Re: dia V0.97 issues

[Alejandro Imass <aimass yabarana com>]

On Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 3:43 PM, Phil Fisher <Phil Fisher ipaccess com> wrote:
> Hi
> I am new to dia but very familiar with the use of such software in general.
> However, I am have found the following _possible_ issues using 0.97 (and yes I am aware that 0.97.2 exists 
> but for various reasons its immediate use is not possible here).  Can someone indicate what I might be 
> doing wrong or whether there is a genuine issue?
>
> 1) when creating a line from the toolbox, once added onto diagram, I tried to edit it (by changing its size 
> - length - and its position).  I selected the object and green and red handles appear one at each end.  
> When I try to pick up the handle and move it, first the handle jumps to the centre of the nearest object (a 
> box here) and then second time, both handles coalesce to one and I cannot do anything.  How do I do normal 
> things with this object (line)?

Line (L) can connect to connection spots on other objects or can
remain unconnected. If you connect the line to a specific connection
port then it will remain there and behave somewhat strangely. It is
better to drag the tip of the line to the center of the connecting
figure so that it "auto" connects. This way when you move either
object it will automatically adjust the connection point as you would
expect.


> 2) when I create a grouped object, it is not possible to re-size that object no matter what aspect ratio 
> property it is.  Is this a restriction (since I can re-size a box)?

AFAIK grouped objects don't scale and this is a limitation. Many other
extensions don't scale either (e.g. UML) so you have to scale the page
instead. Most other objects do scale but it's not always consistent.
Maybe someone can explain this better.

Dia is a very powerful and practical _diagram_ tool but it's not a
full featured, or general purpose vector drawing program, nor do I
think it's meant to be. It is meant for day to day repetitive and
practical work, mainly by using the templates.

It was originally inspired on Visio but has long moved away and it's
more powerful in some things and less powerful than Visio in others.
People who have used Visio would probably find Dia limited but others
would quickly understand it's value proposition.

For example, we use the UML module extensively, everything from Use
cases to the actual class diagrams that in turn generate the DDL to
create the DB schema (by means of dia2code). Our class diagrams even
create the database dictionary in DocBook tables that we transform
using XSL and an XML parser, so we can keep our docs always in sync
with our code.

So, if you are looking for a powerful tool to integrate to your
business model for the long term and be able to tweak it to your
needs, especially if the information is to be transformed into
something else, the Dia is the tool for you. If you are looking for a
general purpose vector editor, then you should probably be looking at
Inkscape or something along those lines.


Best,

-- 
Alejandro Imass








> TIA
>
> Environment details:  Windows XP Pro SP3, dia V0.97, 3GB RAM, Pentium 4 CPU 2.8Gz, installed from MSI 
> package, running as a non-admin user under an AD domain login.
>
> --
> Phil Fisher
>
>
>
>
>
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