A symbol represents a definition in the repository. That definition has properties. You may specify that definition properties and their values get displayed on a symbol. By default, the name of a symbol (which is a property of the symbol and its definition) is displayed. To specify that other properties of a symbol's definition are displayable, you use the DISPLAY command in each property's declaration. For example:
Definition "My Definition"
{
Property "My Property 1" {EDIT TEXT LENGTH 20 DISPLAY { FORMAT String LEGEND "" } }
}
The example code above makes the property “My Property 1” displayable on the symbol; any text that you type in the property’s 20-character text box in the definition dialog is displayed on the face of the symbol.
Once you specify certain properties of a symbol's definition as being displayable, those properties are provided in the Display Mode dialog for a symbol, where they can be turned on or off at any time. The Display Mode dialog is accessed by selecting a symbol on a diagram, and selecting View, Display Mode, or right-mouse-clicking on a symbol and choosing Display Mode. The Display Mode dialog enables you to select all displayable properties that you want to display for the symbol.
The figure below shows an entity symbol - the Before picture shows it with all displayable properties turned off; the After picture shows the Key Data and Non-Key Data turned on.
Rectangular symbol with properties displayed and not displayed
Example Display Mode dialog
You may also specify displayable properties for line symbols, as shown in the figure below.
Line symbol with properties displayed and not displayed
