Force new edges to be straight lines?

Question

Is there a key I can hold down or something so that when I create a new edge it forces it to be a straight line (no bends) and also either vertical or horizontal? I know that there are different ways to correct it after the fact and different layouts to use. Sometimes I want the bends, but if it is "close" then I want it to just make it straight and vertical/horizontal. I end up with a lot of edges that only have 1 or 2 pixels of shift in them but it still puts in a bend. Again, I don't want to just use a blanket layout with no bends because often times I do need the bends. Thanks!

Comments

I had the same problem. However, the problem was that under "View" (Ansicht in German), I had checked the option "orthogonal edges" unvoluntarily. Just check whether you have the same problem and uncheck it. Then, the beautiful straight lines should come back again.

Answer 1

Activate the orthogonal edge mode (second to last icon in the tool bar) and create edges by pressing and holding down the left mouse button. Do not release the mouse button until you are over the target node. This will create an edge with either
... one vertical or horizontal segment if the two nodes are properly aligned or
... one vertical and one horizontal segment if the two nodes are not properly aligned.

If the two nodes are only slightly off, you can remove the short segment by dragging the long segment in the right direction. E.g. for two nodes that are vertically not quite aligned, drag the horizontal edge segment up or down until the segment endpoints are inside the respective nodes.

Comments

Yeah, I have that ortho mode turned on, and I have a couple ways to fix it after the fact, but it would be nice if there was some sort of allowance for 'close enough', or a key you could hold where it would just draw a single straight line. I have things that are not the same size so they are not always perfectly aligned....