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Links
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Links can only be made between steps. One of the unique things about DoView is the DoView link icon which records a link even if a line and arrow has not been put in. Once a step is linked to another step, whenever you select the step, the DoView link icons show any other steps it makes happen (it causes) and which steps it is the result of. In addition, whenever you wish, you can add a drawn either a straight line or a bent line to also visually represent a link.
Note that when in View > Model Direction > Left-to-Right mode, the DoView link icons will appear on the left and right sides of a step box rather than the top and bottom.
Tip: It is not possible to have a drawn line without also having an underlying DoView link. However, you can have an underlying DoView link without having it also represented by a drawn line.
You should read the rest of this section for information on links and then read the Section on Links and Drawn Lines for information about how you can also represent links with drawn lines.
Make links by:
| • | Clicking on a step, left-mouse clicking on the small blue box in the middle of the step, holding your mouse down, dragging it over a second step which you want to link to and then releasing the mouse button when the DoView link icon (see screenshot below) appears on the bottom edge (or left side) of the second step |
| • | Clicking on the link tool in the toolbar and following the rest of the instructions above |
| • | Holding down Alt when you have a step selected and dragging out over any other step. |
You can make multiple links by:
| • | Clicking on the small arrow to the right of the Link Tool on the Tool Bar and selecting Make many links at once. This will allow you to make as many links as you like to other steps. When you have finished making your links you can turn this function off by: 1) re-clicking on the Link Tool; 2) Right-mouse clicking; or 3) pushing Esc. |
| • | Holding down Alt when you have a step selected and dragging out over any other step also means you can make multiple links. |
Make reverse links by:
| • | Holding down Shift when you are making links using the methods listed above. e.g. by holding down Alt Shift. |
| • | Clicking on the small arrow to the right of the Link Tool on the Tool Bar and selecting Make many reverse links at once. |
Making links across pages by:
| • | Selecting a step, going to the other page on which the step to which you wish to link it is located and holding down Alt. |
| • | Clicking on the row in the details table for the step from which you wish to make a link and holding down Alt. |
| • | Clicking on the Link Tool in the Tool Bar instead of holding down Alt. |
Tip: When making links across pages, if you make a link by mistake use Undo (e.g. Ctrl Z) to remove it and then continue on with your linking.
Options available when clicking on the small arrow next to the Link Tool on the Tool Bar
The DoView link icon
The DoView link icon is only shown for one step at a time in DoView - when you click on a step which is linked to any other step the link icons appear. This keeps diagrams uncluttered.
However, you can, if you wish, also represent links with drawn lines (see the Section on Links and Drawn Lines). This means that you can show the links between a number of steps on a page. This can be useful when printing out pages using print as PDF. In addition, when you print as PDF you can select the option of including information from the details table, which will put a list of all steps and their links at the end of the PDF. You can also click on a step prior to printing as PDF and the PDF will include exactly what can be seen within DoView - so if there are DoView link icons showing, these will also be showing in the PDF.
Tip: If you select a first step and move to another page without unselecting it, any steps on the new page which are linked to the first step will show the appropriate DoView link icon. The same applies if you click on any step name in the details table.
In the example below, Step 1 has been linked to Outcome 2 and Outcome 3 and so when Step 1 is selected the is a result of link icon will appear on Outcome 2 and Outcome 3.
Selecting a step, right clicking and selecting either This makes happen or This is a result of, will list all of the steps in the model (no matter what page they are on) to which the selected step is linked.
Storing additional information about links in the details table
Links have rows associated with them in the details table as in the screenshot below. You can access the information in the row by either clicking on the row when you have selected the link on a DoView page (the row for the link will be highlighted in blue), or just by double clicking on the link itself.
Hyperlinking out to additional information related to a link
You may want to hyperlink out to an external web address (URL) or to a local file with further information about a link. For instance, it may be a summary of evidence on a web page (either one someone else has put up or one you have put up) which supports the existence of the link you have made. You can put a link out to the web or a file on the page which, when clicked on, will take the user out to the relevant web page or local file.