From the sample, which is found in the installed folder
C:\Program Files\MindFusion\FlowChart.NET Professional Edition\VS2005 (.NET 2.0)\Samples\VB.NET\Fishbone

I saved the diagram into xml, when loading back the xml I get the following error. Could you please review the code and let me know what is the reason for this problem?

"Failed to Instantiate item of type 'Fishbone.CauseNode' . "

Private Sub MainForm_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        MindFusion.Diagramming.Diagram.RegisterItemClass(GetType(CauseNode), GetType(CauseNode).Name, 1)
        MindFusion.Diagramming.Diagram.RegisterItemClass(GetType(AspectNode), GetType(AspectNode).Name, 1)
        MindFusion.Diagramming.Diagram.RegisterItemClass(GetType(FishboneBehavior), GetType(FishboneBehavior).Name, 1)


        diagram.ShadowsStyle = ShadowsStyle.None

        backbone = diagram.Factory.CreateShapeNode( _
         0, 60, 300, 1.5F, Shapes.Rectangle)
        backbone.Brush = New SolidBrush(Color.Black)
        backbone.EnabledHandles = AdjustmentHandles.None
        backbone.HandlesStyle = HandlesStyle.Invisible

        diagramView.CustomBehavior = New Fishbone.FishboneBehavior(diagramView, backbone)
    End Sub
    Dim backbone As ShapeNode

    Private Sub diagram_NodeCreated(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As MindFusion.Diagramming.NodeEventArgs) Handles diagram.NodeCreated
        If TypeOf e.Node Is Fishbone.CauseNode Then
            e.Node.Constraints.MoveDirection = DirectionConstraint.Horizontal
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub miSave_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles miSave.Click

        diagramView.SaveToXml(dlgSaveFile.FileName)

    End Sub

    Private Sub miOpen_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles miOpen.Click

        diagram.ClearAll()

        Try
            diagramView.LoadFromXml(dlgOpenFile.FileName)
        Catch ex As Exception
' Failed to Instantiate item of type 'Fishbone.CauseNode' .
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, ex.Source)
        End Try

    End Sub 

Thanks for your reply

There was another problem after overriding SaveToXml and LoadFromXml.

The problem is while loading the saved XML, the following exception occured

"Cannot create an object of type CauseNode. Make sure the class provides a constructor with the appropriate prototype."


did little modification on the constructor of causenode and everything work fine.

 Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()
    End Sub

Private _Backbone As DiagramNode

    Public ReadOnly Property Backbone() As DiagramNode
        Get
            If Me._Backbone Is Nothing Then
                'In the parent form which contains the diagram, specify the tag
                'Backbone.Tag = "I_AM_BACKBONE"

                Dim o As ShapeNode = Me.Parent.FindNode("I_AM_BACKBONE")
                If o IsNot Nothing Then
                    Me._Backbone = o
                End If
            End If
            Return Me._Backbone
        End Get
    End Property