Add an entity type

To add an entity type to a link chart, complete the following steps:

1. Click Entity Type on the Link Chart Diagram tab.

   The Add new entity type from layer dialog box appears.

2. Choose a layer or stand-alone table from the Choose Layer drop-down menu.

   Only data sources with a field of data type Object ID will be listed in the drop-down menu.

3. Choose a field from the Choose field for entities drop-down list.

   This field should represent the entities that will be rendered as individual nodes in the chart. This field can be any valid String, Date, Double, GUID, GlobalID, Integer, OID, Single, SmallInteger, or XML field.

4. Type a name for your entity type in the Enter name for entity type text box.

   This name will help distinguish between entity types that may be from the same dataset.

5. Optionally, check the Visually Collapse Duplicate Entities check box.

   If checked, all duplicate values in the field specified in Choose field for entities will render as a single node.

6. Click OK to load the entities into the link chart.

   Individual entity types are loaded into the link chart and displayed as nodes. The symbology of the nodes is the same as the symbology of the source layer; if the source of the entities is a stand-alone table, symbology of the nodes defaults to a single symbol. To change the symbology, select the entity type in the Contents pane and click Symbology on the Link Chart Diagram tab or right-click the entity type and click Symbology.

   Note:

   Edits made to the link chart data sources, such as adding new records, updating record attributes, or deleting records, are not automatically synced to the link chart; you must click the Refresh button in the link chart view pane to sync them. The time the link chart was last synced is displayed in the Current as of label in the link chart view pane.

7. Optionally, click Entity Type and repeat the steps above to add more entity types.

   You can add an indefinite number of entity types, as long as they are all sourced from data in the same map. For example, you can have a link chart that contains entity types from multiple layers and entity types from the same layer with different fields defining the entity field.

8. Optionally, edit the parameters of an existing entity type.
   1. Right-click the entity type in the Contents pane and click Properties.

      The Entites Properties dialog box appears.

   2. Make your changes and click OK.

      The chart updates.

Change the node symbology

By default, node sets based on layers use the same symbology as the layer; node sets based on stand-alone tables default to a single symbol. To change the symbology of a node set, complete the following steps:

Note:

When link charts draw at small scales, nodes are displayed using a simple symbol with a default color. To adjust the default color, enable the Override Overview Node Symbol Color option, and select a color from the color picker.

1. Select the entity type in the Contents pane and click Symbology on the Link Chart Diagram tab.

   The Symbology pane appears.

2. In the drop-down menu, choose Single Symbology.
To go back to using map symbology, choose Map Symbology.
3. Click the symbol to open the symbol gallery, and choose a symbol for the nodes.
The symbol gallery displays all point symbols from all styles in the project. To use custom symbology for a node set, add those symbols to a new style in the project.
4. Click the symbol again, click the Properties tab, and edit the symbol properties.
5. Optionally, edit the label properties.
   1. Right-click the entity type in the Contents pane and click Properties.

      The Entities Properties dialog box appears.

   2. Change any of the following properties:
      • Name
      • Non-Spatial Entity
      • Label Field
6. Optionally, turn off the node frame in the Node Frame section of the Symbology pane.

   By default, the node frame is not displayed for all nodes.