Symbol Format Properties

You may arrive at the Symbol Format dialog when changing the format of:

One or more individual symbols – select the symbols and then press Ctrl+T, select Symbol > Format, or Format from the contextual menu.
All symbols - via display preferences (see Display Preferences).
Custom symbols defined for extensions – see the "Extending Your Models with Profiles" chapter of Customizing and Extending PowerDesigner.

Note:

When defining the format of custom symbols in the Resource Editor, each tab in the Symbol Format dialog contains two additional options, Apply format to symbols, and Allow users to modify symbol format , which allow you to control the default format of symbols and whether users can modify them to a very fine degree. For more information on these options, see Controlling the Format of Custom Symbols.

The following sections list the tabs and properties available in this window.

Size Tab

The Size tab controls the size of the symbol and how the size can be manipulated:

Property	Description
Current size	Specifies the width and height (in pixels) for the symbol.
Normal size	[read-only] Specifies the default width and height (in pixels) for symbols of this kind.
Auto-adjust to text [CTRL+J]	[Default] Auto-resizes the width of the symbol to display all the text it contains up to 254 characters (mutually exclusive with Keep size). For example, a table symbol adjusts its size to display full column names, or column codes, up to the truncation or word wrap length. You can define default adjustment to all symbols. If you manually resize a symbol, this option is disabled for the symbol.
Keep aspect ratio	Maintains the ratio of height to width when resizing the symbol.
Keep center	Maintains the center position of the symbol when resizing it.
Keep size	Prevents the resizing of symbols both manually and through Auto-adjust to text (mutually exclusive with Auto-adjust to text).

Line Style Tab

The Line Style tab controls the color, size and format of lines (for link and other one-dimensional symbols) and borders (for two-dimensional symbols, such as classes or tables). You can modify the line style of any symbol in the model.

Property	Description
Color	Specifies the color of the line or border.
Width	Specifies the thickness of the line or border.
Style	Specifies the format of the line or border, such as invisible, solid, dashed or dotted.
Corners	[Link and line symbols only] Specifies the format of corners, such as sharp or rounded right-angles and free angles.
Arrow	[Link and line symbols only] Specifies the format of the link or line symbol at its Beginning, Center, and End.
Use perpendicular arrow	[Link and line symbols only] Specifies that the link or line object always touches objects at its ends at a right angle. This option allows you to use free angles for the body of a link or line object, while retaining a connection at right angles for its beginning and end.

Note:

These options may be overridden by the design semantics of a link symbol (such as a PDM reference).

Fill Tab

The Fill tab controls the color, content, and effects for symbol filling.

Fill effects	Description
Fill color	Specifies the color to use for the fill. The Fill color check box is available for free symbols, packages, interaction fragments, and swimlanes, and when cleared will create a transparent symbol. This can be useful when you wish to use an "in-box" UML representation, for packages for example. Note that transparent objects can only be selected by clicking near their borders.
Image	Specifies a graphic file to display within the symbol. Click the Modify button to select a file.
Display Mode	Specifies the alignment of the image within the symbol.
Gradient	Specifies the gradient fill options. Click the Modify button to open a dialog allowing you to control Start and End colors, End Color Luminosity, Shading Style and Gradient Mode.

Shadow Tab

The Shadow tab allows you to add a standard, 3D effect or gradient shadow to objects in a diagram.

Font Tab

The Font tab allows you to define the display preferences for the font, size, style, and color of text associated with symbols in the model. When you modify font preferences, they apply to all existing and new symbols.

Text Alignment Tab

The Text Alignment tab allows you to define the alignment of text in text boxes and rectangles, ellipses, rounded rectangles, and polygons.

Note:

You can only control the text alignment for these shapes, and not for model object symbols. When working with RTF, all the options but Vertical are disabled.

Parameter	Description
Center	Centers the text horizontally and vertically.
Word wrapping	Auto-wraps text in the symbol.
Horizontal	Aligns text to the left, center, or right on the horizontal axis.
Vertical	Aligns text to the top, center, or bottom on the vertical axis

Custom Shape Tab

The Custom Shape tab allows you to define a new symbol shape for most non-link symbols.

Property	Description
Enable custom shape	Enables or disables the customization of a symbol shape
Shape Type	Specifies the type of shape to be used. Choose one of the following values, and then click the Browse button to select an image (see Browsing for Images): Predefined symbol - Default shape assigned to symbols in PowerDesigner. Metafile (EMF, WMF) - Representation using geometrical formulas allowing for resizing and stretching. Bitmap (DIB, RLE, JPG, JPEG, TIF, TIFF, PNG) - Representation of a graphics image consisting of rows and columns of dots. Icon (ICO) - Small picture representing an object, usually smaller than standard PowerDesigner symbols.
Shape Name	List of the available shapes of the selected type. Click the Browse button to select shapes.
Display name	Specifies where the symbol name should appear (Center option is not available for icon shapes)

Content Tab

The Content tab allows you to specify the information that you want to display on the symbol. The properties that are listed on this tab as being available for selection are controlled by the content display preferences (see Content Display Preferences).

Sub-Objects Tab

The Sub-Objects tab is only available when you open the Format tab after having selected a single object. It allows you very fine control over the sub-objects (such as PDM table columns or OOM class attributes and operations) that you want to display inside your object symbol. For each individual sub-object, you can decide whether to display it or not, and what font to use for its display.

Note: For a collection of sub-objects to be available for selection and customization here, the collection must be selected for display in the object's content display preferences (see Content Display Preferences). Where the number of lines to display for a collection is limited in the display preferences, that limit will take precedence over any choices you make here.

Each collection of sub-objects that is enabled in the display preferences has its own sub-tab. For each sub-object, you can:

Select to display or hide it in the parent object symbol by selecting or deselecting its checkbox in the [D]isplay column.
Apply a specific font to its display by clicking the Select font tool or the ellipsis button in the Specific Font column.

Note: When not all sub-objects in a collection are selected for display, the parent object symbol will display ellipses to indicate that more items are available.