How to use ERD type edges?

Question

I am unable to use the edges in the Entity Relationship palette the way it is described in the manual at http://yed.yworks.com/support/manual/erd.html

They can not be dragged into the editor at all, and the only way i can use them is by choosing Apply in the context menu.

Can someone clarify how this is supposed to work?

Answer 1

ERD edge templates work the same way as all other edge templates:

Drag the template from the palette to the editor and drop it over an existing node, then continue as normal for edge creation (i.e. move your mouse over the desired target node and click once).

Answer 2

It works for me as described, as do other edge templates. It's important to drag the edge onto an already existing node and release the mouse button there. In yEd edges cannot exist without end-nodes.

Another way to create specific edges is to change the default template for new edges, either by double-clicking the template in the palette or using the respecting command from its palette context menu.

Comments

Well, I doon't know if something is different on the Mac. When I drag nodes from the palette, they show an outline as soon as the cursor enters the editor and I can drop the node where I want as one should expect. If I try to drag an edge from the palette no outline appears and nothing happens wether I complete the invisible drag on a node or elsewhere. Making default works, but only for the start edge type.

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I can see what you mean. In fact, it is different on the Mac. On the Mac, the cursor does not change when there is a drag gesture. (This is specific to the Apple Java implementation.)

When dragging a node, this is not a problem, since you can see the node's representation in the editor window as soon as the cursor enters it. Dragging an edge, though, does not give any visual feedback at all.

Still, if I drag an (ERD) edge template from the palette to a node and release the mouse button, I can see a self-loop edge appear on that node. (It looks like a circle on top of the node.) And moving the mouse, I can see the tip of the edge sticking to it.

[This is on Mac OS X 10.6.8, Java 1.6.0_26 64bit Server VM, and yEd 3.8]

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Ok, I got it now. It works for me in this manner, thanks for clearing up the confusion. I would like to be able to set the end type also, but it only seems possible to set the starting type.

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1. Create a user-defined palette section ("Edit" -> "Manage Palette", "New Section").
2. Create an edge with the appropriate start type.
3. Left-click on the edge to select it. Choose the desired "Target Arrow" in the Properties View that is usually located in the lower left corner.
4. Right-click the edge to open its context menu and choose the desired section from sub-menu "Add to Palette".

If you want to have the default ERD edge types as well as your custom ERD edge types in one palette section, create the user-defined palette section in step 1 as a copy of the default ERD section.

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Thanks, Thomas. Very useful.