Threats Manager Studio (TMS) provides a Diagram tool, which represents the main interface to create Threat Models for typical uses. With Diagrams, it is possible to represent the system and how the information flows among its components.

The Home ribbon contains the main buttons to work with Diagrams:

  • Iterate Diagrams
  • Create Diagram
  • Reorder Diagrams
The Home ribbon.

Iterate Diagrams

Button Iterate Diagrams represents the main button to access the diagrams included in the Threat Model.

If there is no diagram, then it is disabled, as shown in the Figure above.

If there is at least a diagram, it is enabled and has a button with the head of an arrow pointing down. In that case, if you click Iterate Diagrams and there is no open diagram, then the first one is opened. If you click Iterate Diagrams again, the same diagram is shown: that may be useful if you have other pages, to get to the main diagram fast.

If there are multiple open diagrams, then clicking Iterate Diagrams iterates among them.

To access a specific diagram, you must click the arrow button below Iterate Diagrams.

Create Diagram

Button Create Diagram allows to create a new Diagram.

The newly created diagram shows an empty canvas. For details on how to create a diagram, please refer to Diagramming Basics and to the Introductory Topics.

The diagram shows the following ribbon.

The Diagram ribbon.

The Diagram ribbon contains the following sections and buttons.

SectionButtonDescription
AddNew External InteractorCreates a new External Interactor in an empty space in the diagram.
New ProcessCreates a new Process in an empty space in the diagram.
New Data StoreCreates a new Data Store in an empty space in the diagram.
New Trust BoundaryCreates a new Trust Boundary in an empty space in the diagram.
New Threat TypeCreates a new Threat Type.
LayoutAlign HorizontallyAligns the selected objects horizontally.
Align VerticallyAligns the selected objects vertically.
Align TopAligns the tops of the selected objects.
Align BottonAligns the bottoms of the selected objects.
Align LeftAligns the lift sides of the selected objects.
Align RightAligns the right sides of the selected objects.
Automatic LayoutPerforms an automatic layout.
It is available only for Expert or Pioneer Execution Modes because it has the problem of applying a layout that may not be the best for your uses.
ViewToggle MarkersHides or shows the Threat markers to Entities and Flows.
ZoomZoom InIncreases the size of the diagram on the screen.
Zoom OutDecreases the size of the diagram on the screen.
100%Reverts the diagram to the original size on the screen.
Zoom to FitZooms the diagram to fit the visible space.
Create SnapshotCopy to ClipboardCopies the image of the diagram to the Clipboard.
Copy to FileSaves the image of the diagram to file.
RemoveRemove Current DiagramRemoves the current diagram.
Entities, Flows, and Trust Boundaries will not be affected.
CopyCopyCopies the selected objects to the clipboard.
To paste the objects, you have to use the context menu on an empty space of another diagram, by clicking the right mouse button and selecting action Paste.
CutCopies the selected objects to the clipboard and then removes them from the diagram.
To paste the objects, you have to use the context menu on an empty space of another diagram, by clicking the right mouse button and selecting action Paste.
The buttons in the Diagram ribbon.

Tips & Tricks

If you need to maximize the size of the Drawing Pane to increase the readability of the diagram, you can minimize the Ribbon by double-clicking any of the titles of the tabs, like “Home” or “View”. Moreover, you can move the mouse over the separator between the Drawing Pane and the Stencils Pane, which you can find on the left of the Diagram page, and then click to close it. You can also move the mouse over the separator between the Drawing Pane and the Item Editor, which you can find on the right of the Diagram page, and then click to close it.

Reorder Diagrams

Button Reorder Diagrams shows dialog Sort Diagrams, which allows to reorder the diagrams by dragging and dropping them in the desired position.

The Sort Diagrams dialog.