NetDiagram version 5 contains the following new features and API changes:

Styles and themes
The appearance of the items in a diagram can now be modified using styles. The style represents a set of properties, which can be applied to an individual diagram item (by assigning it to the DiagramItem.Style property) or to all items of a specific type (by using a Theme). The styles can be easily expanded to include the properties in derived item classes.

The theme represents a collection of styles. Each style in the theme is associated with the diagram items of a specific type and affects all items of this type. Themes can be loaded from XML files. New themes can be created using the Theme Editor tool. Several pre-defined theme files are installed under the Themes subfolder of the control's root installation folder.

Node effects
(n/a in Canvas mode)
Two visual effects, represented by GlassEffect and AeroEffect classes, can be applied to nodes. To apply an effect, create an instance of the respective class, set up its properties, then add the instance to the Effects collection of a node (or to Diagram.NodeEffects collection to apply it to all nodes). Effects can be added, removed or modified at any time and this will immediately reflect on the diagram. Effects of different types can be applied simultaneously. It is also possible to apply more than one effect of the same type.

One-way graph Layout
The OneWayLayout class ensures that links enter into nodes from the same general direction and exit them from the opposite side. If the graph contains cycles, some links bend around the nodes to keep the enter/exit direction consistent. The algorithm aims to minimize the number of such links.

Canvas mode enhancements
~ Enable the AutoPostBack property to post back the page after user interaction and raise server side events.
~ Items now cast shadows.
~ Items can be Locked.
~ Containers are now available in Canvas mode too. On the client side they are implemented by the ContainerNode JavaScript class.
~ Tables are now available in Canvas mode too. On the client side they are implemented by the TableNode JavaScript class.
~ Items can show tooltips.

ImageMap mode enhancements
~ The Text of items can be edited interactively when AllowInplaceEdit is enabled and InteractivityExtender is loaded. Unlike other modes, the edit operation is started by Ctrl+Click.
~ Items can be Locked.
~ Hit testing code now considers the HandlesStyle property.
~ Nodes can be rotated interactively.
~ ImageFormat property added to ShapeListBox.
~ The AllowLinksRepeat property is now considered when drawing links interactively.

Multiple labels per link
(n/a in Canvas mode)
The LinkLabel class allows multiple captions to be displayed for a single DiagramLink object. Link labels provide a set of properties allowing full customization of their display and positioning. Labels can also be arranged automatically to avoid overlapping nodes and other labels by setting LinkLabel.AutoArrange to true.

Layers
(n/a in Canvas mode)
Items can now be assigned to layers, and layers can be hidden, locked or moved up/down in the Z order as a group. Set the LayerIndex property of items to associate them with layers in the Diagram.Layers collection. The Layer objects provide Visible, Locked and ZIndex properties, which will affect all items in the respective layer. Newly drawn items are added to the layer specified via Diagram.ActiveLayer.

Parallel layouts
The .NET 4 version of NetDiagram takes advantage of the Task Parallel Library (TPL) to enable parallelism on the different layout algorithms. Set the EnableParallelism property on the Layout class to true to enable arranging different subgraphs on different threads to possibly improve performance on multiprocessor systems. In addition, the maximum degree of concurrency can be manipulated through the MaxDegreeOfParallelism property. Note that only independent subgraphs are processed in parallel, so the SplitGraph property of layout classes that provide it must also be set.

Magnifier
(in Java and Silverlight modes)
The new magnifier tool allows users to interactively zoom in (or out) portions of the diagram by holding down a modifier key or pressing a mouse button. The magnifier's zoom factor and appearance can be customized. Additional information can be found in the corresponding section of Scrolling and Zooming.

Miscellaneous
~ The value of DiagramItem.ZIndex property is no longer required to be unique and smaller than the number of items;
~ The Shape property in ContainerNode and TreeViewNode can be set to Rectangle or RoundedRectangle;
~ Diagram item collection types now implement the generic IList interface;

API changes
~ RotationAngle property moved from ShapeNode to base DiagramNode;
~ Inherited node classes should now override the DrawLocal method instead of Draw to get built-in support for node rotation. Overriding Draw still works, but any custom drawing code would have to take care of rotation;
~ Type of Group.FollowMasterRotation changed from boolean to enum GroupRotation;
~ LinkStyle enum renamed to LinkShape;
~ DiagramLink.Style property renamed to Shape;
~ TableStyle enum renamed to SimpleShape;
~ TableNode.Style property renamed to Shape;
~ The type of TextColor and CaptionColor properties have been changed to Brush; the properties have been renamed to TextBrush and CaptionBrush;
~ The default value of Pen, Brush and Font properties of items is now null (Nothing in Visual Basic) to allow for inheritance from DiagramItem.Style or Diagram.Theme. Custom drawing code in inherited classes should use the values returned by EffectivePen, EffectiveBrush or EffectiveFont to get the actual object that should be used when drawing;
~ ZLevelUp, ZLevelDown, ZTop and ZBottom methods now require a boolean argument specifying whether items are allowed to change layers;
~ ZIndex no longer corresponds to the position of items within Diagram.Items collection. Items however still contains the items sorted by Z order, as defined by item's ZIndex and LayerIndex;
~ Event handler delegates have been removed; events are now defined as generic EventHandler specialized via EventArgs type. For example the type of NodeCreated is now EventHandler<NodeEventArgs>;

If anyone is interested in trying the beta version, please download this archive containing the updated control assemblies, help file, theme editor tool and sample themes:
https://mindfusion.eu/_beta/NetDiagram5.zip

Any comments, questions and general feedback are welcome.

Hi,

Mid-March if everything is ok.

Stoyan

I am using this beta-version.
My diagrams show Mindfusion Diagramming for asp.net, v5.0 beta
When I use diagram.CreateImage or pdf.Export the nodetext is replaced by "trial"
I have a license for Mindfusion netdiagram.
Can I somehow activate my license for this beta-version, so that diagram.CreateImage or pdf.Export do not show "trial" ?

Thanks for this licenced version, great service.
Now I find that pdf.export(diagram,file) doesn't render the images.
I fill node.image with this code:
                    WebRequest req = WebRequest.Create(node.ImageUrl);
                    WebResponse response = req.GetResponse();
                    Stream str = response.GetResponseStream();
                    System.Drawing.Image img = System.Drawing.Image.FromStream(str);
                    n.Image = img;

This works well when I use diagram.CreateImage(), so I think the serverside node.image is filled correctly.
Do you have any suggestions?

Yes, it helped a lot. Thanks
I just changed the last line to:
      n.Image = (System.Drawing.Image) img.Clone();

We have uploaded a full installer including updated sample projects according to the v5 API changes:
https://mindfusion.eu/_beta/NetDiagram5.zip

Recent fixes include:
- font scaling problems with some Font.Unit values when changing client modes
- brushes set via color name in Canvas mode are now serialized correctly (e.g. node.setBrush("Red"))
- arrowhead brush serialization in Canvas mode