5.2 Driving Shape Color by Element Condition

The next step is to link (or bind) the new shape to an element’s condition color and/or its name.

IMPORTANT:Binding an adapter element (listed under Administration > Adapters) has unexpected results and is unsupported. The result of dragging and dropping an adapter element to a Layout view shape is that a duplicate adapter element with UNKNOWN status displays in the Explorer pane.

5.2.1 Binding an Element to a Shape

To bind an element to a drawing shape:

  1. Drag any element from the Explorer pane and drop it on the shape.

    By default, the element condition is linked to the drawing shape’s fill color.

    View this link on the Element property page, as shown in the following:

    Layout View

    Dragging and dropping the Billing element to the circle binds the element condition, which currently is CRITICAL (red), to the circle fill color. In the Element property pane, Use Element Condition for Fill is selected by default.

    The fill color of the drawing shape should change to match the linked element’s current condition.

    By default, nothing in the drawing indicates a shape is bound to an element. Sometimes it is useful to identify the drawing shapes that are bound to elements.

  2. To toggle between displaying and hiding the bind symbol, which is a lightning bolt, click View > Show Bindings:

    The lightning bolt symbol indicates the circle shape is bound to an element.

    Elements for which a user does not have View permission do not display in the Layout view drawing. Thus, if an element is bound to an icon in the Layout view, the icon is not visible to users who do not have View permission for the element.