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Visualising inheritance graphs in the LightSpeed designer

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We’re continuing to add filtering capabilities to the LightSpeed designer, and have recently added a couple of new features.

The first feature is to show the inheritance graphs of the selected entity or entities. This shows all entities derived from the selected entity, and all of its base types. For example, consider this inheritance hierarchy:

Here’s the same model, with “Contractor” entered into the filter box and the new Show inheritance option selected:

As mentioned, if you enter an intermediate or base class then the designer shows all the derived classes as well. Here’s the model filtered on the “Employee” inheritance graph:

The second new feature is the ability to invert a filter. So if you want to show all entities except a particular one, you can now do so. This can be handy for excluding common base classes which would otherwise have lines to them from everywhere in the diagram, creating clutter. To do this, enter an exclamation mark (!) in front of the filter criterion:

(We don’t have a menu helper for this yet — you’ll just have to remember it!)

Both of these features are in the current nightly build — free Express edition here, or commercial editions from the store.

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Posted by Ivan Towlson on 16 June 2009

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