Snapshot Filtering FAQ

If something looks wrong on a diagram with a snapshot active, the answer is almost always one of three things:

A date is missing or wrong on the relationship or entity.
The entity isn't in the diagram's filter scope.
The snapshot window doesn't cover the period you meant.

This page walks through the questions we hear most. For full reference behaviour see Snapshot Filtering (Temporal Views).

General

What's the default snapshot for a new diagram?

Today (live) — a point-in-time window of [today, today]. The diagram shows the structure as at today and re-resolves to today every time you load it.

If you want to see the full historical and future picture, click All dates in the snapshot popover. This preference is remembered for the diagram.

What's the difference between "Today (live)" and setting From + Until both to today?

Functionally identical for the diagram you're looking at right now. The difference is persistence:

Today (live) is stored as mode: 'live' — when you reopen the diagram tomorrow, it recomputes to tomorrow's date.
Pinning both bounds to today's date stores those literal dates — when you reopen tomorrow, it's still showing yesterday.

Use Live for an always-current view. Pin specific dates when you want to capture a moment.

Do my toggle changes need to be applied?

No. Include undated and Hide disconnected entities apply immediately when you tick or untick them. The Apply button is only for committing a date or date range. (Earlier versions did require Apply — this changed; the toggles now react live.)

Why are the toggles disabled?

You're in All dates mode. With no temporal filter active, neither toggle has anything to affect — there's no "undated vs dated" distinction to make and nothing is being hidden for being disconnected. Switch to Today (live) or pin a date to re-enable them.

Reading the popover

What does the blue dot on the camera icon mean?

A pinned date or range is active. Live and All dates are not badged.

Why does the trigger button label change?

It summarises the active state in one phrase:

Label	State
As at today	Live or no snapshot set
All dates	Mode = all
From date	From only
Up to date	Until only
As at date	From = Until (same day)
Date range	From + Until on different days

Things that look wrong

A relationship I expected is missing

Walk through in order:

Does the relationship have a start date? If yes, is it on or before the window's end?
Does the relationship have an end date? If yes, is it on or after the window's start?
Is Include undated off, and the relationship has no dates? Turn it on, or add dates.
Are both endpoints in the entity filter scope? If either endpoint is out of scope, the relationship is hidden.

An entity I expected is in the stencil, not on the canvas

Open the stencil and check the icon next to the entity:

Greyed camera icon → the entity's own group join/exit dates put it outside the window. Either widen the window, edit the entity's dates, or accept that it's correctly excluded.
Draggable camera icon → the entity has no in-window relationships. It's an orphan. Either turn Hide disconnected entities off, drag it back onto the canvas manually, or add a dated relationship in the window.

An entity I expected is missing entirely (not even in the stencil)

It's out of scope (rule 2 in the reference: out-of-scope entities are completely hidden). Open Diagram Scopes or Focus Entity settings and confirm the entity is included.

A director still appears in the company's node content even though they ceased years ago

Most likely the end date (cessation) is missing on the directorship relationship. Snapshots can't know it ended without that field. Edit the relationship and add the cessation date.

A director who should be active is missing from a company's node content

Either:

Their appointment date is after the window end (the role hasn't started in your snapshot's view), or
Their appointment date is missing and Include undated is off, or
The director person is not in the diagram's filter scope.

A distribution isn't showing

Check:

Is the Distributions toggle on in Diagram Settings? (Snapshot doesn't bypass this.)
Does the distribution's date fall inside the snapshot window?
Are both the source and target entities in scope and visible?

Hide disconnected is on but an entity with no in-window relationships is still on the canvas

The entity was manually placed by a user. Manual placement is an explicit override — drag it off (or use the stencil) to remove the exemption.

The focal entity appears even though no relationships connect to it in the window

That's by design. The focal entity is the anchor of the diagram and is always shown, regardless of dates or relationship count.

Dates and windows

Why doesn't setting just "From = 1 Jan 2024" mean "as at 1 Jan 2024"?

Because that's a window with no upper bound, not a single day. The model is symmetric — a single From means "from then onward", a single Until means "up to then", and a single day requires both bounds.

For a point-in-time view, set From and Until to the same date (or use Today (live) if you want it to mean today specifically).

Can I pin a future date?

Yes. A From date in the future is [future, ∞) — useful for previewing a planned restructure where you've already entered relationships with future appointment dates.

Why doesn't "All dates" show entities that are out of scope?

Snapshot is a date filter. It can't bring entities back that the entity filter scope has excluded. Adjust scopes or focus settings to include them.

What happens if From is after Until?

The Apply button is disabled and an inline error appears. Either fix the dates or clear them.

Are dates inclusive on both ends?

Yes. An item active on the exact From date passes the start check; an item active on the exact Until date passes the end check.

Scenarios and versions

Does a scenario step inherit the base diagram's snapshot?

It can — see Scenario Settings Options for inheritance behaviour. Otherwise the scenario carries its own snapshot setting.

Does saving a diagram version preserve the snapshot?

Yes. The snapshot is part of the diagram's view settings and is saved with the version.

Performance

Is changing the snapshot slow?

Switching between Live and All dates is effectively free. Pinning a date does a graph re-sync to move entities between canvas and stencil — this is a client-side operation over data already loaded, so it's quick even on large diagrams.

Why does the toast take a moment after I click Apply?

The graph re-sync runs first; the toast confirms once the canvas + stencil have updated. On very large diagrams this can take a second or two.

Help & Documentation