Diagramming for Windows Forms, V6.3.1

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MindFusion has just released a new version of its popular Diagramming for WinForms component. Here are details about the new features:

Improved arrowhead rendering
Arrowhead rendering has been improved as you can see in following new vs. old version image.

  • arrowheads are rendered as a single path when possible and several arrowhead Shape definitions has been changed to implement mitered joints when HeadPen is set to a thick pen.
  • the point where end segments connect to arrowheads can be specified via the Shape.LinkSegmentInset property. Shape definitions from the Arrowheads class set it to suitable default value. This allows using transparent or semi-transparent brushes without seeing the link line drawn behind arrowheads.
  • arrowhead shadows are no longer filled if the link’s EffectiveBrush is null or fully transparent.
New vs. old arrowheads

New vs. old arrowheads

Miscellaneous

  • VisioExporter export speed has been improved greatly for large diagrams.
  • For consistence with MindFusion libraries for other platforms, BackBrush in default diagram style has been changed to white brush.
  • Improved DiagramLink rendering speed.
  • Multiple-resize of rotated nodes fixed to apply same offsets in nodes’ local coordinate system.
  • Fixed KeepInsideParent constraint for rotated parent nodes.

You can download the trial version from the link below:

Diagramming for WinForms, V6.3.1

If you have questions or run into problems using the component you can use the Diagramming for WinForms forum, the help desk or write us at support@mindfusion.eu. Our support team will be pleased to help you.

About MindFusion.Diagramming for WinForms: A programming component that provides any WinForms application with a full set of features for creating and customizing all types of diagrams, flowcharts, schemes, hierarchies, trees, graphs etc. The control provides numerous ways to save and load a diagram, six auxiliary controls and more than 12 automatic graph layout algorithms. Diagram elements include scrollable tables, container nodes, multi-segment arrows, custom diagram item types and many more. Further details here.

Diagramming for WinForms is a royalty-free component, clients get 12 month upgrade subscription when buying a license. The source code is also available for purchase. Visit the buy page for a list with the current license prices.

Charting for WPF, V1.9

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MindFusion is pleased to announce a new release of Charting for WPF programming component. Here is an overview of the new features:

Real-time Chart
The RealTimeChart control is optimized to render animated line chart graphics of large amounts of data. That’s implemented by moving already rendered elements from the WPF visual tree to a cache bitmap, relying that new data is added incrementally rather than changing coordinates of old data points. The library also offers various customization options for the chart – scatters, multiple legends, multiple Y and Y2 axes, custom labels, tooltips, grid.

The real time chart.

The real time chart.

3D Charts

  • All 3D charts now support unlimited number of series.
  • New property Lights holds a collection of Light objects instead of the LightType property.
  • Detailed hit testing, which returns a ChartHitTestResult3D that contains the clicked 3D point, the normalized 3D point, a collection of chart elements (if found), and the nearest peak (in surface charts).
  • AllowMeshSelection property, which when enabled allows selection of mesh objects with a mouse click.
  • The MeshSelectionBrush sets the brush for the selection.
  • Behavior3D property, which lets you choose how the chart responds to mouse interactions.
  • Improved performance for all chart types.

Surface Charts

  • SurfaceType property, which sets whether scatters or surface is drawn.
  • SurfaceSeries.GroundLevelMargin property, which sets the GroundLevel-offset.
  • Each Series3D can be clipped in a given range with the ClipMinimum and ClipMaximum properties.
  • TextureType property sets the texture of the chart – Brush or ColorMap.
  • New ColorMapList property, which sets a Color map with arbitrary colors and offsets.
  • CloseModelFigure property, which closes the sides of the model if enabled.
A surface chart

A surface chart

Miscellaneous

  • ShowCrossHair renders a cross hair that will trace the mouse position over the plot area.
  • Enable the LineSeries.Curve property to draws lines as canonical splines.

You can read further details about the release and the other new features at the news section in the Charting forum. A trial version is available for download from here:

Download MindFusion.Charting for WPF 1.9 Trial Version

You are welcome to contact us with any questions, problems or inquiries about the Charting for Wpf control or any other of our products. MindFusion has always put special emphasis on providing excellent customer support and we usually answer your inquiries in a few hours of receiving them.

About MindFusion.Charting for Wpf: A programming component that combines powerful charting capabilities with an elegant API and easy use. Among the features of the control are fully customizable grid, positive and negative values on all chart axes, 3D charts, gauges and many more – read a detailed list here.

The control provides detailed documentation and various samples that demonstrate how to customize every type of chart. It supports a wide range of 2D and 3D charts including bar, line, radar, bubble pie etc. You can add tooltips, define themes, perform hit testing, zoom and more.

Combine layout algorithms

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Use OrthogonalLayout to generate initial placement for SpringLayout

In a series of posts we’ll explore ways to combine graph layout algorithms for various purposes, such as improving layout speed or achieving specific layout constraints.

