The quickest way to create the items should look like this

private void btnCreateItems_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
	Random rnd = new Random();

	diagram.Bounds = new RectangleF(0, 0, 3300, 3300);
	diagram.RouteLinks = false;
	diagram.ValidityChecks = false;
	diagram.UndoManager.UndoEnabled = false;

	DateTime start = DateTime.Now;

	for (int i = 0; i < 2000; ++i)
	{
		diagram.Factory.CreateShapeNode(
			//(i / 50) * 15, (i % 50) * 15, 10, 10, Shapes.Rectangle);
			rnd.Next(3000), rnd.Next(3000), 10, 10, Shapes.Rectangle);
	}

	for (int i = 0; i < 4000; ++i)
	{
		diagram.Factory.CreateDiagramLink(
			diagram.Nodes[i % 2000], diagram.Nodes[rnd.Next(2000)]);
	}

	DateTime end = DateTime.Now;
	MessageBox.Show((end - start).ToString());
}
 

I'll check in awhile if some of our layout algorithms can arrange the items fast enough.

Stoyan

If your graph is a tree, you could use TreeLayout - it needed about 40 seconds to arrange the tree on my system.

If it's an arbitrary graph, you could use some of the iterative algorithms such as SpringLayout or GridLayout, but they will need at least five minutes to complete. For example you can use GridLayout like this:

DateTime start = DateTime.Now;

// GridLayout uses link-routing internally
diagram.RoutingOptions.DontOptimizeLongRoutes = true;

GridLayout gl = new GridLayout();
gl.SplitGraph = false;
gl.StartNode = diagram.Nodes[0];
gl.EndNode = diagram.Nodes[1999];
gl.Iterations = 50;
gl.UseLongestPath = false;
gl.Arrange(diagram);

DateTime end = DateTime.Now;
MessageBox.Show((end - start).ToString());
 

Depending no the structure of your graphs, you could optimize the layout running time greatly. For example if a graph is partitioned into clusters, you could run a layout algorithm for each cluster independently, using the Arrange(DiagramItemCollection) methods of say SpringLayout or TreeLayout. Next, use the AttachTo method to attach all nodes from a cluster to the central node in a cluster, and run some layout algorithm using the KeepGroupLayout option, and passing only the clusters' central nodes to the Arrange(DiagramItemCollection) method.

I hope that helps,
Stoyan

Hi Peter,

The built-in lanes are just a background decoration. At this time you can't bind a node to a specific lane, or make the layout algorithms constrain nodes to a lane.

Having the diagram partitioned into lanes should help you lay out the items in a more timely manner. Assuming there are no links between items on different lanes (or you exclude them from the layout temporarily), you might use the MultipleGraphPlacement = Vertical option, which will arrange the subgraph associated with each person, and move it below the sub-graph of the previous person. Then you might calculate the union of all activities bounding rectangles, and use its Y and Height as coordinates for the lane. You might draw the lanes either by handling the DrawBackground event as in the SequenceDiagram sample, or by setting up the LaneGrid.

I hope that helps,
Stoyan