Topic diagrams

A topic diagram is a non-editable, query-based diagram that you can use to view the existing relationships between elements in your application.

A topic diagram displays a specific set of relationships between a group of given elements. The set of relationships, or the topic, defines the parameters of the query for the diagram.

The query and context that you specify persists in the topic diagram, which means that each time that you open a topic diagram the system queries the underlying elements and populates the diagram with the latest updates automatically. However, if you make changes to the underlying elements when a topic diagram is open, the topic diagram might not fully represent the current status of the underlying elements until you refresh the diagram manually.

You can select either a default or radial layout format for the topic diagram. The default layout shows all the diagram elements in a hierarchy that can span several levels. The radial layout positions the selected diagram element that you used in your query as the hub, or context element. Each diagram element is connected either directly or indirectly to the context element. The radial layout shows directly related diagram elements and spans one or two levels.

You can refresh topic diagrams to reflect new elements, and you can save them and open them as topic diagrams (with the .tpx file name extension) in your projects. However, you cannot edit the diagram elements unless you save the topic diagram as an editable diagram.

You can convert topic diagrams to Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams, with a .dnx file name extension, that you can use to understand and develop your applications.

Related tasks
Exploring C/C++ relationships by queries
Creating topic diagrams of C/C++ elements
Customizing queries for existing topic diagrams
Exploring entire inheritance hierarchy of C/C++ classes
Exploring associations of C/C++ classes

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