Two Ways to Load A MindFusion Java Swing Library From Maven In a NetBeans Project

In this blog post we will look at two ways to load the Scheduling library for Java Swing from Maven using Apache NetBeans IDE. In our previous blog post we looked at how to add the library from a local *.jar file. Now we will load it interactively from Maven. MindFusion’s repositories on Maven can be found at https://search.maven.org/search?q=mindfusion.

In the sections below we will look on how to load the Scheduling library from Maven and use it in a:

  • Maven project
  • Gradle project

We test that the scheduling library was successfully loaded by showing a simple calendar:

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Custom Templates With the WPF Diagram Control

In this blog you will learn how to create a presentation of a hierarchical organization using MindFusion WPF Diagram control. The hierarchy is presented as a diagram, where each node represents an employee in the organization and each link represents the direct relationship between employees. The nodes in the diagram use custom templates to give a more detailed description of the employee, as well as to enable editing of various properties.

Setup

Create a new WPF application and add the necessary assemblies to the project. In the main window, declare the following namespace:

xmlns:diag="http://mindfusion.eu/diagramming/wpf"

Then declare an instance of the DiagramView class inside the root grid:

<diag:diagramview x:name="diagramView">
    <diag:diagram x:name="diagram" backbrush="White">
</diag:diagram></diag:diagramview>

Creating the custom node

To create the custom node, from the “Project -> Add New Item” menu add a new CustomControl (WPF) item to the project. This automatically creates a themes folder inside the project and a generic.xaml resource dictionary, which contains the template of the newly added class. Rename the newly created file (and class) to OrgChartNode. Ensure that the new class derives from TemplatedNode rather than Control. Then define the following dependency properties in the class: Title, FullName, and Image, of types string and ImageSource respectively.

Define the appearance of the node in its template in the generic.xaml file. In this case the node will display a round border, an image of the employee, its title, name, and description, and several buttons that can be used to change the role of the employee or add subordinates. The components bind directly to the properties of the node class. For example:

<textbox acceptsreturn="False" fontfamily="Verdana" fontsize="12" borderbrush="Transparent" background="Transparent" text="{Binding FullName}"></textbox>

The complete listing of the node’s template can be found in the project below.

To handle the Click event of the buttons in the template, register a routed event handler in the OrgChartNode class:

AddHandler(Button.ClickEvent, new RoutedEventHandler(OnClick));
...
void OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    ...
}

Declare an Index property in the OrgChartNode class, which will indicate the role of the employee. Changing the role will automatically update the title and background color of the node:

public int Index
{
    get { return Images.IndexOf(Image); }
    set
    {
        if (value != -1)
        {
            Image = Images[value];
            Title = Titles[value];
            Brush = Fills[value];
        }
        else
        {
            Image = null;
        }

        InvalidateVisual();
    }
}

Create the hierarchy

Now that the custom node is ready, we can create a diagram representing the hierarchy. In the code behind of the main window, create a series of OrgChartNode objects, each representing an employee in the organization, then link the nodes using the CreateDiagramLink method of the diagram Factory class:

var node1 = new OrgChartNode
{
    Bounds = new Rect(0, 0, 300, 160),
    FullName = "Mike Powell",
    Text = "This is the leader of the sample organization.",
    Index = 2
};
diagram.Nodes.Add(node1);

var node2 = new OrgChartNode
{
    Bounds = new Rect(0, 0, 300, 160),
    FullName = "Emily Williams",
    Text = "Emily is the leader highest in the PR hierarchy.",
    Index = 1
};
diagram.Nodes.Add(node2);
...
diagram.Factory.CreateDiagramLink(node1, node2);

Finally, arrange the hierarchy by using the built-in tree layout:

TreeLayout layout = new TreeLayout();
layout.Type = TreeLayoutType.Centered;
layout.LinkStyle = TreeLayoutLinkType.Cascading3;
layout.Direction = TreeLayoutDirections.TopToBottom;
layout.KeepRootPosition = false;
layout.LevelDistance = 40;
layout.Arrange(diagram);

The following image illustrates the result:

Diagramming_Wpf_Templates

The source code of the project together with all necessary libraries can be downloaded from here:

Download Organization Hierarchy Sample

You are welcome to ask any questions about the Diagram control at MindFusion discussion board or per e-mail at support@mindfusion.eu.

Click here here to visit the official page of the WPF diagram control.

We hope you find this tutorial useful and thank you for your interest in MindFusion developer tools.

Diagramming for ASP.NET, V5.5

Here is the list of the recent changes and additions to MindFusion WebForms Diagram control:

Resize table columns and rows

Note: This feature is not available in ImageMap mode.

Columns and rows of a TableNode can now be resized interactively if its AllowResizeColumns or AllowResizeRows properties are enabled. In order to resize, move the mouse pointer to the border line on column’s right side or row’s bottom side until it shows resize cursor and start dragging. The control raises TableColumnResizing and TableRowResizing events to let you validate new size or prevent resizing some elements. The TableColumnResized and TableRowResized events are raised after the operation completes.

