Entity Ownership Charts module guide

An ownership chart draws organizations and people as cards and the ownership stakes between them as links, with owners above the companies they own. The chart reads the stakes you already record in Entity Ownership, so nothing is entered on the chart itself.

Opening and Managing Charts

Open Charts from the Entity Ownership section of the left navigation. Anyone with access to the Entity Ownership module can open every chart. Editor access lets you create, rename, copy, and delete charts.

Rename, Copy, and Delete sit in the header of the chart page. Copy makes a second chart named “Copy of” the original, with the same picture, and opens it for design. The two charts are independent from then on. To change how a chart looks or what it shows, click Design and continue in the chart designer.

Creating a Chart

Creating a chart means choosing a set of ownership stakes and deciding what each card and link says.

1. From the Charts list, click New. A New chart drawer opens.
2. Enter a name for the chart.
3. Open Choose records… and set the starting record, direction, and any conditions. Click Check selection here to see how many cards and links the chart will have before it is drawn.
4. Open Choose fields… and pick the values shown on organization cards, person cards, and links.
5. Save the chart. Lextree draws it in the Classic look.

An editor chooses the records once, when the chart is created. After that, cards and links are added and removed in the designer.

Starting Record and Direction

Pick an organization or a person as the start, then pick a direction:

• Owners walks upward through the start record’s owners.
• Holdings walks downward through what it owns.
• Owners and holdings shows the chain up through its owners and down through its holdings, without side branches.
• Whole group shows the entire group the record belongs to.

Set how many levels to walk, or leave the setting at all levels. Leave the starting record empty to chart every stake at once.

Conditions

Conditions narrow the picture. Each condition names a field, a comparison, and a value: a stake’s Status is one of Active, an organization’s jurisdiction is one of Delaware, an acquisition date is before a certain day, or a disposition date is empty.

The available comparisons depend on the field. Option lists offer is one of and is not one of. Dates and numbers offer is before, is after, is at least, and similar. Every field offers is empty and is not empty. These are the same comparisons automation rules use. Tick or blank to keep records where the field has no value.

A record is included only when every condition holds. A condition on a stake stops the walk through that stake. A condition on a card removes the card and everything beyond it. A stake that has been disposed of is included unless a condition filters it out.

The Card Cap

Large charts draw slowly, are slow to work with in the designer, and are hard to read. Check selection counts the cards and links before anything is drawn:

• Above 1,000 cards, Lextree shows a warning.
• Above 2,500 cards, Lextree refuses to draw the chart.

Narrow a selection that is too large with a condition or a shorter walk.

Values on Cards and Links

Choose which fields appear on organization cards, on person cards, and on links. A card’s title is the record’s name unless you pick another text field. An editor can change these choices later from the designer.

When a Chart Is Out of Date

A saved chart is a snapshot of your records at the moment it was generated. Each time you open a chart, Lextree checks it against your current records. If something differs, a message at the bottom of the page lists:

• records whose names or values changed,
• cards that an edited link will bring onto the chart, and
• records that have since been trashed or deleted.

A warning mark stays beside the chart’s name while the chart is out of date. If you dismiss the message, click the mark to see it again.

The chart does not change until an editor chooses Update data from the message:

• Update values only refreshes the text and keeps every card where it is. Records that no longer exist are removed and leave a gap.
• Update and lay out afresh arranges the whole chart again.

New records never join a chart on their own. In the designer, a marker on a card shows where connections continue beyond the chart, and that is where an editor adds them.

One case differs. When a link already on the chart is edited to point to a different record, for example when an owner is replaced, the chart follows the edit. The message counts the new card as one to add, and the next update keeps the link and brings the card onto the chart. The card the link used to point to stays where it is, and an editor can remove it in the designer.

Downloading a Chart

Download on the chart page offers four formats:

• SVG
• PDF, fitted to the chart, or sized for A4 or Letter printing
• PNG
• JPG

The same engine that drew the chart on screen draws every download, so the file matches what you see. You can also open a downloaded chart in Lexchart.

The Charts Trash

Deleting a chart moves it to the Trash page under Entity Ownership. An editor can restore a chart from there or delete it for good.

Charts Through the API

Charts are also reachable through the API. See API access for keys and scopes.