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Diagrams

Available in product editions: ArchitectProfessional

Introduction​

Diagrams are essential tools for understanding, designing, and communicating software systems. They provide a structured way to represent system components, relationships between them, and interactions at various levels of abstraction.

In IBM DevOps Solution Workbench, you can create, manage and maintain freestyle diagrams or various levels of diagrams based on the principles of C4 Modeling and create effective visual representations of your planned project.

Overview​

The Diagrams page provides you with an overview of all diagrams in the project, depending on which diagrams have been specified in profiles that have been configured and activated for your project. There are some default profiles with predefined diagram types, like C4 Model, but it also possible to define your own diagram types within the model configuration.

A diagram type that can in any case be created is the blank Canvas type in which any kind of model element, note, shape or relationship can be freely used.

A click on the Label of a diagram will open it in the modeling tool.

You can view the details of a diagram by clicking on the respective row within the table or using the table row action Open details. This opens a second column to the right of the table displaying the details. All writable fields are editable here as well:

  • Details: Master data for the diagram, excluding the description (see also Create a diagram)
  • Description: The description of the diagram
  • Loop: Here, you can find links and connections to other parts of the project.

Filtering​

Custom filters​

In all tables within the Solution Designer, you can filter the view to only display the information you need via the Configure filter dialog accessible via the filter icon which is located right above each table. You can set a filter for one column at a time. Select the column you want to filter for, choose an operation and enter your filter value. This is a list of all operations available (note that depending on the column type some operations might not be available):

Standard Text Filters​

These operations search for text inside a column without worrying about capital or lowercase letters.

  • Includes: Shows rows where the column text contains your filter value anywhere inside it (e.g., searching "apple" will find "Pineapple", "Apples", and "snapple").- Not Includes: Shows rows where your filter value cannot be found anywhere inside the column text (e.g., searching "apple" will hide "Pineapple" but keep "Banana").
  • Equals: Shows rows only if the column text matches your filter value exactly from start to finish (e.g., searching "Apple" will find "Apple", but will hide "Apples" or "Green Apple").
  • Not Equals: Shows rows only if the column text is different from your filter value (e.g., searching "Apple" will keep everything except rows that say exactly "Apple").
Case-Sensitive Filters​

These operations work exactly like the standard text filters, but capitalization must match exactly.

  • Includes (case sensitive): Finds the value inside the column, but capital and lowercase letters must match perfectly (e.g., searching "Apple" will find "Green Apple", but will hide "pineapple" because of the lowercase "a").
  • Not Includes (case sensitive): Hides rows that contain the exact capitalized value, but keeps rows if the capitalization is different (e.g., searching "Apple" hides "Green Apple" but keeps "pineapple").
Multi-Value List Filters​

These operations are used when a column contains a list of multiple items and the user enters multiple values to filter by (only available for data type tags).

  • Includes all: Shows rows only if the column contains every single one of the selected values (e.g., filtering for "Red" and "Large" only shows items that are both Red and Large).
  • Not includes all: Hides rows only if they contain every single one of your values at the same time; it keeps rows that have only some or none of them.
  • Includes some: Shows rows that contain at least one of the selected values (e.g., filtering for "Red" and "Blue" shows items that are Red, items that are Blue, and items that are both).
  • Not includes some: Hides rows if they contain any of the selected values (e.g., filtering for "Red" and "Blue" will hide any item that has Red or Blue in it).
ℹ️note

Please note that you can only add one filter value per filter (expect for columns of data type tags). If you want to combine filters, add additional filter(s) per value via the Add filter button. They will be combined with a logical OR. That means rows will be shown if at least one of the filters matches a data set.

After clicking on Apply, the table is displayed filtered according to your given values. The filters are additionally displayed above the table, where you can also remove individual ones via clicking their x icon, or clear all filters at once via Clear filters to return to the standard view of the table.

Quick filters​

For some tables in the Solution Designer, pre-defined quick filters are available and displayed permanently above the table. These fixed filters can also be combined with additional custom filters as described above.

Create a diagram​

Diagrams that have been created within the diagram modeling tool (see Modeling tool) are automatically displayed within the diagrams overview. Additionally, it is possible to create new diagrams from the Diagrams overview page.

To create a new diagram, use the Create capability to the right of the table tool bar.

Diagrams are defined using the following master data:

  • Type: Choose the type of the diagram (required)
  • Label: The name of the diagram (required)
  • File name: Unique identifier for the diagram that is used in the repository to where it is saved. If not specified by the user, the Label is used as a base for the File name (required)
  • Description: This is a description of the diagram (optional)
  • Tags: To tag the model element (optional)

Edit a diagram​

All editable fields can be directly edited within the details view of a diagram. You can view the details of a diagram by clicking on the respective row within the table or using the table row action Show details. The details view is also available in the modeling tool from the overflow menu in the header. This opens a second column to the right of the table where all information can be accessed and changed.

Both in the table row actions and the details view, you can access the following actions concerning the diagram:

  • Open diagram: Opens the diagram in the modeling tool
  • Share diagram: This opens a dialog where you can copy the diagram's URL or share it directly via email.
  • Clone diagram: Creates an exact copy of your diagram (see below)
  • Export as PNG: Export your diagram as an image in the PNG file format
  • Delete diagram: Delete the whole diagram (see below)

Clone a diagram​

Diagrams can also be cloned, creating an exact copy of the selected diagram. This can be of use if you want to save a specific state of a diagram, or if you want to base another diagram on the progress you already have made. The capability to clone a diagram can be accessed from the table row actions.

If you select Clone diagram, a modal opens where you can enter a new label for the cloned diagram. After creation, it will be displayed in the diagrams overview table.

Delete a diagram​

The capability to delete a diagram can be found in overflow menu at the end of each table row, as well as in the overflow menu of the details section of each diagram.

⚠warning

You can only delete a model element if it is not in use. You can check the usages of a model element in the Usages section of its details. You will need to confirm the action before the selected model element is permanently deleted.

Loop​

Allows users to add, view, and remove external URLs in the "Links" section of the Loop panel for diagrams. Users can easily associate relevant resources by adding links through a simple interface, and can access these resources by clicking on the link