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Objects can have several parents. This is, for instance, the case of flows which are both produced and consumed. However, flows are not the only case of multiple parents (for more information, see Object Hierarchy).

Note that if an object is present at several locations, this is also true for its children (however, the visibility of this depends on the projection). For example, an object System can be child of different Use Case objects.

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An object cannot be its own ancestor and thus it cannot be the child of one of its descendants.

Moving Objects

You can change the parent of an object by moving it to the new parent. In the Internal Block Diagram, you can move an object graphically by pressing the left mouse button and dragging the object to its new parent. Select Move here in the appearing context menu.

In the treeview, it is possible to left-click on an object and then drag-and-drop it to its new location. You are then asked whether you want to move the object or to copy it in an appearing context menu.

Cut-Paste

You can also use Cut and Paste in the treeview or in the Internal Bloc Diagram: choose Cut in the right-click context menu of the object you want to copy and Paste in the menu of the new parent.

This action is also available in the Object Panel of the Home Category where you find the Cut and Paste shortcuts. (See Ribbon for more information on arKItect Categories and Panels.)

Copying Objects

You can do copies of an object graphically in the treeview, in the diagram or between a treeview and a diagram. In the treeview or between a treeview and a diagram this is very simple: when you drag-and-drop an object to a new location, a copy is created.

It is also possible to use left-click + drag-and-drop. In this case, you actually have access to copy and move options.

In the Internal Block Diagram, you can create a copy doing a left-click drag-and-drop of the child object to its new parent and choosing Copy here in the context menu.

It is also possible to copy objects from Location window.

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Doing a simple copy in arKItect creates a new reference to the existing object. If you want to create a new independent object, you should use the Deep Copy functionality accessible through a right-click context menu menu

Copy-Paste

You can also use the Copy and Paste buttons from the right-click context menu in the treeview as well as in the Internal Block Diagram.

The copy action is also available in the Object Panel of the Home Category via the Copy and Paste shortcuts. (See Ribbon fore more information on arKItect Categories and Panels.)

Adding an Existing Object

A good way to create an object that has several parents is to add several instances of this object. This action corresponds to copying the object; however, Add Existing Object can be used without having to manipulate the existing instance as in copying via drag and drop. This is advantageous when the original object instance and the copy are separated by several hierarchical levels.

You can add an instance using the Add Existing Object option in the right-click menu of objects. The Add Existing Object entry is available if and only if you can add a child object to the current focus object. Choosing Add Existing Object will open a new menu that allows you to choose the child type. Clicking on a type will open the Object Dictionary for objects of this type. You can then select and add as many objects as you want.

 

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