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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0005871CaseTalk ModelerUser Interfacepublic2026-08-09 16:54
ReporterMarco Wobben Assigned ToMarco Wobben  
PrioritynormalSeverityminorReproducibilityhave not tried
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Fixed in Version15.0 
Summary0005871: Ring constraint visualization in the diagram, and editing a constraint from the diagram
Description

Two things around constraints in the diagram, for 15.0.

RING CONSTRAINT VISUALIZATION

A ring constraint is a property of its fact type rather than a numbered constraint, and the diagram treats it as a second-class citizen because of it:

  • It is drawn as a glyph parked against the bottom-right corner of the fact type, with no way to move it. On a busy diagram it lands on a reading or another shape and there is nothing the reader can do about it.
  • Nothing says which roles it runs between. Every other constraint draws its dashed lines to the roles it constrains; the ring draws none, so once it sits anywhere but hard against its fact type it says nothing about what it applies to.
  • A fact type can ring in more than one way at once - a hierarchy that also forbids shortcuts is acyclic AND intransitive - and a single symbol cannot show that.
  • It gives no feedback when selected, where every other constraint fills with the selection colour.

CONSTRAINT EDITING FROM THE DIAGRAM

Asking to edit a constraint in the diagram opens an object/fact type editor instead of the constraint's own dialog. This holds for uniqueness, totality, subset, equality and cardinality constraints alike: the edit command reaches the selection rather than the constraint that was clicked, and the selection is a type.

The cardinality constraint suffers most, because it is also the one that cannot be usefully placed without editing: it is created saying 'exactly once', which is never what it was placed for, and the numbers have to be found somewhere else afterwards.

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CaseTalk EditionCorporate

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Marco Wobben

Marco Wobben

2026-08-08 09:05

administrator   ~0008805

Both halves are addressed for 15.0.

RING CONSTRAINT VISUALIZATION

The glyph now shows one ring per member of the combination, side by side in the order the constraint reads, so a fact type that is acyclic AND intransitive shows both - the reader recognises the parts instead of having to learn a compound symbol.

It can be dragged anywhere on the diagram. Where it is put is remembered per diagram and survives moving or resizing the fact type, reloading the diagram, and changing the constraint itself. 'Smart Move' in the diagram popup - the same switch every other constraint has - hands it back to the fact type, which parks it against the bottom-right corner again. Dragging it away turns Smart Move off by itself.

It draws the dashed lines to the roles it rings between, like every other constraint: the pinned pair when one was recorded, and otherwise the fact type's own two roles. The lines follow the glyph and switch off with the rest of the constraints.

Selecting it fills it with the selection colour, and clicking it no longer hands the selection back to the fact type underneath.

CONSTRAINT EDITING FROM THE DIAGRAM

Editing a constraint from the diagram now opens the dialog belonging to that constraint: the UC/CC dialog for uniqueness and cardinality constraints, the totality/set dialog for totality and exclusion, and the subset dialog for subset and equality. A ring constraint still opens its fact type's editor, which is where its own setting lives.

Placing a cardinality constraint with the toolbutton opens its dialog straight away, so the min and max can be given at once instead of leaving it saying 'exactly once'.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2026-08-08 09:04 Marco Wobben New Issue
2026-08-08 09:05 Marco Wobben Note Added: 0008805
2026-08-09 16:54 Marco Wobben Assigned To => Marco Wobben
2026-08-09 16:54 Marco Wobben Status new => resolved
2026-08-09 16:54 Marco Wobben Resolution open => fixed
2026-08-09 16:54 Marco Wobben Fixed in Version => 15.0