Connectors¶

A connector is a line that knows what it's attached to. Move the shape, the line follows. This is the bit that makes a diagram a diagram rather than a drawing.

Drawing one¶

Press L (or click the Connector tool) and drag from one point to another.

As you move near a shape, small hollow dots appear around it — the connection points. Bring the end within a few pixels of one and that dot fills in and gains a ring: let go now and the connector attaches there. Let go in open space and the end stays free, which is fine too.

Changing a shape's connection points¶

A shape's connection points are the spots where connectors attach.

Right-click a single unlocked shape and choose Edit Connection Points. The same command is in the Edit menu, with the shortcut Cmd+Alt+E. The canvas greys out everything outside the shape's frame, and a small set of controls appears beside it. These edits affect only this shape in your diagram; the library and other copies stay as they are.

• Move a point: click and drag it. Points stay inside the shape's frame, even when the shape is rotated. You can move the standard points too.
• Add a point: click Add connection point, then click where you want it inside the frame. You can also press Enter to add it at the center. Clicking an existing point selects it instead of adding another; repeated center placement does the same. You can add up to 128 connection points per shape; Add is disabled at that limit.
• Delete a point: select it, then click Delete selected or press Del. With no point selected, Delete does nothing. Standard points can be deleted, and a shape can have no connection points.

Attached connector ends follow a point as you move it. Deleting that point leaves the connector ends in place and detaches them. If an attached connector is locked, unlock it before deleting the point.

Each completed change supports Undo (Cmd+Z) and Redo (Cmd+Shift+Z), including restoring deleted points and their attachments. Click Done, press Esc, or double-click outside the frame to finish and keep your changes. A single click outside does nothing. Enter also finishes when you are not adding a point.

For keyboard editing, Tab and Shift+Tab select the next or previous point. Arrow keys move the selected point by one diagram unit; hold Shift for ten.

To set the starting points for future copies of a library shape, use the library Connection Points editor. Those defaults are saved in the .sdlibrary package.

Straight, curved, squiggly, or right-angle¶

Click the small chevron on the Connector tool button and pick:

• Straight Connector — corners stay sharp.
• Curved Connector — smooth curve through the points.
• Squiggly Connector — drawn freehand, for when a diagram shouldn't look too sure of itself.
• Right-Angle Connector — runs only across and up-and-down, with square corners, and finds its own way between the two shapes.

The tool remembers your choice, and picking one also activates the tool.

Right-angle connectors¶

A right-angle connector is the squared-off line you see in flowcharts and org charts. You don't place its corners. You say where it starts and ends, and it works out the route.

Pick Right-Angle Connector, then drag from one connection point to another. As you drag, a dashed line shows the route the connector will take. Let go and that's where it's drawn.

The line leaves each shape square to the side its connection point is on, keeps clear of both shapes, and turns halfway between them when it can. Move, resize or rotate either shape and the connector finds a new route, live, as you drag.

Moving part of the route¶

Sometimes the route it picks isn't quite the one you want. Select the connector with the Select tool and a small bar appears on each segment you can move. Point at one and the cursor becomes a two-way arrow; drag, and a dashed line shows where the connector will go. Let go to move it.

A segment only slides sideways — a level segment moves up and down, an upright one moves left and right — so the corners always stay square. If you drag the segment that touches a shape, the connector keeps a short stub at the shape and steps across to where you dropped it.

Once you've moved a segment, the connector keeps your route. It stretches when the shapes move, but it won't rearrange itself. If a shape moves so far that your route would have to pass back through it, the connector quietly uses its own route until the shape comes back. To hand the route back for good, right-click the connector and choose Reset Route. Dragging an end onto a different connection point also starts the route afresh.

Going around other shapes¶

By default a right-angle connector also goes around shapes that sit in its way. It ignores lines and freehand strokes, and any shape that contains one of its ends, such as a background panel behind the shapes it joins.

If you'd rather it take the direct route across whatever is there, right-click it and turn off Route Around Shapes. To change several at once, select them and use the same switch in the Stroke popover. New right-angle connectors start with whichever setting you chose last.

Multi-segment connectors¶

Sometimes a line has to go around things, and you want to say exactly where. (If square corners will do, a right-angle connector goes around things by itself.)

With a Straight or Curved connector, hold Alt as you release the mouse and the connector stays "open" — keep clicking to add more anchor points. Finish with a double-click or by pressing Enter. Click back on the first anchor to close the shape. Esc throws the whole thing away.

Editing a connector you've already drawn¶

Select the connector first. Then:

If a connector is attached to a shape, you can't drag the whole line somewhere else — move the shape instead. That's deliberate: the attachment is the whole point.

A right-angle connector has no points of its own to add, remove or bend, so those rows don't apply to it. You can still drag, re-attach and detach its two ends, and you move its segments instead.

Arrowheads, weights and patterns¶

Right-click a connector for the full set of options, or use the Shape Properties panel.

Line Weight: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 points from the context menu, or type any value from 1 to 100 in the panel.

Line Pattern: Solid, Dashed or Dotted.

Start Ending and End Ending, independently:

None · Stop · Arrow · Hollow Arrow · Circle · Filled Circle · Diamond · Filled Diamond · Half Circle · Crow Foot · One · One and Only One · Zero or One · One or Many · Zero or Many · Filled Arrow · Slash · Circle Plus · Cross · Half Arrow

In the panel, the start and end buttons open a grid showing every ending at once.

You can also change an ending without leaving the canvas. Select a connector and a small button appears beside each end, showing that end's current ending; click it for the same grid. Or right-click an end and its endings are at the top of the menu. If you'd rather not have either, turn them off under Connectors in Settings.

Crow Foot and the five after it are there for the database people. You know who you are.

Other connector commands¶

Right-clicking gives you a few more things depending on where you click:

• On a point: Point Type ▸ Straight / Curved, Remove Point, Detach Start, Detach End
• On a segment: Add Point Here
• Anywhere on the line: Clear Waypoints (straightens it back out) and Delete Connector
• On a right-angle connector: Route Around Shapes and Reset Route take the place of the point commands

One thing to know about layering¶

Shapes and connectors share a drawing order. Select a connector and use the Arrange menu's Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, or Send to Back commands to control what it overlaps. Send a connector behind shapes when you want its ends to tuck beneath their artwork.