When you are designing a solution, it is common to have multiple diagrams and spreadsheets all representing the same devices and configuration from a different perspective. Without D3M, you frequently need to input data twice, whether it be during the initial design or as the result of multiple feedback iterations to refine the solution for your customer. With D3M, you just update the data once, either in a diagram or a spreadsheet and everything else adopts that change. Couldn't be easier.

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