• yEd Graphing Tool
  • Installation and Setup
    • Install yEd
    • Setup yEd
      • Configure the Property Mapper
      • Configure yEd as the default editor for graphml files
  • Getting Started
  • Learn to Zoom and Navigate
  • Explore the different Layouts
  • Extract local views of nodes

yEd Graphing Tool

Connect the dots

yEd is a free graphing tool from yWorks which can be used to display the field dependencies of your FileMaker database tables.

Installation and Setup

You need to download, install and setup the yEd editor.

Install yEd

• Download and install the free yEd editor from the yWorks yEd Editor download page
• Move the app file to your applications folder

Setup yEd

You need to set up yEd to be able to format the field dependency graph produced by the fmCheckMate-XSLT library.

yEd formats data from a graphml file using a Property Mapper. The Properties mapper needs to be configured

Configure the Property Mapper

• Open yEd
• From the menus select Edit > Properties Mapper...
• Press the green down arrow button to import additional configurations.
• Navigate to the ~Documents/fmCheckMate/xml/yEd/fmFieldDependencyGraph Folder
• Load the latest FDG_yEdPropertyMap*.cnfx file.
• Press [Ok] to exit

Configure yEd as the default editor for graphml files

Hopefully, after installing yEd graphml files will open in yEd by default. If (after creating your first graphml file - see bwelow) not, you can set it up as follows:

• On a Mac, select a graphml file in the Finder
• Press Cmd + I to open the file info
• In the Open with: section, select yEd from the dropdown menu
• Press the Change All... button to apply this setting to all graphml files

Getting Started

Once you’re set up, you can transform your fields into a stunning diagramme with just a few clicks

1. Copy the (important) fields of a table
2. Convert to XML with fmCheckMate
3. Transform to a graphml Field Dependency Graph

4. Open it in your favourite Graphing Tool - yEd - to display the graph

   Just a dot?

   Not a problem!

5. Fire up the property mapper
6. Apply the standard style
   • and maybe an alternative color pallette
7. And apply a layout-strategy
   • Try a one-click layout
   • Organic - to discover the complex bits
   • Hierarchy (Left to Right) -

et voila!

Learn to Zoom and Navigate

Explore the different Layouts

Extract local views of nodes

Want to focus on a particular field?

• Select it
• Choose one of the Context Views fro the Window menu:
  • Neighbourhood - shows the input / output fields around the selected field
  • Predecessors - shows the tree of input fields which feed the selected field

  • Successors - shows all the output fields of the selected field

    :

Enjoy!

MrWatson