Xara Designer Wishlist- Connectors

[colin_e]

Note: I get tired typing "Xara Photo & Graphic Designer". Is "PGD" the accepted abbreviation?

Anyway, my vote for a simple feature I could really use in Xara PGD is connectors. Multiple graphics tools support these, the implementation in OpenOffice Draw is ok for example (see: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/...ing_connectors). A lot of business or design documentation consists of connecting ideas together, and having "stretchy" connectors that stick to objects saves a lot of rework if you have to modify the diagram layout.

The basic requirements are-

1) A connector connects two endpoints with a styled line (typically an arrow). The connector line typically has some options (e.g. single or multiple lne segments, straight or curved, horizontal/vertical constraint).
2) The connector preferentially connects to connection/control points on objects (e.g. the centre, corners, and face-centres of shapes). A desirable option is to extend this (with say a key modifier) to connect to a freely-chosen position (like drawing an ordinary line), or to "any point on the edge" of a shape.
3) The connector stretches (re- lays out) if the connection points move.

Note: for this to work properly Xara also needs some minor tweeks to arrow styles, see next post).

I do a lot of work with business diagramming, and annotating screenshots with Xara (I wish I could be more creative but I don't have the skills...). This addition would save me a lot of time when working on things like complex screen mockups.