Flow view

Objects supporting the "Flow view"

The most general flow object is the flow fragment. A more special variant is the dialogues that normally contains a couple of dialogue fragments. Another two type of flow elements allow branching and flow constrol structures. These are the jump and the hub. Finally remarks are realized by annoations.

Overview

The flow is the very heart of articy:draft. It is a branching structure of objects that form a multi-linear network of decisions and events:
The 'flow' view

"Nodes" like flow fragments 1 or dialogues 2 can be used to put together your interactive story. Use connections 3 and pins 4 to compose the branching flow structure.

The flow supports nesting, which means that you can submerge in nodes and view their inner structure, which can again be a branching flow interconnected with the above flow level. For details see here.

Uses of the flow

You can use the flow for:

Your game story
Dialogues
Quest lines
Cutscenes
Game states
Skill/tech trees
State machines
... (Anything that can be modelled as a graph structure.)

Activating the flow view

Select a flow object in the navigator. Since the flow view is the default view for all flow objects, it is automatically activated when clicking on flow fragments, dialogues and dialogue fragments. If another view is active though you can always return to the flow view by clicking the "flow view" icon 5 in the view selector.

Navigation and editing flow

Hold down the right mouse button to pan/scroll your canvas. Use the mouse wheel or the zoom slider (

) to zoom in / out.

Please read the following pages to learn more:

Grid: Customization and snapping

Flow view controls

Navigation


	RMB (hold)	Pan / Scroll
	Mouse wheel or	Zoom in / out
	`Esc`	Pan to the top left corner of the flow.


	`Enter / Return` or `Ctrl` + `` (Hierarchical down) or	Submerges into the object (if it can have inner content)
	`Ctrl` + `Backspace` or `Ctrl` + `` (Hierarchical up) or	Emerge to parent

Selecting objects


	LMB (click)	Select object under mouse cursor (or deselect all when clicking empty space)
	`Alt` + `Arrow Keys`	Keyboard navigation: Select nearby node in given direction
	LMB (hold)	Draw selection rectangle (rubberband)
	RMB (click) "Selection" in context menu") or	Expand selection Select All: Selects all objects in the current flow container Select all following objects: Selects all nodes that can be reached from the output pins of the selected node Select all previous objects: Selects all nodes that lead to the input pins of the selected node
	`Ctrl` + LMB (click)	Add (remove) object to selection
	`Shift` + LMB (click)	Add (remove) object to selection
	`Ctrl` + `A`	Select all objects in current view

Advanced keyboard controls


	`Tab`	Keyboard navigation: Toggle between input areas of a node and it's pins. Use `Ctrl` + `Tab` to continue from a text field.
	`Ctrl` + `Return` on a selected pin	Multiple node creation: You can create and layout up to 4 nodes of the same type at once. The automated layouting uses the spacing setting from the "Flow" project settings. Modify the spacing if you want nodes to be closer to or farther from each other.
	`Shift` + `Ctrl` + `1` on a selected Dialogue Fragment	Smart Create: This shortcut creates a follow-up Dialogue Fragment with alternating speaker.

Composing and arranging the flow


	Drag object (LMB)	Move object around (automatic scrolling at view borders)
	Drag object (LMB) out of flow editor	Drag object to the border of the flow editor. It turns into an linkable object and can now be placed as link/reference in other panes or even in the flow editor pane it was dragged from
	`Home` or	Bring selection to front
	`End` or	Send selection to back
	`Page Up` or	Move one layer up
	`Page Down` or	Move one layer down

Creating new flow elements


	RMB (click) -> "New"	Allows to create a flow element. Clicking on e.g. "Flow Fragment" instantly creates a standard flow fragment and closes the context menu, clicking on the "right-arrow" opens another sub menu that lists all templates for this type of flow element. Clicking on one of those templates creates the flow element and immediately applies the selected type of template.
	`Shift` + `Ctrl` + LMB (click)	Create default object at cursor position Default object can be changed via the radio button in the "Create" context menu
	Drag out of toolbar	Create objects by dragging them out of the toolbar
	Drag pin (LMB)	Draw a connection out of pin (and plug it into another object's input pin, or create object at its end) Holding CTRL while dragging a connection out of a pin automatically creates the default flow object upon releasing the mouse button.
	Click pin (LMB)	Multiple node creation: You can create and layout up to 4 nodes of the same type at once. The automated layouting uses the spacing setting from the "Flow" project settings. Modify the spacing if you want nodes to be closer to or farther from each other.
	LMB (click) in pin bay	Create a new pin
	`Ctrl` + RMB (click) in pin bay	Delete pin under mouse cursor


	RMB (hold)	Pan / Scroll
	Mouse wheel or	Zoom in / out
	`esc`	Pan to the top left corner of the flow.


	`` or `` + `` (Hierarchical down) or	Submerges into the object (if it can have inner content)
	`` + `` or `` + `` (Hierarchical up) or	Emerge to parent