Copying, Pasting, Selecting and Deleting Elements

## Selecting Elements in a View

Diagram elements and connections may be selected in the view by clicking on them with the selection tool or the marquee tool. For more information about these tools see Palette Selection Tools.

## Copying and Pasting Elements in a View

Diagram elements may be cut, copied and pasted in Views. There are, however, certain constraints on how this works:

- If an element is pasted into a View from the same model where the element already exists in that View then a new model element and a new diagram element are created for the View. The new element is a copy of the original. Any connections are also newly created as copies.
- If an element is pasted in a View from the same model where the element does not already exist then a new diagram element is created for the View and the original model element is referenced. This is equivalent to dragging the element from the Model Tree into the View. Any connections are also referenced.

If an element is pasted into a View from a different model then a new model element and a new diagram element are created for the View. The new element is a copy of the original. Any connections are also newly created as copies.

If you choose the "Paste Special" menu option, instead of "Paste" then you can change this behaviour such that references to copied elements are created rather than new elements. You can set the behaviour for this feature in Preferences.

If you copy some diagram elements and then click on the View before pasting, the copied elements will be pasted at the point where you clicked.

## Copy As Image to Clipboard

A View (diagram) can be copied as an image to the system clipboard. This is available from the "Copy As Image To Clipboard" menu command from the main "Edit" menu or by right-clicking on a View and selecting the menu item from the contextual menu. This menu command is only available if a View is open and selected. The shortcut key combination is Ctrl-Shift-C (Command key on Mac). Once the View is copied to the system clipboard it can be pasted into other applications such as word processing and drawing tools.

## Deleting Elements and Relationships (Connections) in a View

Selected elements and/or connections in a View can be deleted from the View by choosing the "Delete from View" menu item from the main "Edit" menu, from the main toolbar or from the right-click menu. Note - this action deletes the selected objects from the View not from the model.

## Delete from View (keep children)

This menu item is available from the main "Edit" menu or when right-clicking an object in a View. It allows you to delete the selected objects but retain the object's child objects. Child objects are re-parented to the selected object's immediate parent. Note - this action deletes the selected objects from the View not from the model.

## Delete from Model

This menu item is available from the main "Edit" menu or when right-clicking an element or relationship in a View. The selected elements and/or relationships are deleted from the model itself and any Views that reference those elements. This is the equivalent of selecting the elements in the Model Tree and choosing "Delete".

## Changing an Object's ArchiMate Concept Type in a View

An Element or Relation's ArchiMate concept type can be changed in a View. To change one or more objects' ArchiMate concept type in a View select the required Elements or Relationships and, from the right-click context menu, select the "Set Concept Type" sub-menu and then select the required ArchiMate concept.

For more information, see Changing an Object's ArchiMate Concept Type in the Model Tree.

## Select in Model Tree

This menu item is available when right-clicking an element or relationship in a View. It will select the corresponding model element in the Model Tree.

## Select Objects of Same Type

This menu item is available when right-clicking one or more elements or relationships in a View. It will select all objects of the same type as the selected objects in the current View.