1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Chapter 23. Document Production
  4. 4. Doc. Composer Fill-in-Doc mode
  5. Querying diagram elements

Querying diagram elements

Download PDF

If you want to retrieve a shape or shapes, and to output content like the shape’s name, description, or a list of member elements (e.g. attributes of class, columns of entity), etc., read this section to learn the ways to retrieve shapes (i.e. diagram elements).

Querying Diagram Elements from Specific Diagram

If you need to write a document for a specific diagram, like an ERD report, you may need to insert the details of the containing shapes into your document. In that case, you will want to query diagram elements in a diagram.

If you want to output any detail of a diagram elements in a diagram, write an ${ELEMENT} field in your Word document with LoopInDiagram specified as element source. Here are several examples of such an ${ELEMENT} field:

${ELEMENT, "Tables in ERD", "DBTable", LoopInDiagarm, PROPERTY=name}

${ELEMENT, "List of Classes", "Class", LoopInDiagram, Details}

In the first example, the name of entities on a selected ERD will be output. Note that “Tables in ERD” is the field name, which is a required and unique value for identifying this field.

In the second example, content will be output for classes in the selected diagram, based on the template Children.

When you pick-up a Doc Base with such an ${ELEMENT} field in it, you can select the diagram to query in Doc. Composer.