Layout Properties Sheet: Orthogonal Tab

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The Orthogonal tab of the Layout property sheet lets you specify several options for any diagram that uses the Orthogonal layout.

Spacing Options. Spacing in the orthogonal layout is affected by two kinds of settings: edge spacing and node
spacing. Unlike most spacing-related options in the other layout styles, these do not combine constant and proportional spacing. Instead, these settings are only constant values.

Edge Spacing. The settings for horizontal and vertical edge spacing determine the minimum distance between any two neighboring parallel edges. Increasing this spacing produces drawings that are more “open,” while smaller spacing results in more compact drawings. Edge spacing settings can also affect the size of a node to which many edges are attached, unless it is set to remain fixed at its current size.

The table below describes these options in more detail.

Section Options Description
Horizontal Spacing Spacing Between Nodes The distance between elements.
Spacing Between Edges The distance between parallel links.
Vertical Spacing Spacing Between Nodes The distance between elements.
Spacing Between Edges The distance between parallel links.
Layout Quality Draft The quality of the process that removes unused white space in the diagram. The primary difference between Draft, Default, and Proof is the number of times a compaction algorithm is run on the diagram. The more times the algorithm runs, the more efficient the use of white space, and the more resource-intensive the process.
Default
Proof
Aspect Ratio Automatic Whether to automatically maintain the ratio of width to length in a diagram's symbols, or to allow customization. You can specify a value to influence the aspect ratio for the orthogonal layout. However, the algorithm does not attempt to fulfill this specified value if it conflicts with any specified constraints.
Custom
Disabled
Fix Node Sizes The layout mechanism will not make the node smaller, however, it will increase a node’s size when more than one edge is attached to the same side of the node and it needs to maintain the specified edge spacing.
See Also
Layout Properties Sheet

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