FLOWcharts - connector line length?

FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Mari Voipio]

Hi,

I've just fallen in love with the chart module, my first flowchart is
almost done. I'll never draw these "by hand" again... Besides, it
seems that the chart module forces me to do flowcharts "right", that
should help with consistency and legibility. Now I just have to read a
bit on how to do charts properly!

I've figured out about text font and box sizes and making connections
and all that, but there's one important question that I just can't
seem to find the answer for: how do I adjust the connector line
length? My labels just don't fit between the boxes and I'd have a
whole A4 for a ny=5 flowchart, so I'd have space...


(Oh, the other question is: is there a way to span a cell across
several slots on the grid? If not, I can deal with *that*, the line is
a lot more of a problem.)



Thank you in advance,

Mari
(apparently in the "expand your ConTeXt skills" mode this week)
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Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Marco]

On 2012-04-26 Mari Voipio <mari.voipio@iki.fi> wrote:

> I've figured out about text font and box sizes and making connections
> and all that, but there's one important question that I just can't
> seem to find the answer for: how do I adjust the connector line
> length? My labels just don't fit between the boxes and I'd have a
> whole A4 for a ny=5 flowchart, so I'd have space...

You can adjust the distance indirectly with changing the distance
between the cells:

\setupFLOWcharts [dx=8ex, dy=4em]

> Mari
> (apparently in the "expand your ConTeXt skills" mode this week)

Procrastination? Sounds like if you have important stuff to do ;)

Marco


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Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Mari Voipio]

On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 10:30, Mari Voipio <mari.voipio@iki.fi> wrote:
> I've figured out about text font and box sizes and making connections
> and all that, but there's one important question that I just can't
> seem to find the answer for: how do I adjust the connector line
> length?


Answering to myself - "DOH".


If I put my flowcells e.g. on rows 1, 3, 5 and 7, the lines are
automatically extended to reach past the unused rows -> longer
distances between the flowcells.


The fact that there is a grid does not mean one has to fill the whole
thing, wider spacing is sometimes quite ok.

Now I really do feel stupid. :-D

On the other hand, the flowchart looks good, so no complaints about
the module, once again the bug was definitely between the chair and
the screen...



Mari
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Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Willi Egger]

Hi Mari,

as Marco said, the distance key is the dx/dy parameter.

It is not possible to make cells spanning more than one column. This is related to the fact that the cells are on a grid. It is also not possible to have cells on e.g. half way down/left/right.

Indeed this is a very useful module. Setting up a proper flowchart gives great insight in e.g. processes, workflows and alike. I have built many charts for the meat-processing industry. 
The advantage of this module is that you can number the cell relatively. Only the first cell has an explicit position. So if you have to insert new cells you have to look only for cells which could be outside of the grid, but that is easier than to walk through the whole chart and renumber the cells.


\startFLOWchart[Decisiontree]

   \startFLOWcell
      \name{Begin}
      \location {3,1}
      \shape{procedure}
      \text{Begin\\ decisiontree}
      \connection[bt]{Risc}
   \stopFLOWcell{\bf }

   \startFLOWcell
      \name{Risc}
      \location {+0,+1}  % x,y
      \shape{action}
      \text{Danger}
      \connection[bt]{Question1}
   \stopFLOWcell
 …
\stopFLOWchart

Willi

On 26 Apr 2012, at 09:30, Mari Voipio wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I've just fallen in love with the chart module, my first flowchart is
> almost done. I'll never draw these "by hand" again... Besides, it
> seems that the chart module forces me to do flowcharts "right", that
> should help with consistency and legibility. Now I just have to read a
> bit on how to do charts properly!
> 
> I've figured out about text font and box sizes and making connections
> and all that, but there's one important question that I just can't
> seem to find the answer for: how do I adjust the connector line
> length? My labels just don't fit between the boxes and I'd have a
> whole A4 for a ny=5 flowchart, so I'd have space...
> 
> 
> (Oh, the other question is: is there a way to span a cell across
> several slots on the grid? If not, I can deal with *that*, the line is
> a lot more of a problem.)
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you in advance,
> 
> Mari
> (apparently in the "expand your ConTeXt skills" mode this week)
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
> If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!
> 
> maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
> webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
> archive  : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
> wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
> ___________________________________________________________________________________

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If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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archive  : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
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___________________________________________________________________________________

Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Mari Voipio]

On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 11:08 PM, Willi Egger <context@boede.nl> wrote:
> It is not possible to make cells spanning more than one column. This is related to the fact that the cells are on a grid. It is also not possible to have cells on e.g. half way down/left/right.

Oh well, I can live with that. Besides, the result is probably better,
when the flowchart is governed by fairly strict rules.


> The advantage of this module is that you can number the cell relatively. Only the first cell has an explicit position. So if you have to insert new cells you have to look only for cells which could be outside of the grid, but that is easier than to walk through the whole chart and renumber the cells.

Thank you! I already got stuck on this one, so this is a very useful
tip (to be exact, got stuck on both: first had a cell outside of the
original grid, then had to move almost half of the chart one spot to
the right...). On the moment I'm dealing with processes that have
existed for a long time but never been documented, so the flowcharts
are bit of a work in progress and even with a first sketch on paper
changes are unavoidable.


Now, to implementing all this new knowledge in Chart 2.



Gratefully yours,

Mari
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___________________________________________________________________________________

Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Mari Voipio]

On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 1:27 PM, Marco <netuse@lavabit.com> wrote:
>
> You can adjust the distance indirectly with changing the distance
> between the cells:
>
> \setupFLOWcharts [dx=8ex, dy=4em]

Ah, that naming does make sense, now that I think of it. It seems that
I'm still (re)learning to think of things as coordinates, it's been a
while since school when I last needed that stuff...


>> (apparently in the "expand your ConTeXt skills" mode this week)
>
> Procrastination? Sounds like if you have important stuff to do ;)

Nope. Two deadlines within the same week, for two totally different
projects; one for my "real" work and one for my craft hobby/business.
So my ConTeXt learning curve, based on "need to know", suddenly went
upwards in a pretty steep angle, that'll probably level out soonish
while I assimilate everything gained recently.



And if I haven't remembered to say this before, I'm very thankful for
all the tips and offers for help that I've gotten, they are very much
appreciated!



Mari
(...back in the FLOWchart land...)
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Re: FLOWcharts - connector line length?

[Hans Hagen]

On 8-5-2012 08:20, Mari Voipio wrote:

> Now, to implementing all this new knowledge in Chart 2.

and after that comes chart 3:

\usemodule[chart]

\startFLOWchart[ABC]
     \startFLOWcell
         \name{A}
         \location{1,1}
         \destination{whatever:A}
         \text{A}
         \connection[bt]{B}
     \stopFLOWcell
     \startFLOWcell
         \name{B}
         \location{1,2}
         \destination{whatever:B}
         \text{B}
         \connection[bt]{C}
     \stopFLOWcell
     \startFLOWcell
         \name{C}
         \location{1,3}
         \destination{whatever:C}
         \text{C}
         \connection[bt]{A}
     \stopFLOWcell
\stopFLOWchart

\setupinteraction[state=start]

\starttext

     \FLOWchart[ABC]

     \startchapter[title=We're at A,reference=whatever:A] \input ward 
\stopchapter
     \startchapter[title=We're at B,reference=whatever:B] \input tufte 
\stopchapter
     \startchapter[title=We're at C,reference=whatever:C] \input zapf 
\stopchapter

\stoptext

(One reason why the chart module exists is that it can be used for 
online qa manuals and such where one can jump from cells to explanation.)

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If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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