Re: Dia 0.94, WinXP, UML, Printing, Object Properties.

[Reuben Pearse <reuben presence-systems com>]

Hi there,

I found the printing to be a bit troublesome as well. My current method 
for printing a diagram is to export the digram as a PNG file and then 
import to into Microsoft Word using Insert/Picture/From File. You can 
then use the print functionality from Word (I guess this technique would 
work equally well with Writer in the OpenOffice suite for those who want 
a more open source solution!!).

For diagrams that don't fit on 1 page, then I would import the PNG file 
into Excel, as this handles stuff that spans across pages better.

Regards

--
Reuben Pearse
Principal Technical Consultant
reuben presence-systems com



The Blackbird Enterprise wrote:

>    Disclaimer:
>       I am way new to using this kind of software (meaning Open 
> Source), so I may just not know where to look for the information I 
> need.  I know some of the problems may have to do with my own U.S 
> (United States) - centric point of view, and though it may seem odd to 
> some, many of us here in the states have trouble when we can't convert 
> from metric (tis' our upbringing, and I won't pretend to be proud of it).
>
>       I was drawn to Dia, because I needed a nice diagramming package 
> to add flow chart, and UML diagramming to the documentation I keep.  
> Right now, just to test things out I am using UML to diagram various 
> Javascript classes I have designed and use.  I love the ease of doing 
> this in Dia, in fact I have not found a package that I enjoy more.  So 
> that is what I like...
>
>    What I really need is more documentation, on:
>
> Printing:
>    It seems no matter what "page setup" options I try to use, they 
> have not the "expected" changes on the output.  Also I am flustered by 
> the lack of a "fit to page" option.  I simply want my class diagram to 
> print out all on one page, and even though I set the "page setup" 
> options to "Page Size -Letter" and "fit to - 1 by 1"  I get multiple 
> pages of huge print, though the grid pattern on the screen does 
> change, its correlation to printed output alludes me.
>
> Object Properties:
>    Again, my issues have to do with the effect, or lack there of, on 
> the printed page.  My example, when editing the Object Properties of a 
> "class" object, under the class tab, you can change various fonts.
>    When choosing a font, one can select "Other Fonts", a font 
> selection menu appears, from which you can select font family, style, 
> and size (ex: Verdana, Bold,14) Selecting style, does not always have 
> an effect, and though family, and size, seem to have a relative effect 
> on the display, the effect on the printed page is not as expected.  
> Though messing around with the "size" option on the class tab, does 
> change the size of the font, I can not fathom the relationship of 
> those numbers with the expected point size of the printed output.
>
>    I apologize if a lot of this is just my flaming ignorance (of 
> which, it just may be), but I am lost, and given all that I love so 
> far about this package, I don't want to give up on it.  Hard copy is 
> an important part of my documentation process, so I really need to 
> know the intricacies of it.  I am also curious as to why the 
> documentation does not let one "drill down" to specifics, like the 
> menus and sub menus associated with individual object.  Is this simply 
> a time issue, or do you expect end users to have better intuition?  Is 
> documentation an area, that can be contributed to similar to code 
> contributions?
>
>    Thanks for your help, and I hope you have continued luck with 
> developing Dia.  I know I see many more personal uses for it besides 
> the ones I mentioned above,  I am especially excited about the Circuit 
> and logic diagrams.
>
> Sincerely
> Mr. Albert W. Demello, III
> New Hampshire, USA
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