Add Arrows to Linking Lines
From an open Cmap:
You can change the directional emphasis within propositions by using arrows. To change how arrows are used in propositions, begin by selecting the proposition(s). Right-click the selection, then left-click Line... from the Format Style sub-menu. (You may also modify the arrow behavior of specific lines by narrowing your selection to only those lines you want to change. The help section Change Colors explains different methods of selecting Cmap items, including linking lines.)
The first concept, that a proposition is created from, is initially treated by CmapTools as the root or parent. To have the linking phrase(s) from the parent concept point at all children concepts, left-click the button illustrated below under the heading Arrowheads.
Now when viewing the Cmap, selected linking lines will point from linking phrases to children concepts.
When using the top-down approach for building propositions, you may want arrows to point to children concepts only when they are positioned vertically higher than the linking phrases they are connected to. To create these types of arrows, left-click the button illustrated below under Arrowheads.
Now when viewing the Cmap, selected linking lines will point only to children concepts that are vertically higher in relation to their connected linking phrases. Notice that the vertical position of the parent concept does not change how arrows are placed using this arrow feature.
You can have arrows pointing from parent concepts to linking phrases, and from linking phrases to children concepts. To create these types of arrows, left-click the button illustrated below under Arrowheads.
Now when viewing the Cmap, selected linking lines will be pointing from parent concepts to linking phrases, and from linking phrases to children concepts.
You can assure that no arrowheads appear on your linking lines. To make linking lines with no arrowheads, left-click the button illustrated below under Arrowheads.
Now when viewing the Cmap, no arrows will appear on the linking lines you selected.
The order in which concepts are created for propositions affects the direction that linking line arrows point. Propositions may not appear logical until the arrow direction is reversed. To reverse the direction that linking line arrows point, begin with a selection that includes these lines. Right-click the selection, then left-click Line... from the Format Style sub-menu. (Instead of using the right-click menu, you may choose Edit, then Reverse Connection Direction from the Cmap's menu bar.)
The "Styles" window will open to the Line dialog. Left-clicking the Reverse button (under the Connection Direction heading) will reverse the direction that arrows point.
Now when viewing the Cmap, selected propositions that were previously illogical (due to arrows pointing the wrong way) will now make more sense.
Some conceptual relationships are conveyed clearer using non-standard means of visual communication. For example, a concept map may illustrate the symbiotic relationship that takes place within a system. Bi-directional arrows, between concepts that represent elements of the system, may be appropriate. To create these types of arrows for linking lines that you have selected, left-click the button illustrated below under Connection Direction.
Now when viewing the Cmap, arrowheads will appear on both ends of selected linking lines. (You can link concepts together without creating a linking phrase. Begin by holding down the shift key, then left-click and drag the arrows from the top of a concept. While still holding down the left mouse button and the shift key, release the mouse first, followed by the shift key, above another concept you want to link to.)
You can change selected bi-directional arrows back to pointing in only one direction. To create arrows that point in only one direction, left-click the button illustrated below under Connection Direction.
Now when viewing the Cmap, the linking lines you selected now point in only one direction.
