Navigation

You can use the browser and diagram views in conjunction for navigation—the selection in the two views is kept synchronized. As a result, if you make a selection in the browser, the same item is selected in the diagram, and vice versa.

If you want to see a large model in the diagram view, you can maximize the viewable area of a diagram in the main project window by hiding the toolbar, the navigation bar, the status bar, the Favorites bar, and the browser.

If you have a large diagram, there are two strategies you can use to aid navigation. First, you can begin typing the name of the entity you want. As you type characters, Xcode selects the alphabetically “topmost” entity whose name has the prefix you typed. Second, you can use the pop-up menu at the top of the document pane. The pop-up shows a list of elements . When you select an item from the pop-up menu (see Figure 2), the corresponding element is selected and brought into view in the browser and diagram view. This feature may be particularly useful if the browser is hidden.

The browser view, however, is useful when you have a large schema with all compartments rolled up and you want to see more details about a given entity but don’t want to make the diagram bigger. The browser also shows more information than is available in the diagram (such as the property type).

Contextual menus

Most menu-based commands are also available from contextual menus associated with the relevant user interface element. You can Control-click a node for immediate access to operations that apply to it or its context—for example, to expand compartments. You can Control-click the diagram background to perform operations related both to the visual representation and to the model itself. For example, you can hide grid lines, zoom, set the alignment of drawing elements, and add entities.