Text nodes

As the name implies, you can use text nodes to place text on your diagram. You can use this to include instructions or additional information on the diagram in addition to your influence diagrams, user-interface controls, pictures, and module nodes. It is also a common practice to use text nodes as a way to create visual groupings on the diagram, using the text node not so much for its text, but primarily as a filled rectangle behind other objects.

Creating a text node

To create a text node, mouse-down on the text node toolbar button, drag to where you want it, and release the mouse.

A second method for creating a text node is copy/paste. Copy text of interest, then paste into the diagram with nothing selected.

Title and Description

( new to Analytica 5.0 ) Text nodes can Title text, Description text, or both. Title text appears bold, whereas Description text appears in the selected font.

It is generally assumed that the title be relatively short and (usually) fit on a single line, whereas descriptions may many lines long. The auto-sizing algorithms that adjust node size make use of this principle, so if you use very long titles, you may find it auto-sizing your text nodes to be very wide (since it's heuristic prefers to keep titles on a single line).

When you create a text node by dragging from the toolbar, you start by editing the bold Title text. If you don't want a bold title, press the TAB key first to move to the description.

When editing a title the TAB key moves to the description, and when editing a description, the Shift+TAB key moves to the title.

Hover Icons

New to Analytica 5.0

In edit mode, several hover icons appear over text nodes. The icon changes Description text into a bold Title, and appears when there is Description text but no Title. The changes bold Title text into normal Description text.

The icon edits the bold Title, and the icon edits the Description text.

Text nodes for grouping

Text nodes are often used to create visual groupings, and seen In the Project Portfolio Planner example model with the four text nodes creating four visually separate user-interface panels.

A text node's fill and border is turned off initially when you first create it. To use it for visual groupings, select it and then go to the Node Style dialog and turn on Show Label, Show Border or both as desired. You may then wish to change the background or font color from the Color palette.