Model Structure Tool Window View

The model structure shows the hierarchical structure of the model in the form of a tree.

Purpose

The Model Structure tool window view shows the hierarchical structure of the model in the form of a tree. The respective structure content for each node in the tree is displayed in an area beneath it.

You can use a name filter in the structure content.

Both areas of the Model Structure tool window view are primarily used for navigation in the model.

Structure

The Model Structure tool window view consists of a top model tree and a lower structure content with tree or list view.

Use the Show Model Element List button to open and close the Model Element List.

Model Tree

The model tree displays all structural elements of your model in a tree structure of the kind you will be familiar with from the navigation frame of Windows Explorer.

The structural elements of your model are:

System models
Models
Packages
Components

The model tree includes the following means for identifying items:

Expand icons before the item indicate sub trees ( closed or open)
Bold text indicates elements that can be edited in editors (components)

Structure Content

The lower area, the structure content, is where you can find all the elements which are contained in the structure element selected in the model tree and

Can either be opened themselves (diagrams, processes, classes, entities) or
Can be used in diagrams directly by means of drag-and-drop, or are needed to edit the diagram, but are not directly shown in the diagram themselves (global task, data stores).

The structure content can be shown either as hierarchical structure or in a list; it is either sorted alphabetically or the sorting is defined by the user.

The display can be restricted using a name pattern in the <Browse Structure> field. When you restrict the display using a name pattern, it automatically changes to list view.

The structure content includes the following means for identifying items:

Bullet points indicate subordinate structure content
Bold text indicates elements that can be edited in editors

Use

You can access almost all model elements from the model structure.

Elements which can be opened (e.g. diagrams) are shown in bold so you can recognize them more easily. You can open these in the structure area by double-clicking. Alternatively, they can always be opened via the ribbon ( Start>Open>Open (Enter)) or the context menu.

You can use most ribbon commands for the elements in the model tree. The context menu contains other commands.

The commands for importing and exporting model fragments (can be found under Model>Verify & Export) affect the model structure.

There are navigation helps in the top half of the model structure:

Use the Show Model Element List button to open and close the model element list.
Structure content can be sorted alphabetically ascending or descending order and in a user-defined order.
You can enter a name pattern in the <Browse Structure> field above the structure content to restrict the elements displayed there.

To see where an element selected in the model hierarchy is, you can use the Go to>Location in Model Structure (Ctrl+M) context menu command to jump there.

To see where a selected diagram is in the diagram hierarchy, you can use the Go to>Position in the Diagram Structure (Ctrl+D) context menu command to jump there.

Drag-and-Drop to Other Areas

You can use the mouse (left mouse button pressed) to drag elements into other areas.

Elements can be dragged into the result region which adds them.
Elements can be dragged into an open diagram if they are allowed as contents in the diagram and do not already exist there.

Drag-and-Drop from Other Areas

By dragging with the mouse (holding down the left mouse button), from the model element list for example, elements can be assigned to other owners if they are allowed as content there.