Floating Icons

When you select an element on a diagram, or add a new element, a number of small icons display off the right hand side of the element underneath the Quick Linker arrow (); for example:

A UML State element showing the element icons (floaties) to the right of its resize handles. and A UML State Fork/Join element showing the element icons (floaties) to the right of its resize handles.

These icons display small, floating versions of the diagram toolbars or perform specific actions, to help you quickly edit the element you have highlighted. If you do not want to show or use these icons, you can prevent their display by deselecting the 'Show buttons for selected Object on diagram' checkbox on the 'Objects' page of the 'Preferences' dialog.

Also, if an element shown in the diagram is locked, and the 'Display Element Lock Status' option is selected in the 'Properties' dialog for the diagram, a locking indicator is displayed outside the top left hand corner of the element. The indicator is the same as the exclamation mark (!) against a locked element in the Browser window:

Red if the element is under a full lock or locked by another user
Blue if the element is under a lock set by yourself or by a user in the same User Group as yourself

You might also see, on the left hand side of the element, another floating icon (). This displays when:

In the 'Diagram' tab of the Properties window for the diagram, in the 'Connectors' section, the 'Show Feature Linker' checkbox is selected and
The element name or an operation, attribute or reception within the element is selected and highlighted

The icon helps you to create a relationship between the selected feature in one element and another element or a feature within it. See the Feature Quick Linker Help topic.

Icon Use

Icon	Action	See also
	Click on this icon to rotate a Fork/Join element from vertical to horizontal or vice-versa.	Fork/Join
	Click on this icon to display a short formatting toolbar, to change the appearance of the element. The options are the same as those on the 'Layout > Style' ribbon panel.	Style Panel
	Click on this icon to display the Current Element toolbar, to edit the element's properties and features.	Element Toolbar
	On a Package element, displays two further icons to generate: A document file using the 'Generate Documentation' dialog, or a Web page document using the 'Publish as HTML' dialog	Create a Web Page Report Generate Documentation
	When multiple elements are selected, click on this icon to display the Diagram Toolbar to change or align the elements together.	Diagram Toolbar
	Click on this icon to toggle an Activity Partition between vertical and horizontal.	Activity Partition
	Indicates that the Interaction Fragment currently contains messages; in this state you can: Move the fragment vertically, but not horizontally; all elements and messages below the fragment move up or down by the same amount Resize the fragment to larger than the contained messages/elements, but not smaller This is the default condition when you open or reload a diagram containing a fragment. You can click on the icon to toggle to 'move freely' mode.	Combined Fragment
	Indicates that the Interaction Fragment can be moved independently of the Messages or other elements contained within the fragment. This is the default condition when you first create the fragment. You can click on the icon to toggle to 'contains messages' mode (earlier).
	For elements that do not have the default rectangle/compartment rendition, such as Use Cases and Actors, toggles display of the element between their default shape and rectangular notation.	Rectangle Notation

Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Floating Icons

Icon Use

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