Configuring the Standard builder to build diagrams from GIS features highlighted in a map

The Standard builder is generally used to operate from a set of GIS features highlighted in a map document after any selection or trace operation. In this case, the content of the diagrams generated from a same GIS features set can then be different depending on the properties that have been configured on the Standard builder properties page.

The steps below focus on the configuration of the Standard builder properties page.

• To learn about how to display the schematic builder properties page, load the Editing schematic builder properties topic.
• To learn about how to create a schematic diagram template and specify its schematic builder, load the Creating a schematic diagram template topic.

The first time the Standard builder properties page displays, the Builder Properties dialog box opens as follows:

The Standard Builder Property Page tab is organized into three sections:

• The Topology options section regroups parameters to define whether the schematic feature links created for the GIS feature edges that are highlighted in the map without their connected junctions being highlighted must be included in the generated diagrams.
• The Geometry options section concerns the management of the vertices along the schematic feature links that will be created.
• The Miscellaneous section concerns the creation of new schematic feature classes during the diagram generation/update process.

Caution:

When a diagram template based on the Standard builder is configured to build schematic diagrams whose entire content is managed by custom queries, the properties on the Standard Builder Property Page tab have no meaning. The steps in the section below that detail how to configure the Standard builder properties only concern Standard builder diagram templates that are expected to work with GIS features highlighted in a map after a selection or trace operation.

Steps:

1. On the Topology options section, you have to specify how the builder is supposed to deal with GIS feature edges that are highlighted in the map without their endpoints also being highlighted:
   • Choose Add connected nodes to include all edge end points in the generated schematic diagram whether they are highlighted or not.
   • Choose Remove link if not connected at each extremity if you only want to include GIS edge features in the schematic diagram if both endpoints are highlighted.

   The Add connected nodes option is selected by default.

   With the Add connected nodes option, the Standard builder will try to deal with all GIS feature edges specified in input. Even if their endpoints are not highlighted, it will try to build the associated schematic feature links and nodes. With the Remove link if not connected at each extremity option, the Standard builder will ignore GIS feature edges specified in input when one or both of their endpoints are not also highlighted.

   Tip:

   To avoid selecting edges without their extremity junctions, click Selection > Selection options in the ArcMap menu and choose Select features completely within the box or graphic(s) in the Interactive selection section.

   Note:

   Working with the Remove link if not connected at each extremity option also prevents users from generating diagrams with disconnected schematic links—that is, without extremity or origin schematic nodes. For example, this may happen when there is no node schematic feature class associated with some of the feature classes added in your map and some features related to those feature classes without associated node schematic feature classes are in input.

2. Check Initialize links vertices on the Geometry options section to generate schematic diagrams in which schematic feature links associated with the GIS edges highlighted in the map will automatically display with their initial vertices.

   When this box is unchecked, schematic links will be drawn as straight lines between the endpoints.

3. Check Automatic schematic feature class creation on the Miscellaneous section if you want the Standard builder to automatically create schematic feature classes that could be missing for the schematic diagram template when it operates.

   When this box is unchecked (default state), no new schematic feature classes are created when the Standard builder operates. This means that if, among the data in input, the Standard builder detects a feature based on a feature class for which there is no associated schematic feature class for the schematic diagram template, no schematic feature will be created in the schematic dataset for that feature, and no schematic feature will be contained in the resulting diagram for that feature.

   Note:

   • Keeping this option unchecked prevents the generation of diagrams with unexpected schematic features in them.
   • On the contrary, checking this option prevents the generation of empty diagrams or with partial contents.