Tool Containers don't play nice with the canvas grid

[rob_cottrell]

When moving a tool container, all of the tools within it become mis-aligned with the canvas grid.  Moving any single tool immediately re-aligns it to the grid, which puts it out of alignment with the rest of the tools in the container.

Example:  Put 3 tools in a row in a tool container, all aligned horizontally.  Next, move the container.  Now, move the middle tool, then try to place it back in alignment with the other two.  You won't be able to, because they are out of alignment with the canvas grid.

Please fix this.  

[MDG]

I totally agree, this drives me mad when it snaps to a slightly different grid!

[jt_edin]

I agree also. The current usability of tool containers is a disaster, as I posted here. For some crazy reason the default margins are massive, so that the containers often fly off the edge of the screen forcing you to think creatively to get them back. The grid snapping issue is cosmetic but annoying - you get my vote!

[jack_shurtz]

I agree on the grid issue.  I have the biggest issue with lining things up when the tool has a single input and multiple output like the filter tool does.  The part of the Icon that is the attachment point should line up with the grid, and not just the center of the tool.  It is easy to line up tools that have a single input and output like the select tool by just selecting the tools and using the Control + and Control - commands.  But if you try to line up a select tool under a filter tool and use the Control +, the tools line up along the icon centers, and not along the connections.

[mghenri]

Yes! As much as this bothers me because of aesthetics, it goes beyond that and there is a good functional reason to fix this issue.

When working with large workflows it is very difficult to trace data flows when the tools fall out of alignment with the grid because (1) the connector paths go absolutely haywire (sometimes dropping to the bottom of a workflow and back up again just to move to the next tool), and (2) the path algorithm for the connectors seems to work extremely hard and it slows down editing of the workflow.

A fix to this would be splendid and certainly help me sleep better at night too :)

[RachelW]

Thanks so much for this idea. We'll keep this in mind when we make improvements to our canvas at a later date. 

[jpoz]

We have resolved the snap to grid issue when tools are inside of containers, and that fix will be available in an upcoming release. Thank you for reporting it!

[jpoz]

Thank you for suggesting this! The snap to grid issues when a tool is inside of a container have been resolved with the 2019.4 release: https://downloads.alteryx.com

[Ruud]

The global use of Ctrl_Shift_- will drop by 50% after updating to this version 😄