A schematic diagram can be displayed in a viewer window. A viewer window can be opened on a diagram by clicking Window and clicking Viewer on the ArcMap menu. You can also work with the Multi Views running mode as the default mode so that each time a diagram is opened or generated, it is automatically displayed in a viewer window without changing the active data frame.

To do so, click the Schematic menu and point to Schematic Options. The Schematic Options dialog opens. Click the Multi Views tab. Check the Automatically open schematic diagrams in a viewer window check box. Click OK. Each time a schematic diagram is opened, it will be displayed in a viewer window, and the active data frame will be preserved. To deactivate this mode, uncheck the box on the Multi Views tab.

Next you'll see how to generate a diagram from manually selected features.

Click Bookmarks on the main menu and click Manual Selection. Use the Select Features tool to manually select a part of the network by drawing a box with the tool. Click the Generate New Schematic Diagram button to open the New Schematic Diagram dialog box.

Click the browse button next to the Schematic Dataset or Folder text box and browse to the ElecDemo dataset (in the ElecDemo geodatabase available in the C:\arcgis\ArcTutor\Schematics\ Schematics\ folder), double-click ElecDemo, click Feeders, then click Add to store the diagram at this location.

Click the Diagram type drop-down arrow and choose GeoSchematic from the list. Keep the default [Create New Data Frame] option selected in the Output Data Frame drop-down list. Note: If you choose Geography from the list, the diagram will be displayed in the Geography data frame on top of the map.

Type a name in the Schematic Diagram Name text box for the diagram to be generated (for example, "Manual Selection"). In the Input From area, keep the Selection Set In Data Frame option selected and make sure that the Geography data frame containing the selection set you have just created is selected in the drop-down list. Click OK.

As the Multi Views mode is activated, the newly created diagram is displayed in a viewer window, and the active data frame containing the features is preserved. A new data frame related to this diagram has been created in the TOC but is not active.