Scenario Settings Options

Scenario settings help you control how a scenario step is displayed without changing the base diagram or other scenario steps.

You see these options only while editing a scenario step. They are designed for review and presentation work: deciding whether removed items should still be visible, and deciding whether this step should use its own display settings or follow the base diagram's current settings.

Where to Find Scenario Options

1. Open an ownership diagram.
2. Open or create a scenario.
3. Select the scenario step you want to work on.
4. Click Settings in the diagram toolbar.
5. Open the Display tab.
6. Look for the Scenario options panel at the top.

If you are not in a scenario step, the Scenario options panel is not shown.

What These Options Control

The options in this panel apply to the current scenario step.

They do not directly edit:

• The base diagram's entity and relationship data
• The base diagram's saved layout
• Other scenario steps
• Other scenario chains

They do affect what you see while working in the current step, and some changes may cause the canvas to refresh so the visible diagram remains consistent.

Show Deleted Items

Show deleted items controls whether entities and relationships removed in the scenario are still visible as grayed-out ghost items.

When this option is on, removed items remain visible, but they are styled differently so you can see that they are no longer active in the scenario step.

When this option is off, removed items are hidden from the canvas.

When to Turn It On

Turn Show deleted items on when you want to explain what changed.

This is useful for:

• Reviewing a proposed restructure
• Showing which entities or relationships are being removed
• Comparing the scenario against the original structure
• Discussing changes with a client or team member
• Checking that you removed the intended items

Ghost items make the scenario easier to audit because you can see both the new state and the removed parts of the old state.

When to Turn It Off

Turn Show deleted items off when you want to focus on the final scenario shape.

This is useful for:

• Preparing a clean export
• Reducing visual clutter
• Reviewing the scenario as if it had already happened
• Working in a large diagram where ghost items make the canvas too busy

Hiding deleted items does not undo the deletion. It only changes whether those deleted items are visible.

What Counts as a Deleted Item

A deleted item is an entity or relationship that exists in the base structure but has been removed in this scenario step.

For example:

• A company removed from the scenario
• A shareholding relationship removed from the scenario
• A relationship hidden because one of its connected entities was removed

Scenario-created items are different. They are new to the scenario, so this option does not turn them into ghost items.

Apply Base Diagram Settings to This Scenario Step

Apply base diagram settings to this Scenario Step lets the scenario step follow the base diagram's display settings.

When this option is on, the step uses inherited base diagram settings for many display and layout preferences. This can help the scenario stay visually aligned with the base diagram while you continue working on the base view.

When this option is off, the step uses its own step-specific settings again.

The important detail is this: step-specific settings are preserved. If you turn base settings on and later turn them off, the step-specific settings can be re-applied.

When to Turn It On

Turn this option on when you want the scenario step to visually follow the base diagram.

This is useful when:

• You changed the base diagram's display settings and want the scenario to match
• You want consistent presentation across base and scenario views
• You are still experimenting and do not want to maintain separate settings for the step
• You want to compare scenario data while keeping the same display style as the base

For example, if you changed how relationship labels or entity detail visibility appears on the base diagram, this option can make the scenario step use that same presentation style.

When to Turn It Off

Turn this option off when the scenario step needs its own presentation.

This is useful when:

• The scenario step has a different audience or purpose
• You want different asset visibility in the scenario
• You want different relationship display modes for the step
• You have manually tuned the step for export or review
• You do not want future base display changes to affect this step's appearance

This is common once a scenario step becomes part of a formal presentation or decision record.

What Is Inherited From the Base Diagram?

When base diagram settings are applied, the scenario can follow base-level display preferences such as:

• Link label visibility
• Entity detail visibility
• Asset label style
• Company trading name display
• Layout engine and routing preferences
• Layout direction
• Entity size and spacing settings
• Annotation display
• Presentation-related display settings

Some settings remain scenario-local because they are part of how the current scenario step is being edited. For example, Show deleted items remains a scenario option rather than a base setting.

Step-Specific Settings

Step-specific settings are settings saved for the current scenario step.

They let one step look different from:

• The base diagram
• Earlier scenario steps
• Later scenario steps
• Other scenario chains

This is useful because each step can represent a different stage of a proposed restructure. Step 1 may be a review view with deleted items visible. Step 2 may be a clean final-state view for export.

Reset Step Overrides

At the top of Diagram Settings, you may see Reset step overrides.

Use this when you want to clear the current step's custom display overrides and return closer to the default/base-driven view for that step.

This is useful if:

• The step has accumulated too many one-off display changes
• You want to start the presentation settings again
• The diagram looks inconsistent and you are not sure which option caused it

Resetting step overrides affects scenario display settings. It is not the same as deleting scenario entities, deleting relationships, or undoing scenario changes.

How These Options Work With Layout

Scenario settings and layout are related, but they are not the same thing.

Display settings control what is visible and how it is presented. Layout controls where entities and links sit on the canvas.

Changing Show deleted items can change the visible structure, so StructureGram may refresh the canvas to keep the diagram coherent.

Applying base diagram settings can bring across layout-related preferences, such as routing or spacing choices, but existing scenario geometry still belongs to the scenario step unless you explicitly run layout actions such as Refresh all entities and links to base layout.

How These Options Work With Scenarios

Each scenario step has its own life.

When you create a scenario, the first step starts from the base diagram. When you create a new step, it starts from the current scenario step. After that, each step can hold its own settings and layout.

The scenario options respect that model:

• Show deleted items applies to the current step.
• Apply base diagram settings affects the current step's display behavior.
• Turning base settings off restores the step's own settings where they were preserved.
• Revisiting an existing step loads that step's saved settings.

Practical Examples

Review a Proposed Removal

1. Open the scenario step.
2. Open Settings.
3. Turn Show deleted items on.
4. Review the grayed-out entities and relationships.
5. Use this view to explain what the scenario removes.

Prepare a Clean Final-State View

1. Open the scenario step.
2. Open Settings.
3. Turn Show deleted items off.
4. Adjust any display settings needed for export.
5. Confirm the diagram is saved before exporting.

Keep a Scenario Visually Aligned With the Base Diagram

1. Set up the base diagram display the way you want.
2. Open the scenario step.
3. Open Settings.
4. Turn Apply base diagram settings to this Scenario Step on.
5. Review the scenario with the base presentation settings applied.

Give a Step Its Own Presentation

1. Open the scenario step.
2. Open Settings.
3. Turn Apply base diagram settings to this Scenario Step off.
4. Adjust the step's display settings.
5. Use this when the step needs its own review or export style.

Quick Reference

The Simple Rule

Use Show deleted items to decide whether removed things remain visible.

Use Apply base diagram settings to decide whether the step follows the base diagram's presentation or keeps its own.