Additional node distribution features

[rvaneerd]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Distribute elements should be smart about the distances between elements. If there exits a common distance already, it should take that into account. This is very much related to the fact that nicely looking diagrams are usually the ones that have equal distances between elements.

Describe the solution you'd like

• Distribute elements discovers if there exists a common distance between elements already. If that is the case, all elements will be distributed using that distance:

  

Describe alternatives you've considered

• None.

Additional context

This is not how usual distribution tools work in other editors. It would clearly help the visual soundness of diagrams though.

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Original Issue

Hi,

I am aware of the node distribution functions available in the toolbar of Camunda Modeler. I know they will distribute the selected nodes evenly between the outer nodes in either horizontal / vertical orientation. However, I would like to have two additional ones which will distribute the selected nodes according to a (configurable?) default distance.

That way I can organize the layout of my process models to they're more easy to read.

I have no preference whether this would be build into the main code or provided as a plugin.

Hope this helps to further improve the product.

Regards, Rob.

[rvaneerd]

I think, the following screenshot shows what I'm after ;-)

Regards, Rob.

[nikku]

This is very much related to the behavior how aligning elements work (cf. https://github.com/camunda/camunda-modeler/issues/1056#issuecomment-444862045).

These tools should help you create better diagrams, in that sense one could argue that what you're after should be the expected behavior. (Randomly distributing elements is not what users usually desire).

[nikku]

I updated the issue according to your input. Thanks for taking the time to clarify!