Adding entities and links to the import design

The entities and links that you add to the import design in an import specification should accurately represent the real world data in the import file. A good design results in the creation of appropriate entities and links in the chart.

The default import design on the Assign Columns page contains two entities that are connected by a link. You can add entities and links to this basic design to reflect each row of data you want to import and represent on your chart.

For example, an import file might contain telephone call data that also includes the names of telephone owners. To represent calls in that situation, you might set the type of each entity in the default design to Telephone (or Communications Device, or similar), and set the type of the link to Telephone Call (or Communication). To represent the owners, you might go on to add two Person entities to the design, and Owner links between each Person and Telephone.

  1. To add an entity, click Add New Entity above the import design. Within the import design, the mouse pointer becomes an empty circle; click the left mouse button to add an entity.
  2. To add a link, click Add New Link above the import design. Within the import design, drag a link between two entities.