Overview Pane

Especially when working with large models, the Overview pane is quite helpful for keeping track of the big picture of the model.

Birdview Tab

Screen space is limited, and it is often impractical to view an entire diagram at one time. Scrolling around or zooming in and out repeatedly is time-consuming, inefficient, and generally annoying. The Birdview tab resolves these issues by maintaining a snapshot of the entire diagram that can be quickly referenced while working on a diagram.

Zoom in Birdview only

Perhaps you would like to keep track of a smaller section of the diagram, and then later decide to view the entire diagram again. This is easily done by adjusting the zoom factor in the Birdview tab.

To change the zoom factor of the Birdview tab:

  1. Uncheck the box in the lower left corner of the pane.

  2. Use the slider bar to change the zoom factor.

  3. The scroll bars can be used to position the view as required.

Zoom in diagram

The Birdview tab provides the means to resize the diagram in the Diagram pane as well. The view in the Birdview tab remains unchanged while the diagram itself is enlarged or reduced.

To change the zoom factor of the diagram in the Diagram pane:

  1. Check the box in the lower left corner of the pane.

  2. Use the slider bar to change the zoom factor.

Note that the zoom factor is set for each diagram individually. A zoom factor set for one diagram will not be applied to subsequently displayed diagrams.

Turn off Birdview in settings

The Birdview, while helpful, can slow down the performance of Poseidon. At times, it may be useful to turn off the Birdview option. This can be set in the Appearance Tab of the Settings dialog.

Critique tab

The second tab in the Overview pane, called To-Do-Items, is a collection of critiques. This is a feature that originates from ArgoUML and was one of the motivations for Jason Robbins to start the project. It is a powerful auditing mechanism that discretely generates critiques about the model you are building. Critiques can be hints to improve your model, reminders that your model is incomplete in some areas, or errors that would cause generated code not to compile.

Open a Critique

Critiques are arranged within this tab in a variety of ways. The following options are available for viewing critiques:

  • by Decision Type

  • by Knowledge Type

  • by Offenders

  • by Posters

  • by Priority

To view the details of a critique, simply click on the critique. The details will be displayed in the 'To Do Items' tab of the Details pane, located to the right of the Overview pane.

Navigate to critiqued area

You can move directly from a critique to the diagram where the issue occurs by double-clicking on the critique name in the Overview pane. The appropriate diagram will then be opened in the Diagram pane.

Snooze Critique

The Snooze critique button temporarily turns off a single critique. The critique will return without a user specifically re-enabling it.

Toggle Critique

The Toggle critique button allows you to turn off and on single critiques. This feature is available in the Standard and Professional editions of Poseidon.

Turn off Autocritique

Critiquing can be turned off completely from the Appearance tab of the Settings dialog. Uncheck the box titled, 'Perform Automatic Critiquing' to disable critiques. The tab will still be visible in the Overview pane, but no critiques will be listed.

Hide/display Critique window

The Critique tab can be hidden regardless of whether critiquing has been enabled or disabled. To hide the tab, uncheck the box titled, 'Show To Do (Critics) Pane'.