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How‑to

Practical, step‑by‑step recipes for common diagramming tasks.

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Create a Swimlane diagram
  1. Open Swimlanes and create a new diagram.
  2. Drag nodes from the stencil onto the canvas.
  3. Drop nodes inside lanes to snap; nodes stay attached to the lane.
  4. Connect nodes using the handles (drag from a black handle to another node).
  5. Export SVG or PNG when you’re ready to share.
Launch Swimlanes →Swimlanes User Guide →
Create an ERD (tables + relationships)
  1. Open ERD and create a new diagram.
  2. Drag Entity nodes onto the canvas.
  3. Select an Entity → add fields in Properties (name/type, PK/FK).
  4. Connect entities using handles to create relationships.
  5. Toggle notation: Crow’s Foot vs Chen.
  6. Export SQL (DDL) or PDF data dictionary for documentation.
Launch ERD →ERD User Guide →
Reverse‑engineer from SQL
  1. Open an ERD diagram.
  2. Click Import SQL in the toolbar.
  3. Paste CREATE TABLE statements (PostgreSQL style).
  4. Review entities and FK edges; use Auto‑Layout if needed.
ERD Import/Export details →
Create a Flow Chart (SaaS-grade)
  1. Open Flow Chart and create a new diagram.
  2. Drag shapes from the stencil onto the canvas.
  3. Connect nodes using handles (orthogonal connectors).
  4. Click an edge → use “Edit Edge” to label exits (Yes/No) and toggle async dashed edges.
  5. Click an edge -> use Edit Edge to label exits (Yes/No) and toggle dashed async edges.
  6. Use Export Mermaid when you want the diagram in documentation or version control.
Launch Flow Chart →Flow Chart User Guide →
Create an Org Chart (Functional/Divisional/Matrix/Flat)
  1. Open Org Chart and create a new diagram.
  2. Drag Employee/Contractor cards onto the canvas.
  3. Connect Manager → Report to create primary reporting lines.
  4. Use the chart type selector in the toolbar and click Auto‑Layout.
  5. For matrix: select an edge → Edit Edge → mark it dashed (secondary).
Launch Org Chart →Org Chart User Guide →
Create a System Architecture diagram
  1. Open System Architecture and create a new diagram.
  2. In the left stencil sidebar, choose a Style: Generic / AWS / Azure / Google Cloud.
  3. Drag components layer-by-layer (Client → Security → Compute → Messaging → Data → Observability).
  4. Connect nodes with solid sync edges; use Edit Edge to toggle dashed async edges (events/queues/CDC).
  5. Use boundaries for Region/VPC/Cluster and Auto-Layout for clean spacing.
  6. Export Mermaid/SVG/PNG for documentation.
Launch System Architecture →System Architecture User Guide →Icon Packs Guide →AWS icons →Azure icons →Google Cloud icons →
Create a Data Architecture diagram (beginner-friendly)
  1. Open Data Architecture and create a new diagram.
  2. In the left sidebar, use Quick start → choose a template (AWS/Azure/GCP) → Load.
  3. Use + Source / + Ingestion / + Processing / + Storage / + Analytics to add steps (no dragging required).
  4. Use containers (Lakehouse / Workspace / Domain) to group nodes; nested nodes move together.
  5. Click Auto-Layout to align layers and reduce edge crossings.
  6. Export SVG/PNG for docs, or Export JSON for version control and re-importing.
Launch Data Architecture →Data Architecture User Guide →Icon Packs Guide →
Find your last diagram (Recents)
  1. Open /tools/diagrams.
  2. Under “Recent on this device”, click Open on your last diagram.
  3. If you only have the diagram ID (from the URL), paste it into “Open diagram by ID”.
  4. Optional: bookmark the diagram URL for quick access.
Open Diagrams (Recents) →FAQ →