Linking Nodes

A link is a visual connection from one node to another. You can see an example of a link in figure 1. below.

Figure 1. A link from one node to another

Links can also have labels as in figure 1b below:

Figure 1b. A link from one node to another with a label

Creating Links

On Windows and Linux and Mac with three button Mouse

To create a link from one node to another, press and hold your right mouse button over the node you wish to link from, and drag your mouse to the node you wish to link to, then release the right mouse button. By default, a link with a single arrow head pointing at the 'to' node will be draw, as in figure 1, however the style and colour can be changed, (see Editing Links).

On Mac with a one button mouse

To create a link from one node to another, press and hold down the 'Alt' key and press and hold down your mouse button over the node you wish to link from, and drag your mouse to the node you wish to link to, then release the 'Alt' key first and then the mouse button. By default, a link with a single arrow head pointing at the 'to' node will be draw, as in figure 1, however the style and colour can be changed, (see Editing Links).

The default link type and therefore colour of the links created depends on the currently active link group and the default link you have chosen for that link group. See Link Groups for more information.

If you do not set an active link group or the active link group is the default group 'Issue-Based Information Systems' (IBIS), then, if you link from a Pro Node, the link created will be a 'Supports Link' type,  (which by default is green unless the user has changed it) and if you link from a Con Node, the link created will be a 'Objects To' type, (which by default is red, unless the user has changed it). For Argument nodes you can create different types of link depending where you start the linking from. If you start the linking from the Pro corner, the link will be 'Supports Link' type, from the Con corner it will be 'Objects To' type, and somewhere in the middle, it will be the default link type for the group (by default this is black). The exact position where the colours change can be a little sensitive, so may need some practice. Figure 2 below shows you how these different link types would look when using the IBIS default settings:

Figure 2. Links from pro, con and arguments nodes

There are three ways to add a label to a link:

1.    Set the 'Label' property of the link types. If there is a label set for a link type, then that label will be added to the link when you create it. If you change link type after creation, the link type label will only be applied to the link if the existing link label has not been edited (Is the label of its previous link type without alteration).

2.    By using the link properties dialog 'Label' text box, see figure 5 below.

3.    By selecting the link label text area and typing directly into it. This works the same way as it does for node labels. To locate the link label text area when there is no link label on a link, roll your mouse over the centre of the link and the text area will be highlighted as in figure 3 below:

You can then click in this area to start editing, see figure 3b below:

Figure 3b. Editing a link label.

Removing Links

To remove a single link from a node pair, right-click on the link and select 'Delete' from the menu, (see figure 4, below). You can also remove one or more links by selecting them with a single left mouse click, and then either pressing the 'Delete' key, the 'Backspace' key or the 'Control' and 'X' keys.

Figure 4. The link right-click menu

To remove all links from a specific node, use the node right-click menu, and select the 'Delink' menu option, (see The Node Right-Click Menu).

Editing Link Contents

Link properties can be edited through the Link Contents dialog window, (see figure 5, below).

For editing a link, right-click on the link and select 'Contents' from the menu, (see Link Right-Click Menu).

Figure 5. The link properties window.

When editing a this dialog shows you several pieces of information about a link. It allows you to edit three link properties, the link label, the arrow settings, and the link type. Below is a table describing each property:

Once you have made any changes required to the link contents, press the 'Update' button to save those changes, or the 'Cancel' button to close the dialog window without saving those changes.

Viewing Link Properties

For viewing link properties, right-click on the link and select 'Properties' from the menu, (see Link Right-Click Menu).

Below is a table describing each property:

Once you finished viewing press the 'Close' button to close the dialog.