Canvas

Variations of the canvas will appear throughout Cypher Workbench. This page describes the common features found in the Canvas.

Nodes

Nodes may refer to Node Labels, Node Patterns, or generally to items that on the canvas that are represented by a circle with associated text.

Positioning Nodes

Nodes can be positioned by clicking within the Node circle and dragging to a new location. Connected Relationships will be repositioned automatically. Likewise, any annotation bubbles will be repositioned to available empty space during dragging.

Color and Size

You can change the color of a Node by selecting it, then clicking on one of the pre-defined color circles from the color picker. The color picker will either be at the top of bottom of the canvas. The …​ icon on the far left will bring up a color picker allowing you to pick the color of your choice.

You can change the size of a Node by selecting it, then clicking on one of the pre-defined size circles from the size picker to the right of the color picker.

Editing

You can edit a Node in 2 ways.

  • By double-clicking the Node

  • By single-clicking the Node, then clicking the arc with 3-bars in the upper-left

Double-clicking will prompt you to edit the existing Node value. You can type <Enter> or click the 'x' to finish editing. Hit <Esc> to cancel the edit. Functionality for single-clicking will depend on the tool.

Deleting

To delete a Node, single click on it, then click on the arc with the trash icon. If you have selected more than one item, you will be prompted to confirm the delete.

Relationships

Relationships may refer to Relationship Types, Relationship Patterns, or generally to items that on the canvas that are represented by a line connecting two nodes.

Adding

You can add a Relationship by dragging out from a Node.

To create a relationship by dragging, move your mouse near a Node. As you approach the outer edge of the Node, a gray circle will appear and the mouse cursor will change. While your mouse is over the gray circle, click and drag away into an open area of the canvas. Release the mouse and a new Relationship to a new Node will be drawn.

Connecting to existing Nodes

When dragging the new relationship line, you can hover over an existing Node. When you hover, the Node will highlight purple. If you release the mouse while hovering over the purple Node, the Relationship will be connected to the existing Node.

Self-connected Relationships

You can self-connect a Relationship by dragging out the relationship line, then releasing it over the same Node you started from. Some versions of the canvas may not support this.

Editing

You can edit a Relationship in 2 ways.

  • By double-clicking the Relationship

  • By single-clicking the Relationship, then clicking the button with 3-bars on the left

Double-clicking will prompt you to edit the existing Relationship name. You can type <Enter> or click the 'x' to finish editing. Hit <Esc> to cancel the edit. Functionality for single-clicking will depend on the tool.

Reversing a Relationship

Single click the Relationship, then click the button with 2 arrow heads.

Deleting

To delete a Relationship, single click on it, then click on the button with the trash icon. If you have selected more than one item, you will be prompted to confirm the delete.

Selecting

You can select one or more Nodes or Relationships on the canvas. When multiple items are selected, coloring, sizing, moving, position locking, and deleting will affect all selected items.

You can select an item by single clicking on it, and you can deselect an item by clicking on a blank area of the canvas.

To select multiple items, you can:

  • Hold down the Shift key, then start dragging on an empty area of the canvas. As you continue dragging, a selection rectangle will be shown and as items fall within the rectangle they will be selected. Once you have selected multiple items and wish to bring up the node arcs or relationship ribbons, continue holding Shift and click on a selected item.

  • Hold down the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and click on the desired items to select. Once you have selected multiple items and wish to bring up the node arcs or relationship ribbons, continue holding Command/Ctrl and click on a selected item twice. The first time you deselect it, the second time it will get selected and present the node arcs/relationship ribbons.

If multiple items are selected, you can also hold Command/Ctrl to deselect items.

Pan and Zoom

You can pan and zoom on the canvas:

  • Pan: Click and drag on a blank area of the canvas

  • Zoom: There are zoom controls located at the top or bottom of the canvas

    • Zoom Out: Click on the '-' magnifying glass icon

    • Zoom In: Click on the '+' magnifying glass icon

  • Reset: Click on the cross-hairs icon

The current Zoom level will be displayed to the left of the zoom icons.