The Object Placement panel on the Topology Import Options dialog contains options for controlling the locations of objects imported using the eXpressSpreadsheet Topology Import. This panel can be accessed by clicking on one of the "Options..." buttons on the Main Topology Import Panel and then selecting the Object Placement tab on the Topology Import Options dialog. The Object Placement options panel appears as follows:
he first dropbox on this panel is used to select the spreadsheet column that contains the location coordinates for each imported object (the format must follow the Location Column in the eXpress Model topology export).
The entry in this dropbox is automatically selected when the Automatically select columns option is enabled. The column can also be de-selected, in which case object placement will be based on the other settings on this panel.
"Translate spreadsheet location" indicates whether the Location Column contains exact or relative coordinates. When disabled, object locations will be relative to the Location Default (described below).
The Location Default dropbox is used to specify the whether new objects are to be placed below or to the right of existing objects. Immediately below this field is a checkbox that, when selected, causes newly imported objects to be separated from existing objects using double the interval specified in the Spacing Method (described below).
The Layout Method dropbox allows the Analyst to select the manner in which objects without explicitly defined locations are to be organized. The default layout is to place the imported objects into equal rows and columns, although the Analyst can also select to use a fixed number of rows or columns (in which case either the Rows or Columns edit box will be enabled).
The Spacing Method dropbox is used to define how objects without explicitly defined locations are to be spaced. The Analyst is presented with the following options:
Use spacing minimums (horizontal and vertical)
Base horizontal spacing on maximum object width
Base vertical spacing on maximum object height
Base spacing on maximum object height and width
The last three options can be used to enforce consistent spacing when importing objects of varying sizes. The edit boxes labeled Horizontal and Vertical are used to specify the minimum horizontal and vertical spacing.
The Sort Method dropbox is used to specify the order in which imported objects are to be alphabetically sorted when they have no explicitly defined locations. There are three options:
Alphabetically
Descending Complexity
Order Listed in Spreadsheet
The "Descending Complexity" Sort Method will cause those objects that are called out in more rows in the spreadsheet to be alphabetically sorted before objects that are mentioned fewer times (the assumption being that objects that require several spreadsheet rows to document are more complex than objects that are fully described in only a couple of rows). The Sort Direction dropbox allows the Analyst to specify whether objects are to be alphabetically sorted top-to-bottom or right-to-left.
The Grouping dropbox can be used to group objects by category (if the Category column has been selected on the Object Appearance panel), symbol or color. When grouping is selected, the Analyst can also choose whether to "Group Objects into Separate Blocks"—when this checkbox is selected, two more fields are enabled, allowing the Analyst to specify 1) whether new blocks are to be placed below or to the right of previous blocks and 2) whether to double-space between blocks.
