FAQ
Frequently-asked questions
General
Can I embed my diagrams in documents and presentations?
Yes! See Share links & embeds for details.
How do I share a suggestion with the product/dev team?
You can submit your idea directly on the Feedback portal!
You can also view and vote on other submissions. Our team actively uses these posts and votes to help organize our development priorities.
How do I get help from the IcePanel Team?
Start by reviewing the Troubleshooting page to see whether your issue is covered there. If not, navigate to Contact Us in the Help Center. For Scale customers, can also reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
From here, select the appropriate workflow.
Support - An immediate issue you need resolved ASAP
Bug - An unexpected behavior that can be addressed in a future release
Sales - Questions regarding billing or licenses
Other - Miscellaneous inquiries
For technical issues, we recommend including a recording, as it provides the most complete context for our investigation. If that's not possible, screenshots and detailed descriptions of the steps taken are also helpful. If you need help but cannot access the workflow, email us at [email protected] and someone from our team will reach out.
C4 Modeling
Where are the objects and connections from my other diagram?
Diagrams only display objects and connections explicitly added to them.
Diagrams are meant to tell a particular story. Automatically adding objects from other diagrams would disrupt that story any time changes are made.
If you want to quickly add existing connections to a diagram, you can do so by toggling them on using the object’s Connections tab, as described in Viewing dependencies and connections of an object.
Why am I getting an “already exists” error?
Each object must have a unique name within its scope to avoid ambiguity. Breaking this rule causes the “already exists” error to appear.
In practical terms, this means that objects can’t share a name with other objects that:
Share its parent
Are above it in the hierarchy and share its domain
Objects CAN share a name with other objects at the same level or below if they have different parents. This allows multiple systems to use the same naming conventions for their children, for example, each system having a store called “database” or an app called “front-end”.
Why isn’t Technology [Name] available?
There are a lot of technologies out there, so we probably just haven’t added it yet!
If what you’re looking for isn’t available, it can be added by following Technology choices. Once added, you and your organization will be able to use it right away.
Why can’t I apply the Technology I want?
IcePanel takes an opinionated approach to Technology choices. We carefully review each technology, determine where it fits in the C4 model, and limit its applicability to those object types
We find that an opinionated approach to Technology choices helps highlight to our users when they are deviating from the C4 model. You can view which object types a Technology choicessupports by hovering over its info bubble in the Technology choices list.
If you believe a Technology choices is mis-levelled, you can force-apply a technology to it. You can also reach out to us to update the level of the technology, and we we will conduct a review.
Can I change multiple objects at once?
Yes, IcePanel supports multi-selection! Options include:
Multi-select / unselect: Shift + Click (each object)
Multi-select box: Shift + Click + drag
Changes made while a selection is active apply to all objects it contains. Common use cases include:
Add/remove a tag
Remove from diagram
Delete
Be sure to take a look at the Hotkeysarticle for more useful shortcuts!.
Should Interfaces be modeled as objects or connections?
Interfaces are best modelled as their own objects.
Many interfaces meet the criteria of a system in the C4 model.
#
Criteria
Interface
1
Delivers value to its users, whether they are human or not.
✔ - Transforms and transports business data from one system to another.
2
Owned and maintained by a single technical team.
✔ - Typically owned by a middleware or data team.
For this reason, interfaces often deserve their own model object. If you are looking to create a sleek diagram for non-technical users, we recommend referencing the interface using the via property on a related connection instead of adding the interface to the diagram directly.
Any other questions? Reach out to us [email protected] 🧊
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