Laying Out Models

When working with models, you can drag shapes and connectors to the required location. NVivo also provides a number of auto layout options that are a good starting point for arranging items—experiment to find the one that best fits your data.

To apply an auto-layout option:

  1. Open the required model—it is displayed in Detail View.

  2. Click the Model menu.

  3. Click the Layout option.

TheModel Layout dialog box is displayed.

  1. From the Layout drop-down list, select the required layout  

    Option

    Description

     

    Circular

    Arrange items in a circular layout:

    Directed

    Arrange items in force-directed layout—this is the calculated 'best fit' for the physical space (all edges are of more or less equal length and there are as few crossing edges as possible). This layout is often used for three dimensional models.

     

     

    Hierarchical

    Arrange items in a hierarchy:

     

     

    Orthogonal

    Arrange items in a right-angled layout:

     

  2. Set a minimum length for connectors in the model. This determines the distance between items in the model.

  3. Click OK.

You can set a default model layout on the Display tab in Applications Options. This default will apply to all new projects created in NVivo.

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