In this example we’ll show how to apply OrthogonalLayout as preprocessing step for SpringLayout used to minimize edge crossings. A problem with force-directed layout algorithms such as SpringLayout is that they can reach equilibrium of the simulated forces while there are link crossings present. However if the simulation starts from an initial layout that has minimal number of crossing, it will tend to reach balance without introducing new crossings. So we can use any of the layout algorithms used for arranging planar graphs (OrthogonalLayout, TriangularLayout, CascadingLayout) to create the initial configuration for SpringLayout.

OrthogonalLayout is designed to create planar drawings of graphs (having no crossing links at all if possible) where edge segments are either horizontal or vertical. For some types of diagrams, such as flowcharts, you might use OrthogonalLayout as is. However in many cases you might prefer SpringLayout, e.g. in order to achieve aesthetic criteria like uniform edge lengths, or to conform to accepted drawing conventions such as the one used to present state machines. So when you know your graphs are planar or close to planar, you can run OrthogonalLayout as pre-processing step, and then run the physical-force simulation using SpringLayout to achieve straight-line uniform length drawings:

void ApplySpringLayout(bool preArrange)
{
    if (preArrange)
    {
        var tl = new OrthogonalLayout();
        tl.Arrange(diagram);
    }

    var sl = new SpringLayout();
    sl.Randomize = false;
    sl.MinimizeCrossings = true;
    sl.IterationCount = 50;
    sl.Arrange(diagram);

    diagramView.ZoomToFit();
}

Here are several examples of the method results when called respectively with false (on the left side) and with true (on the right side of image). Note that for such small graphs SpringLayout will probably remove the crossings if left to run for more iterations, but in the general case and with larger graphs that’s not guaranteed.

1

2

3

The code above uses MindFusion’s .NET API and can be used with Windows Forms, WPF, Silverlight and ASP.NET diagramming components. The Java API for Android and desktop Swing application will look similar, with setter method calls instead of property assignments.

Enjoy!

MindFusion.Pack for ASP.NET, V2014.R2

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MindFusion has released ASP.NET Pack 2014.R2. Here is a list of the new features:

diagram16x16MindFusion.Diagramming for WebForms

SVG nodes in Canvas mode
The new SvgNode class represents nodes that can display SVG drawings. The class renders SVG graphics instead of Image, and on top of the geometry rendered by the base ShapeNode class. You can specify the SVG drawing of the node through its Content property.

Importing of diagrams from SVG
The new SvgImporter class lets you import Scalable Vector Graphics files (*.svg) into MindFusion.Diagramming. Each top-level SVG group element is imported as a separate SvgNode, whose Content is set to the group’s child elements.

Tree map layout
Tree maps represent hierarchies by nesting child nodes within their parents, where the areas of leaf nodes are proportional to their Weight values. Unlike other layout algorithms, TreeMapLayout expects hierarchies to be defined via grouping or containment (see AttachTo method and ContainerNode class), and will ignore any links in the diagram. The diagram area covered by the topmost nodes in a hierarchy is specified via the LayoutArea property. By default, the layout tries to keep the ratio of node sides as close as possible to one.

The tree map layout.

The tree map layout.

Decision flowchart layout
DecisionLayout arranges simple flowcharts consisting of decision boxes with up to three outgoing links per node and activity boxes with a single outgoing link per node. The nodes are arranged in columns and rows, whose distance depends on the HorizontalPadding and VerticalPadding property values. When links share the same row or column, they are placed at a distance specified via LinkPadding. The layout arranges nodes recursively starting from StartNode.

The decision flowchart layout.

The decision flowchart layout.

Node list control
The NodeListView is a listbox control that can host any type of DiagramNode -derived objects. You can drag nodes from the NodeListView control onto the DiagramView canvas, and when you drop them a clone of the selected node is created at the mouse pointer position. NodeListView is supported in ImageMap and Canvas modes.

Resize multiple nodes
You can now resize multiple selected nodes simultaneously. To enable that, set the AllowMultipleResize property to true. Then you can drag a corner or side adjustment handle of any node to resize all nodes in the selection.

Multiple selection of nodes.

Resize of multiple nodes.

Canvas mode improvements

  • You can now use undo and redo. Call setUndoEnabled on client side to start tracking changes. Call undo or redo methods to restore diagram state. Actions cannot be undone after postback.
  • You can apply animations to diagram elements. You can use the Animation JavaScript class to animate values of various properties of nodes and links. Detailed overview is available in the Animations topic.
  • Clipboard support; call the copyToClipboard, cutToClipboard and pasteFromClipboard methods to
    copy or paste selected items.
  • The swimlane grid is now rendered in Canvas mode.
  • The magnifier tool is now supported in Canvas mode.
  • ModificationStart, AutoResize and AutoScroll properties now work in Canvas mode.
  • and much more – see the full list here.

