How to Use Entity Filters
This article explains how to choose which entities appear on a diagram, so you can focus on the part of the structure you're working on.
Before You Start
Make sure you have an active Group with a diagram. If you haven't created a diagram yet, see How to Create Diagrams.
What Entity Filters Do
When you create a diagram, every entity in the Group is included. The diagram's entity filter is its own list of which of those entities to show. You change it with the green Entities button.
This means you can make several diagrams for the same Group — the whole structure, one company, one trust — each showing only the entities relevant to that view. Removing an entity from a diagram never deletes it or removes it from the Group. There are no separate filter templates; each diagram keeps its own selection.
Opening the Entities Dialog
Click the green Entities button. It is in two places:
- On the diagram canvas — in the header, next to the diagram name.
- On the Diagrams page — on each diagram's row.
The button shows a count such as Entities (9/12): 9 of the Group's 12 entities are in this diagram. Assets are not counted.
The button is hidden while you are viewing a scenario. Open the base diagram to change its entities.
The Entities in This Diagram Dialog
From top to bottom, the dialog has:
- Focus entity (ownership diagrams, optional) — click to open it. See Focus Entity below.
- Search box — find entities by name or type.
- Select All — tick every entity in the Group.
- Select None — untick every entity in the Group. On a family tree, the core individual stays ticked and is marked Required. Anything saved on the diagram that isn't in the list — such as related entities from other groups — stays until you remove it another way.
- Type buttons — Individuals, Companies, Trusts, Partnerships and SMSFs (hover over each icon to see its name). Each one ticks every listed entity of that type.
- The count — for example 9/12 included.
- The entity list, in two sections: Included and Other group entities. Click a row to tick or untick it.
- Include related entities in other groups (ownership diagrams, when opened from the canvas) — a checkbox at the bottom. See Include External Entities.
Nothing changes on the diagram until you click Save Changes. Cancel discards your changes.
Combining the buttons
The type buttons add to what is already ticked; they never untick anything. Combine them with Select None to build a selection quickly:
- Only companies: Select None, then the Companies button.
- Companies and trusts: Select None, then Companies, then Trusts.
- Everything except a few entities: Select All, then untick those entities.
The type buttons act on the rows currently listed. If you have typed a search, they only tick matching entities. If the list ends with Load more, click it until every entity is listed before using a type button.
Select All and Select None are unavailable while a search is typed — clear the search to use them.
Searching
Searching only changes which rows are listed. Entities you have already ticked stay ticked even when the search hides them, so you can search for one entity, tick or untick it, and save without disturbing the rest. While a search is typed, the save button reads Apply.
Focus Entity
Use Focus entity to cut a large Group down to the entities connected to one entity — for example, one company, one trust or one SMSF.
- Click Focus entity at the top of the dialog to open it.
- Choose the entity in Select focus entity.
- Click one of:
- Direct links — the focus entity and every entity one link away from it.
- All links — the focus entity and every entity connected to it, directly or indirectly.
- The ticks in the list are replaced with that set. A message tells you how many entities were selected.
- Review the list, tick or untick anything you want to change, and click Save Changes.
Focus entity follows ownership-structure relationships — shareholdings, unitholdings, trustee, beneficiary, member, partner, director, secretary, loans, leases and similar — that the diagram draws as links. Family relationships such as spouse or parent never count.
See Focus Entity for more detail, including how Diagram Settings affect which entities are found.
New Entities
If you add a new entity to a Group, it won't automatically appear on existing diagrams. Click Entities, tick it, and save. This is by design — creating a new entity doesn't disrupt diagrams you've already set up.
You can also drag an entity onto the canvas from the panel on the left; that adds it to the diagram's entities too.