Make your own kind of line
A line of your own records a relationship that the standard lines do not cover, such as financial support or guardianship, with a name, colour and style that you choose.
The relationship lines of McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry (2020) describe the emotional quality of a relationship, and some relationships that matter to an assessment fall outside them. A custom line has a name of your choosing, which appears in the key under Your lines. The six preset colours for custom lines avoid the blue and red of the standard lines, so that a custom line is not mistaken for one of them.
The procedure below changes an existing relationship line into a custom line. A custom line can also be drawn between two people from the start, as described after the procedure.
Procedure
- 1
Click a relationship line, and then click its name in the toolbar. The list of lines opens.
- 2
Click New custom line… at the end of the list.
- 3
Type a name in Name in the key, such as “Financial support”.
- 4
Select a Colour, a Line style and the number of Strands.
- 5
Select a Mark, which may be Plain, Zigzag or Arrow at the second person.
- 6
Click Create. The line takes the new style, and the key lists it under Your lines.
Custom lines are not part of the published notation. If a chart that contains custom lines is submitted for assessment, explain each one in the accompanying text.
Settings
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name in the key | The name identifies the line in the key and may contain up to 60 characters. |
| Colour | The line takes one of six preset colours, or any other colour chosen with Any colour…. |
| Line | The line is drawn solid, dashed or dotted. |
| Strands | The line is drawn with one, two or three parallel strands. |
| Mark | The line is drawn plain, as a zigzag, or with an arrowhead at the second person. |
Drawing a custom line between two people
A custom line can be drawn directly between two people who are not yet joined by a relationship line. Hover over the first person, click Emotional relationship on the ring, and then click the second person. Click New custom line… in the list, choose the settings described above, and click Connect.
Reusing and editing a custom line
Once a custom line exists, its name appears under Custom at the end of the list of lines, and clicking the name gives another line the same style. To change a custom line, click it, and then click its swatch in the toolbar. If other lines carry the same name, the editor offers to apply the change to all of them.
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