Moving Components on a Screen

Owned by Anthony George
Last updated: Mar 09, 2023
4 min read

Overview

The following video shows you how to move components around in the  Layers panel and on the screen.

To move an item you drag it onto another component and: 

  • drag and drop places a component next to the component on which you drop. This creates a sibling relationship. 
  • shift+drag and drop moves a component into the component on which you drop it. This creates a parent-child relationship.

If you drag a component that is a parent, all its children move with it.

The location that PhixFlow places components on the screen canvas depends on whether the container is configured to flow in rows or columns; see Sizing and Positioning Screen Content. For example, if a container is set to flow:

  • in rows, PhixFlow puts a component on the right
  • in columns, PhixFlow puts a component below. 

Moving Using the  Layers Panel

To move components on the screen canvas, we recommend that you use the  Layers panel. This makes it easy to see container components that can be hard to select on the canvas. The hierarchical list also makes the parent-child relationships clear. You can select and drag an individual components or a group of components up and down the hierarchy to move them in the screen canvas.

To find a component in the Layers panel, on the screen canvas click a component to select it. PhixFlow automatically highlights it in the Layers panel.

  • Move next to:
    In the Layers panel, click and drag a component to a different location in the list. 
    PhixFlow moves the component to be next to the component:
    • where you drop in the list
    • and also moves the component on the screen canvas.
  • Move into:
    To move a layout or component inside another component, in the Layers panel, hold Shift and drag it onto a container component in the list. 
    PhixFlow moves the component into the component:
    • where you drop in the list
    • and also moves the component on the screen canvas.

The Layers panel  lists the components from the repository Layers section. You can also move components within the Layers section of the repository in the same way as you can move them in the Layout panel.

Moving Components on the Canvas

To move components around on the screen canvas:

  • Move next to:
    On the canvas, click and drag a component and drop onto another component 
    PhixFlow moves the component next to the drop location. For example, if you drop a field on top of another field, PhixFlow puts them next to each other.
  • Move into:
    On the canvas, Shift+click and drag and drop onto another component.
    PhixFlow moves the component inside the other component. For example, if you drop a field onto an area, PhixFlow puts the field into the area.

Preventing Accidental Dragging

To prevent accidental dragging of components and layouts on the screen, go to the components properties → Positional Settings section, and tick Prevent Dragging.

This will make items non-draggable on a screen, but they will remain draggable in the Layers and Repository. 

Special Cases

When the following options are set the drag-drop behaviour is affected.

NameDescriptionExample
Prevent Dragging

To stop a component from being draggable on the screen canvas, in Component properties →  Style tab → Position Settings → tick Prevent Dragging.

You can still move the component within the Layers panel.

Use Prevent Dragging to fix the header within the container so it cannot be accidentally moved from the top.

 

Composite Component

To create a grouped layout the moves as a single component, in Component properties →  Properties tab → Basic Settings → tick Composite Component.

For information about creating and changing composite components, see Using Composite Components.

When you drag an attribute onto the screen canvas, PhixFlow creates a composite component, consisting of a label and a field.

Preferred Parent

Theme 2.1 palette components and layouts are configured with a preferred parent. When you drag a component on the screen canvas, PhixFlow recognises a parent component and automatically puts the dropped component inside. You do not need to use Shift+drag.

To configure a component as a preferred parent, use Component properties →  Properties tab → Basic Settings:

The screenshot below shows a tile from the palette being dropped onto the canvas. PhixFlow highlights the preferred parent component with a blue outline to show this component can be a tile container. The cursor appears as a green circle with an arrow, to indicate you can drop the component here.

Pinned

On the canvas, right-click a component to show its popup menu and select 

 Pin/Unpin Selected Objects. Pinned objects have an absolute position and move where they are dragged.