Create associations using drag and drop (Swimlanes)

You can create associations by dragging and dropping an object onto any other object on your diagram. Objects treated in this way are called Swimlanes. However, before you can do this, the following pre-requisites must be in place:

There must be an Association Type between the two Object Types concerned.

See Create New Association Types
The Allow Automatic Creation checkbox be set on the properties of the Association Type. The two options are:

Source to Target - Use this setting to allow associations to be created automatically when the an object of the source object type is placed on top of an object of the target object type on a diagram.
Target to Source - Use this setting to allow associations to be created automatically when the an object of the target object type is placed on top of an object of the source object type on a diagram.

If you want to be able to automatically delete associations when you separate the two objects on the diagram, you must have Allow Automatic Deletion set on the association object. This is set by default when associations are created using drag and drop, but can be edited manually by viewing the properties of any association.

To create an association using drag and drop

Select an object on the diagram canvas
While holding down the left-mouse button, drag the object over another existing object
Release the mouse button to drop the object

The association is created.

The smaller object must be in the foreground compared to the larger (Swimlane) object you want to associate it with. To change an object's position in the z-order, use the Move to front and Move to back functions on the Draw menu.

You can also create associations in this way by dragging and dropping new objects from the New Objects palette, or by dragging and dropping objects from the Existing Objects palette