Grafpad Basics

Toolbars


Grafpad Controls are laid out with 3 toolbars. The Global Toolbar lets users select between the different tools, such as the selection tool, the draw tool, the zoom tool, etc. The Local Toolbar shows certain options/operations that are available for the selected tool (i.e. the Draw Tool has Recognition Toolboxes).


Recognition Gestures

Autoshape Basic

The autoshape toolbox recognizes basic polygons, lines, and circles/ellipses. The toolbox tries to beautify shapes if they have some regularity. The app recognizes the following types of elements.
Element User Input Grafpad Output Notes:
Straight Line
  • Snaps to 0/90 degrees
  • Automatically attaches to nearby shapes
  • Extends existing lines to form more complex ones
Rectilinear Line
  • Does not matter whether the ends are horizontal or vertical
  • Automatically attaches to nearby shapes
  • Extends existing lines to form more complex ones
Curved Line
  • Non-Rectilinear lines get curved
  • Automatically attaches to nearby shapes
  • Extends existing lines to form more complex ones
Open Arrow Tip
  • Attaches to any type of line
Closed Arrow Tip
  • Attaches to any type of line
Triangle
  • Equilateral Recognized
  • Isosceles Recognized
Square
  • Snaps to 0 or 45 degrees
Rectangle
  • Snaps flattest side to 0 degrees
Parallelogram Coming Soon:
Flattening to 0 degrees
Trapezoid Coming Soon:
Flattening to 0 degrees
Pentagon
  • Snaps bottom or top to 0 degrees
Hexagon
  • Snaps to 0 or 90 degrees
  • Handles regular and long hexagons
Octagon
  • Snaps to 0 degrees
Circle
Ellipse
  • Snaps to 0/45 degrees
Fill Flag
  • Fills any shapes the gesture touches



Fault Tree Toolbox

In addition to the shapes from the Basic Toolbox, the Fault Tree Toolbox looks for fault tree specific shapes.
Element User Input Grafpad Output Notes:
Arc
  • Drawn when a circle is not fully closed
Circular Node
  • Small circles (100 pixels wide)
Intermediate Event
  • Small Squares/Rectangles (<100 pixels width/height)
And Gate
  • Draw a short horizontal line
Or Gate
  • Draw a short curved line



UML Toolbox

In addition to the shapes from the Basic Toolbox, the UML Toolbox looks for UML specific shapes.
Element User Input Grafpad Output Notes:
UML Basic Basic Class that can be modified into other elements
  • Can add splits to add more detail
  • Can add lifeline
  • Can become a Note
Actor 2 Steps:
  1. Draw a small circle for the head
  2. Draw a short vertical line under the head
Lifeline or or
  • Draw a vertical line from a class or actor
Message
  • Draw a horizontal line connecting lifelines
Self Message
  • Draw a rectilinear line
    • Partially Supported: Curved lines
Class (split)
  • Draw a horizontal line across the Class
  • Works on Rectangles and UML Basic Class Elements
  • Can split up to 2 times (3 parts)
Note
  • Draw a short line across top right corner
  • Works for both rectangles and UML elements (See UML Basic Element above)
Diamond Tip - Composition
  • Click the tip to toggle fill
Diamond Tip - Aggregation
  • Click the tip to toggle fill