Graph View
The Graph View displays your part as a node-and-edge diagram — each node represents a manufacturing step (cutting, bending, coating, and so on), and the edges show how material flows between them. Use it to see the full process at a glance, reposition nodes, and select items for inspection in other panels.
Nodes
Each node is a rounded rectangle showing:
- A thumbnail of the part or geometry at that step
- A status colour on the left edge — green for OK, orange for warnings, red for errors, blue for informational notes
- Text that appears on hover — the step name and key details
Click a node to select it. Hold Ctrl and click to add multiple nodes to the selection. Double-click a node to select all nodes of the same type.
Edges and Grouping
Edges are grey lines with arrow heads that show the direction of material flow from one step to the next.
Article grouping outlines are thick translucent frames that connect all nodes belonging to the same article — this makes it easy to see which steps belong to the same part.
Toolbar
The toolbar on the left of the Graph View has the following buttons:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Add Purchased Part | Adds an external/purchased part to the graph — a part sourced from a supplier rather than manufactured in-house. Purchased parts have no geometry or process nodes; they represent a unit cost and lead time for quoting and export purposes. See Creating Parts: Add Purchased Part. |
| Align Nodes | Repositions all nodes according to the layout algorithm |
| Home / Reset View | Zooms and pans so that all nodes fit in the visible area |
TIP
Reload and the project menu are on the main toolbar at the top of the window, not on this panel.
Navigate and Zoom
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Pan | Drag on empty space, or middle-click and drag |
| Zoom | Scroll the mouse wheel — zooms in centered on the cursor |
| Select a node | Click it |
| Multi-select | Hold Ctrl and click |
| Deselect all | Click empty space |
| Move a node | Drag it to a new position |
| Move multiple nodes | Select them all, then drag any one of them |
| Select similar nodes | Double-click a node |
| Drop files | Drag files onto the view to import them |
Zoom range is 0.001× to 3×.
Sync with the Tree View
The Graph View and Tree View stay synchronized:
- Selecting in the Tree View highlights the corresponding node(s) in the Graph View.
- Hovering over an item in the Tree View highlights the corresponding node in the Graph View.
- Selecting in the Graph View highlights the corresponding row(s) in the Tree View.
Both views share the same underlying project data, so what you see is always consistent.
TIP
If you want to focus on one part of the graph, drag nodes to reposition them. The layout resets when you click Reload.
Node types and process reference
Each node in the Graph View represents a specific manufacturing process. The node type determines both the icon and the colour coding. The table below shows every node type you can encounter and which process page documents it in detail.
| Node appearance | Process | Work step type | Auto? | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet (thumbnail + left colour bar) | Raw flat sheet material | sheet | ⚙️ Automatic | Sheet |
| Sheet Cutting | Laser / plasma / waterjet cutting | sheetCutting | ⚙️ Automatic | Laser Sheet Cutting, Plasma, Waterjet |
| Sheet Bending | Die Bending or Sheet Metal Folding | sheetBending | ⚙️ Automatic | Die Bending, Sheet Metal Folding |
| Tube Cutting | Tube or pipe cutting | tubeCutting | ⚙️ Automatic | Tube Cutting |
| Joining | Welding, brazing, bonding, or assembly | joining | ⚙️ Automatic | Joining |
| Surface Treatment | Coating or machined feature | transform | ✋ Manual | Threading and Finishing, Countersinking, Tapping, Tapping |
| Packing fee | Flat fee for special packaging | packaging | — | — |
Automatic nodes are created by WSi during import — you do not click a button to create them. Manual nodes are inserted by clicking a toolbar button or menu item.
Node status colours
The left edge of each node is colour-coded by its processing state:
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Step completed successfully |
| Orange | Recoverable warning (e.g. a bend die was manually overridden) |
| Red | Error — the step failed; check the Details panel |
| Blue | Informational note — see the Details panel |
Editing the graph
Right-clicking nodes in the Graph View gives you direct access to graph manipulation actions:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prepend node(s) | Insert a new node before the selected one — adds a step upstream in the sequence |
| Append node(s) | Add a new node after the selected one — adds a step downstream |
| Join Terminal Articles | Connect the first and last articles in a sequence into a single article chain |
| Delete Nodes | Remove the selected node from the graph. Shortcut: Ctrl+D |
| Delete Articles | Remove the entire article and all its nodes. Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Show Geometric Problems | Highlight geometry issues — overlapping contours, invalid paths, or inconsistent edges |
| Enforce Classification | Force WSi to re-classify the node type (rarely needed; use when a node appears with the wrong icon) |
| Convert to Purchase Part | Mark the article as externally sourced instead of manufactured in-house |
TIP
Delete Nodes (Ctrl+D) removes that step; the rest of the article remains. Delete Articles (Ctrl+Shift+D) removes the entire article chain from the graph. Use Delete Articles when a part is no longer needed in the project.
WARNING
Show Geometric Problems is diagnostic — it highlights issues but does not fix them. Use it when a node shows a red error status and the Details panel does not clearly identify the cause.
See Also
- Tree View — navigate the same project as a hierarchical list
- Details Panel — detailed breakdown of the selected node or article
- Processes — full documentation of every manufacturing process