Read a diagram in 2 minutes
Someone shared an iyedy diagram with you and asked for your opinion. In four short steps you learn where you are, what the drawing says and how far along it is. Reading and commenting are free.
Find the view you are reading (free, no AI)
A diagram holds several views of one system, like the sheets of a drawing set. Each view answers one question: who uses the system (Context), what runs (Containers), where it runs (Deployment), how a request flows (Sequence).
- Open the link you received
Open the link from the invitation or the message. If iyedy asks you to sign in, use the e-mail address the invitation was sent to.
- Read the view's name and its sheet number
The view's name says what it shows, for example Containers. Its sheet number, such as 2/4, says which sheet of the set you are on.
- Move to another view
Press PageDown for the next view and PageUp for the previous one, or Alt with a number for view 1 to 9. Press Shift 1 to fit the whole sheet on screen.
Read the title block (free, no AI)
The title block is the frame in the corner of the sheet, as on an engineering drawing (ISO 7200). It is the identity card of the view.
- Find the title block
Look at the corner of the sheet: the title block is the ruled frame with labelled cells.
- Read its cells
The Title names the system. Rev. gives the version number, the same as the v14 in the top bar: a higher number is a newer version. Status says where the drawing stands. Classification says how sensitive it is: Public, Internal, Confidential or Restricted.
Read the elements and the lines (free, no AI)
Each box is an element of the model: a person, a system, a container, a database. Each line is a relationship: who calls whom, or where data goes.
- Read one element
An element shows its name, its kind and, often, its technology, for example Claims Service (.NET 8). Select it to see all its details in the Inspector, on the right.
- Follow the lines
In the Claims Platform, follow the arrow from Mobile app to API gateway, then to Claims Service: that is the path of a claim submitted from a phone. The label on a line says what passes along it.
- Use the legend
The Legend on the sheet lists the shapes and line styles this view uses. For the full notation, select the Help button, marked ?, in the top bar and choose Notation guide.
Read the status and the findings (free, no AI)
Two things tell you how far along the drawing is: its status stamp and its open findings.
- Read the stamp
The stamp says where the drawing stands: Draft, In review, Changes requested, Approved, Withdrawn or Superseded. An Approved drawing is frozen; a change starts a new revision.
- Read the findings
A finding is what one of iyedy's checks found on the model, for example a call that crosses a trust boundary without encryption. Each finding has a severity: HIGH, MED, LOW or INFO. Start with the HIGH ones: they are usually what the author wants your opinion on.
What you learned
- A diagram is a set of views of one model; the sheet number tells you where you are.
- The title block gives the title, the revision, the status and the classification.
- The stamp and the findings tell you how far along the drawing is and what to look at first.
Next
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Comment on a view
Status stamps
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