Hi,

I have a graph with far more links than nodes and with more than one link between two nodes. I got successful to nicely layout it using the FlowchartLayout (w/ LinkPadding) followed by OrthogonalRouter - congrats there!

However, as soon as I (programatically) add all my nodes to a ContainerNode, the links start "joining" (as in having common control points) and the graph becomes unreadable. BTW, I use Arrange() on a node-collection that does not contain the container node.

Is the ContainerNode imposing a layout constraint? What can I do to make the layout algorithm work the same as when I had no container-node?

As a side note, ContainerNode.UpdateBounds() seems to ignore the links and I end up with links getting out and back into the container node. Any pointers here?

Thanks in advance,
-Mihai

PS: A trick is to detach the inner-nodes from the container-node right before running the layout algorithm and attaching them back afterwards. Still, there must be a better way.

Hi Stoyo,

Thanks for the fast reply!

> Have you also added the links to the item collection passed to Arrange?
Yes I did. Thoughts?

> We'll add a boolean argument to UpdateBounds to let you include the links too. At this time you might loop over the links and create a union of their bounding rectangle with the container's Bounds.
Cool, thanks! I think I'll try that workaround in the meantime.

Sincerely,
-Mihai

Hi Stoyan,

Let me strip down the code and get back to you.

Thanks,
-Mihai

Hi Mihai,

This version should fix the problem:
https://mindfusion.eu/_beta/fcnet_orthrouter.zip

I hope that helps,
Stoyan

Hi Stoyan,

I have bumped into a somewhat related problem: if I move/resize the ContainerNode (e.g. to contain all the links as well), the links start joining again - and the OrthogonalRouter's job is lost.

Is there any way to perhaps freeze the layout of the inner elements of the ContainerNode, while being moved/resized?

BTW, the ContainerNode.UpdateBounds() method does not exhibit this problem.

Thanks,
-Mihai

Hi Stoyan,

> Disable the Dynamic and AutoRoute link properties to prevent that.
That certainly helps. However,

> We'll add a boolean argument to UpdateBounds to let you include the links too. At this time you might loop over the links and create a union of their bounding rectangle with the container's Bounds.
if for that I have to extend the container to the left/top, how do I go about that? Simply setting the bounds won't do, as that'll move the contained items as well, so in effect I won't be extending the container (to the left/top).

Of course, it would definitely be more straightforward & portable if UpdateBounds() would have that option to include the links as well.

Thanks in advance,
-Mihai

Hi Mihai,

This version adds an UpdateBounds(bool includeLinks) method to ContainerNode:

https://mindfusion.eu/_beta/fcnet532.zip

I hope that helps,
Stoyan

Hi Stoyan,

Are the attached items to the ContainerNode's items considered by the UpdateBounds algorithm?
I mean, as an example:

• "A" is ContainerNode;
• "B" is a DiagramNode inside "A";
• "C" is a DiagramNode attached to "B".

UpdateBounds seems to leave "C" outside of "A".

Thanks,
-Mihai