Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate®
This document discusses how to use the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate.
Contents
IDEF0 Entities ..............................................................................................................................................................2
IDEF0 Relationships ....................................................................................................................................................2
IDEF0 Interactions ......................................................................................................................................................3
Adding an Action ....................................................................................................................................................3
Adding an Input/Output .........................................................................................................................................3
Adding an Asset ......................................................................................................................................................4
Action to Action with Input/Output Interaction ....................................................................................................4
Action to Action with Connector Interaction .........................................................................................................5
Auto Expand Actions Interaction Screenshot .........................................................................................................5
Renaming / Fonts ...................................................................................................................................................6
Labels Interaction ...................................................................................................................................................7
Hiding Labels Interaction ....................................................................................................................................7
Moving Labels Interaction ..................................................................................................................................8
Anchor Point Interaction ....................................................................................................................................9
Anchor Line Options Interaction ........................................................................................................................9
Resetting Labels ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Resizing ................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Moving ................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Auto Layout ......................................................................................................................................................... 11
Rule Check ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 1
IDEF0 Entities
The IDEF0 Diagram uses Actions, Assets, Resources and IOs (Input/Outputs) to create the diagram.
IDEF0 Relationships
There are four relationships: Input, Control, Output and Performs. The IDEF0 also supports mechanism
feedback.
Input and controls are formed by IOs being received by an Action. The difference between an Input and Control
is determined by the trigger mechanism. Controls have triggers turn on, while Inputs have triggers turn off.
Outputs are formed by IOs being generated by an action. Mechanisms are formed when a Resource is being
produced by and performed by an action, since Resource is a subclass of asset.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 2
IDEF0 Interactions
Adding an Action
Using the side panel, click on the action icon and drag it to the diagram and deselect; from there your diagram
will update and the new action will be displayed below the other actions.
Adding an Input/Output
Adding Input/Output: Using the side panel, click on the IO icon and drag to the diagram. From here drag the icon
over an action entity. It will display three different boxes inside of it. Hover over the box you want the IO to form
a relationship with the action and deselect. The three relationships that an IO can form are Input, Control and
Output. After releasing, a line will appear from the action to the new IO.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 3
Adding an Asset
Using the side panel, click on the asset icon and drag to the diagram. Hover over the action that the asset wants
to form a relationship with and deselect it. After releasing, a line will appear from the action to the new asset.
Action to Action with Input/Output Interaction
Once you have an IO form a relationship, you can drag that IO by clicking on the name and dragging it over
another action. The three boxes will reappear and you can choose which relationship again. Release again and
the line will draw from the current action to the new action and the label will appear to display the IO name.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 4
Action to Action with Connector Interaction
Another way to form action to action is by clicking on an action and you will see a green dot. Click on the dot and
drag it over to another action. The three boxes representing the relationship will appear. Deselect the dot over
one of them and the relationship will be formed and a new IO label will appear between them.
Auto Expand Actions Interaction Screenshot
Once an action has more than three of the same type of IO (Control, Input, and Output) or Asset the action will
expand to better accommodate the new IO or asset.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 5
Auto Adjusting IO/Asset: When you move an action the IO and Asset attached to the action will automatically
move with the action. However once an IO or Asset is move individually this will turn off this ability for that IO
or Asset. To get functionality back, a hard reset has to be performed on the diagram.
Before with Auto Adjusting Screenshot:
Before without Auto Adjusting Screenshot:
After with Auto Adjusting Screenshot:
After without Auto Adjusting Screenshot:
Renaming / Fonts
Any entity on the diagram can be renamed simply be clicking on the entity’s name and on the side panel type in
the new name. The entity’s name will reflect the changes as you type. Also, when you click on an entity or label,
you will see five options appear on the toolbar. These allow you to control bolding and italicizing, color of the
text, color of the background of entity, and the border color of the entity.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 6
Labels Interaction
Labels are movable and also have the ability to be shown and hidden. When you click on a label or line a button
appears on the toolbar that allows you to control the functionality of the label. The button allows the label to be
shown and hidden, as well as change the line type of the label.
Hiding Labels Interaction
To hide a label click on the Line Label button then click on either Hide All Labels, Hide Child Label, or Hide Parent
Label. This will cause the respected label to be hidden from view. To show the label, click on the line that the
label is associated with and then click on Line Label dropdown then click on either: Show All Labels, Show Child
Label, or Show Parent Label. This will cause the respected label to be displayed on the diagram.
Label Showing Interaction Screenshot:
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 7
Moving Labels Interaction
To move a label simply click on the label and it will be selected with a blue outline. To move a label click and
drag the label to the desired location. When you drag the label far enough from the line, an anchor will appear
on the line and a light gray curved line will link the label to the line.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 8
Anchor Point Interaction
To change the anchor point click on the anchor or the anchor’s line. The line will be highlighted blue and
selected. All anchor points will grow in size for ease of use. Click on an anchor and drag the anchor around the
line to the desire the position. When you find the desired position, simply deselect the anchor and it will lock in
place.
Anchor Line Options Interaction
The light gray lines have two options, either the default curved line or a straight line. These options can be found
and toggle under the Label Line button when a line is selected.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 9
Resetting Labels
To reset the label, select a label and under the Line Label button click on Reset Label(s). This will cause the label
to return back to the default location as well its anchor. The anchor may disappear when the Reset Label(s) is
selected.
Resizing
You can resize action, asset, and IOs that aren’t connected by action to actions. To resize, click on an entity and
four blue dots will be displayed. Click and drag any one of these dots to see your entity resized. Drag until you
are satisfied and deselect to have your entity update (and also have any entity associated with update as well).
Note labels will not change placement.
Moving
In order to move an entity, click and drag the entity to a new position then deselect.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 10
Auto Layout
There are two layouts to choose from, hard and soft. Soft layout resets the action’s x and y positions’ back to the
default location but do not reset the width or height. Also, the IO’s and label’s positions are unaffected by this
layout. The hard layout will reset back to the original routing.
Original IDEF0 Screenshot:
Soft Auto Layout Screenshot:
Hard Auto Layout Screenshot:
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 11
Rule Check
Clicking the rule check will perform some quick checks against your model in order to determine if your IDEF0
holds to the IDEF0 standards. If your IDEF0 passes all of the tests a green message will appear. If not, yellow
warning messages will be displayed indicating which test failed.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 12
Copyright © 2014 Systems and Proposal Engineering Company.
All Rights Reserved.
Innoslate® is a registered trademark of Systems and Proposal Engineering Company.
Last modified on July 15th 2014.
Using the IDEF0 Diagram in Innoslate 13