Visual Object Behaviour- Free Grouped / Hierarchical

ArenaCore logical products are defined as supporting either “Free Grouped” or “Hierarchical” visual behaviour modes.

Free Grouped

“Free Grouped” means that the item can be moved freely across the canvas or within the parent item that contains it, and that it can also be resized independently of any other sibling items.

The following diagram is built using Free Grouped type items:

It is important to note that Free Grouped items may also support being collapsed, meaning that the space taken on the canvas or within the item’s parent item is reduced to a “collapsed” state. It should be noted that the position and size of any item in collapsed state is maintained independently of the position and state of the same object when in expanded state. This means that positioning when in expanded or collapsed state can be maintained independently.

Hierarchical

Hierarchical items are designed to fold into a tree structure such that all items are arranged in either a horizontal or vertical flow direction with indentation relative to the level of child/parent depth within the total structure. Hierarchical items will snap into place within an existing hierarchical structure if the Resource Role compatibility of the dragged item and the underlying item are compatible.

The following diagram is built using Hierarchical type items:

Hierarchical items can support expand/collapse operation, which works visually in the same manner as any standard tree type control.

Hierarchical items also support port and link associations, meaning that many links can extend into and away from any overall hierarchical structure. (This is where the comparison to a normal tree control ends).