## View Reference Properties

Selecting a View Reference in a View means that you can edit or view the following properties in the Properties Window. Some of these properties relate to the referenced View (Name, Documentation, Properties) and some relate to the actual graphical node itself (Appearance, Label, Image).

The Main Tab

Editing the "Main" Properties for a View Reference

Name: | The name of the referenced View
Documentation: | A space to enter some user documentation relating to the referenced View

The Properties Tab

Edit Properties for the referenced View. For more information about creating and managing User Properties see User Properties.

The Appearance Tab

Editing the "Appearance" Properties for a View Reference

Fill Colour: | Sets the fill colour for the selected object. Click on the main part of the button to set the colour. The "Default" drop-down option sets the fill colour to the default setting.
Gradient: | Sets the direction used to draw the gradient fill of the selected element. Settings are "None", "Top", Left", "Right" and "Bottom". Note - gradients will not show when a diagram is exported in SVG image format.
Fill Opacity: | Set the fill opacity of the figure. Range from 0-255.
Line Colour: | Sets the colour of the line used to draw the selected element. Click on the main part of the button to set the colour. The "Derive from fill colour" drop-down option sets the line colour based on the fill colour. The "Default" drop-down option sets the line colour to the default colour as set in Preferences. If the "Default" drop-down option is not visible it is because line colours are derived from the element's fill colour, as set in the "Derive from fill colour" drop-down option.
Line Width: | Sets the width of the line used to draw the selected object. Options are "Normal", "Medium" and "Heavy".
Line Opacity: | Set the line opacity of the figure. Range from 0-255.
Line Style: | Set the line style of the figure. Options are "Solid", "Dashed", "Dotted" and "None".
Text Alignment: | Align text in the selected object to Left, Centred or Right.
Text Position: | Align text in the selected object to Top, Middle or Bottom.
Font: | Sets the font used for the text in the selected object. Click on the main part of the button to set the font. The "Default" drop-down option sets the font to the default setting as set in Preferences.
Font Colour: | Sets the colour of the font used for the text in the selected object. Click on the main part of the button to set the colour. The "Default" drop-down option sets the font colour to the default setting.

The Label Tab

Adding a Label Expression to display in the View

By default, a View Reference's name will be displayed in any View in which it appears. Using a label expression per View instance, you can choose what is displayed for the View Reference in the View. For example you may wish to display the View Reference's name and the value of one or more of its properties.

For a full list of expression types please refer to the Archi Wiki.

The Image Tab

Image Properties for a View Reference

Show Icon: | Whether to show the small icon for the figure. Options are "If no image defined", "Always", and "Never".
Preview: | A preview image that shows how the image will appear. Double-clicking the Preview box will launch the Image Chooser dialog window. You can also drag and drop an image file from the desktop onto the Preview box.
Image: | Select an image for the object or clear the image. See "Adding Images to Objects" for more details
Position: | Sets the position of the image relative to the object.