Chart Components: Divisions

Divisions are groups of subordinate components which can be hidden or expanded in the main chart. Each Division can be also displayed on its own page. Divisions are ideal for organizations that want to represent business units, teams or groups.

When creating charts with many people, breaking the chart up into divisions is very helpful. 

Components: Creating, Expanding, and Hiding Divisions

To create a Division:

1. Choose a component which will be the division head. We will refer to this as the division Parent.
2. Make certain a subordinate component is connected to the Parent.
3. Select the Parent component and either:
   • Select the Grouping tab, Create Division.
   • Right mouse click and choose Create Division from the pop– up menu.
4. A down arrow will appear in the Parent component to indicate that a Division has been successfully created (see below).

Click the large down arrow to display the Division sub– chart. This chart will appear on its own page. The division’s Parent (the same component which appears on the main chart with the down arrow) will appear at the top of the division’s sub– chart, but this time with a large up arrow (see below).

To hide and expand a Division sub–chart in the main chart, Right-click over the box with the arrow and select Division / Expand. When a division is displayed on the main chart, the down arrow (used to switch between the main chart and Division sub– chart) appears at the bottom of the division’s bounding box (see below).

Components: Divisions View

Divisions View allows you to view and navigate complex charts easily. It does this by displaying the entire chart – including all hidden division sub– charts – in an ele­gant and simple tree structure (see below).

To access Divisions View:

1. Make certain that Data Outline View is active by choosing the View tab, Data Outline View.
2. Click the Divisions View tab at the bottom of the Data Outline View win­dow (see above).

Components: Divisions View Conventions

1. Main chart – situated at the top of the tree in the upper left corner.
2. Highest tier Divisions – these first divisions run vertically along the left of the diagram.
3. All additional (lower) divisions – run in a staggered (stair step) pattern from left to right; starting from their Parent (first tier) divisions (see below).
4. Navigating in Division View – simply click on the division’s name and the chart for that division will appear in the Main Work Area.

The easiest way to move between data fields is to highlight a field and use the keyboard arrow keys. (This works for both on– screen components and data field menus such as Data Outline View, Box Item and Division View.)