Intellisense support
The package now includes a MindFusion.Diagramming-vsdoc.js file providing code completion information for the Canvas mode JavaScript API. To load it in Visual Studio, add a /// tag to the top of your script files. Use the static Diagram.findDiagram method instead of $find to let Visual Studio infer the type of returned Diagram objects correctly.

Export Visio 2013 files
The Visio2013Exporter class can export the content of Diagram and DiagramDocument objects to Visio 2013 VSDX files. In order to use it, you must first add a reference to the MindFusion.Diagramming.Export.Visio.dll assembly. Currently the exporter supports shapes from Visio basic stencil.

Visio2013Importer improvements

  • The importer now supports Visio group shapes. Child shapes in groups are no longer lost when
    importing, and their corresponding diagram nodes are attached to the corresponding group node.
  • Visio NURBS curves are now imported as Bezier-style links.
  • Fix for importing connectors with applied rotation transform.
  • Shapes with a ‘hidden’ attribute in master definition are now imported as invisible items.
  • And much more – read the list here.

Headers and footers in PDF
In PdfExporter you can now add headers and footers to exported pages. To specify their contents and font, set the HeaderFormat, HeaderFont, FooterFormat and FooterFont properties. Adding a %P placeholder to HeaderFormat or FooterFormat will render the current page number at its position.

The PdfExporter

The PdfExporter

Miscellaneous

  • OrthogonalLayout no longer ignores repeating links, and will now place them at a distance specified via RepeatingLinksPadding property.
  • The Brush property of LinkLabel class lets you set background color for link labels.
  • The ChangeUnit method sets a new MeasureUnit and rescales the coordinates of diagram items to
    keep them the same size.
  • Layout algorithms now automatically resize diagram’s Bounds if it’s not large enough to fit the
    arranged content. To revert to old behavior and keep fixed Bounds size, set GrowToFit to false.

The trial version is available for download from this link:

Download MindFusion Pack for WebForms, 2014.R2

About MindFusion.WebForms Pack: A set of WebForms components that add great variety of features to your ASP.NET application with a few mouse clicks. The pack contains advanced components for diagramming, scheduling, charting and UI (Accordion, ColorPicker, TabControl, Window, WindowHost, DockControl, Button, Slideshow, Zoom and more). Each tool boasts easy to learn and use API and is quickly integrated into any web application that targets the ASP.NET platform. The controls support numerous options for styling, data import / export, user interaction and offer rich event set. There are plenty of samples and step-by-step tutorials as well detailed documentation.

Use the features page for each of the tools to find out more about its capabilities and the numerous ways it can boost your performance and speed up the development of your application:

Visit the buy page for details on the licensing scheme and prices. If you have questions please contact us. We shall be happy to assist you.

Diagramming for Windows Forms, V6.3 Released

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MindFusion has released a new version of Diagramming for WinForms with the following new features:

Map nodes
The new MapNode class represents nodes that can render geographical maps. At this time map nodes can display the content of an Esri shapefile files. The content of a map file is represented by an instance of the MapContent class that should be assigned to the Content property of a MapNode. When the map is associated with a DBF database file, map regions can display labels – further details here.

Map nodes

Map nodes

Import diagrams from SVG
The SvgImporter class allows importing Scalable Vector Graphics files (*.svg) into MindFusion.Diagramming. Each top-level SVG group element is imported as a separate SvgNode, whose Content is set to the group’s child elements.

Visio2013Exporter improvements

  • Support for multi-segment links
  • Bezier links are now exported as NURBS lines
  • Support for rotated nodes
  • Proper scale for all MeasureUnit values
  • Support for semi-transparent colors
It is easy to import a diagram from Visio.

Import from Visio.

Miscellaneous

  • You can now set the AutoGrow property to false to prevent containers from resizing automatically
    when they would not fit newly added nodes.
  • The Brush property of LinkLabel class lets you set background color for link labels.
  • Now the NodeModified event is raised after the undo record for that modification has been added to the command history. This makes it easier to merge the ModifyItemCmd with custom commands created from NodeModified handler.
  • and more – read the full list here.

You can read further details about this release at the news page in the Diagramming for WinForms forum. You can download the trial version from the link below:

Diagramming for WinForms, V6.3

If you have questions or run into problems using the component you can use the Diagramming for WinForms forum, the help desk or write us at support@mindfusion.eu. Our support team will be pleased to help you.

About MindFusion.Diagramming for WinForms: A programming component that provides any WinForms application with a full set of features for creating and customizing all types of diagrams, flowcharts, schemes, hierarchies, trees, graphs etc. The control provides numerous ways to save and load a diagram, six auxiliary controls and more than 12 automatic graph layout algorithms. Diagram elements include scrollable tables, container nodes, multi-segment arrows, custom diagram item types and many more. Further
details here.

Diagramming for WinForms is a royalty-free component, clients get 12 month upgrade subscription when buying a license. The source code is also available for purchase. Visit the buy page for a list with the current license prices.