On Mon, 2012-05-21 at 17:51 -0700, david@...2429... wrote:
I have some .svg files that I create with the tools at blockdiag.com (it does a good job of turning progromatic data into a valid graphic), but there are a lot of times when I would like to grab a chunk of the resulting digram and move it around. The problem I have had trying to use Inkscape to do this is that I can select and grab a block, but the lines stay put. I really want to grab the objects and the endpoints of the lines that are within the selection window and move the endpoints along with the objects.
Is there an easy way to do this that I have been overlooking?
Inkscape does not have the ability to move a single point of a path (line) and a rectangle (box) or text at the same time. The Selector tool allows the moving of the block and the entire path. The Node tool allows one to move nodes of a path but not the move the box.
There are two possible solutions:
1. You can convert everything to paths then you can use the node tool to select the nodes of the box, text, and shadow paths, and one node of the line path and move them together. Your text will no longer be searchable or selectable.
2. You can insert into your SVG file during it's creation the Inkscape specific attributes used by the Inkscape Connector tool that link paths to objects. Then if you move a box, the line will follow. The Connector tool does not handle more complex cases well (such as the one to many relationships you have in your sample diagram). I believe at the moment, only connections to the center of a block are implemented.
There has been discussion in the SVG Working group of defining a set of connector elements that would handle automatically what you ask for but at the moment nobody has stepped up to do the actual work needed to add them to the SVG specification.
Tav
