Connections and Routing

Learn how to connect shapes with different line styles, path types, and arrow configurations. Includes crow's foot notation for ERD diagrams.

January 22, 2026

Connections show relationships between shapes in your diagrams. The diagram editor includes extensive options for styling connections to convey different types of relationships clearly.

Creating Connections

To connect two shapes:

Path Types

Choose how the connection routes between shapes:

Line Styles

The line style can indicate the nature of the relationship:

Style	Appearance	Typical Use
Solid	Continuous line	Primary relationships and direct dependencies
Dashed	Broken line with gaps	Optional relationships, planned connections, or weaker dependencies
Dotted	Series of dots	Indirect relationships, references, or temporary connections

Line Endings

Over 20 line endings are available to convey relationship semantics:

Crow's Foot Notation

For Entity-Relationship Diagrams, NeoArc supports crow's foot notation to show cardinality:

Symbol	Meaning	Notation
One	Exactly one	Single perpendicular line
Many	Zero or more	Crow's foot (three lines spreading)
Zero or One	Optional, at most one	Circle with single line
Zero or Many	Optional, any number	Circle with crow's foot
One or Many	Required, one or more	Line with crow's foot

Connection Labels

Add text to connections to describe the relationship:

Styling Connections

Customise connection appearance:

Editing Connection Routes

Orthogonal connections can be manually adjusted:

Best Practices

Be Consistent

Use the same line style for the same type of relationship throughout your diagram.

Minimise Crossings

Rearrange shapes to reduce connection crossings for clarity.

Use Labels Sparingly

Only label connections where the relationship is not obvious.

Match Conventions

Use crow's foot for ERDs, arrows for data flow, diamonds for UML composition.