Diagramming for ASP.NET: Table Nodes

Diagramming for ASP.NET: Table Nodes

Canvas mode improvements

  • Shape library files and ShapeLibraryLocation properties of DiagramView and ShapeListBox can now be used in Canvas mode.
  • Items can now be deleted using Backspace key when running on Mac.
  • Caption divider line in TableNode and ContainerNode is now rendered clipped when caption height is smaller than corner radius.
  • The TooltipDelay property specifies the delay in milliseconds before showing tooltips.
  • The Orientation property of NodeListView lets you set the view’s orientation to Horizontal or Vertical (members of Orientation enum).
  • Fixed overlaps in client-side TreeLayout when arranging nodes of different sizes.
  • Fixed a bug where deserialization of custom item classes worked correctly only if their names contained Node or Link suffix.
  • MsAjaxLocation and JQueryLocation properties let you change the location of external script libraries.

Diagramming for ASP.NET: Node Shapes

Diagramming for ASP.NET: Node Shapes

ImageMap mode improvements

  • Image generator implementation changed from Page to IHttpHandler , this makes it more lightweight avoiding the full page life-cycle.
  • Image generation is now implemented by the built-in ImageHandler class inside MindFusion.Common.WebForms assembly and it no longer requires adding external .aspx file to the project. Instead, it can be listed in web.config file:
    <handlers>
        <add name="ImageHandler" path="ImageGen.ashx" verb="GET" type="MindFusion.Common.WebForms.ImageHandler, MindFusion.Common.WebForms">
    </add></handlers>
  • For convenience, there is still optional ImageGen.ashx provided as external file for easier set-up of the project (add existing file instead of changing web.config).
  • ZoomControl no longer draws using <canvas> element when running in ImageMap mode, but uses ImageHandler to generate bitmaps.

API changes

ZoomControl can now be used with other MindFusion components and has been moved to MindFusion.Common.WebForms namespace and assembly.

Here is a direct link to download the trial version:

Download MindFusion.Diagramming for ASP.NET, V5.5 Trial Version

Technical support
MindFusion support team is happy to assist you with any questions you might have about Diagramming for ASP.NET or any other of our products. You can leave a message at the discussion board, use the help desk or e-mail support@mindfusion.eu.. We strive to provide competent and detailed answers to your questions within hours of receiving them.

About Diagramming for ASP.NET: An advanced WebForms programming component that offers all the functionality that is needed for creating, styling and presenting attractive flowcharts, hierarchies, trees, graphs, schemes, diagrams and many more. The control offers numerous utility methods, path finding and cycle detection, rich event set and many useful user interaction features like tool tips, multiple selection, copy/paste to/from Windows clipboard and many more.

NetDiagram offers more than 100 predefined node shapes, scrollable tables, 13 automatic layouts and many more. You can check the online demo to see some of the features in action. The control includes many samples, detailed documentation and step-by-step tutorials. Every features is duly documented and there’s plenty of code to copy. The component is not only powerful and scalable, but easy to learn and fun to use.

Diagramming for ASP.NET, V5.4.1 & Diagramming for ASP.NET MVC, V2.4

MindFusion is pleased to announce the new releases of its Diagramming components for ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET. We have added the following new useful features:

Styled text
The ShapeNode.EnableStyledText property allows using HTML-like formatting tags to apply various attributes to the node’s text. At this time the components support the following formatting tags:

  • <b> specifies bold text
  • <i> specifies italic text
  • <u> specifies underlined text
  • <color=value> specifies text color
  • <br /> specifies line break

Styled text in an ASP.NET/ASP.NET MVC diagram

Styled text in an ASP.NET/ASP.NET MVC diagram

Improved text rendering

  • We have gratly improved the general text rendering quality. The components now remove scale transformations applied for MeasureUnit and ZoomFactor before drawing text on the canvas, and instead specify a scaled font size, which helps improve text appearance in Firefox and older versions of Chrome.
  • You can draw the items’ text underlined. To enable this, set the underline attribute of the Font class.
  • Font styles can be specified via Style instance by setting its FontStyle property.

License keys

MindFusion no longer provides separate trial and licensed versions of its components. Instead, you should set the LicenseKey property to disable a component’s evaluation mode and stop displaying trial messages. If your application has more than one Diagram instance or other controls by MindFusion, a single call to MindFusion.Licensing.LicenseManager.AddLicense(key) is enough to specify the key for all the controls. You can find your license key strings listed on the Keys & Downloads page at your http://clientsarea.eu account.

Miscellaneous

  • You can draw items using dashed lines in browsers that support the setLineDash function. To enable this, set the Pen.DashStyle property of DiagramItem or the StrokeDashStyle property of Style.
  • Client-side TreeLayout supports organizational charts with assistant nodes as in Microsoft Office diagrams. You can mark nodes as assistants if you set node.LayoutTraits[TreeLayout.Assistant] to a member of the AssistantType enumeration. Set
    TreeLayout.enableAssistants = true; 
    

    to arrange assistant nodes in a separate branch between the main node levels.

  • Specify if separate connected components of a graph should be arranged horizontally or vertically relatively to each other by setting the multipleGraphsPlacement attribute of layout classes.
  • The type of LinkLabel.Margin property has been changed from number to Thickness, letting you specify different margin sizes at each side of the label.
  • Masters for Start and Arrow7 shapes are added to VisioExporter template file.
  • VisioImporter now tries to preserve ShapeNode.Shape when importing from files created by VisioExporter.

The trial versions of the controls are available for download from the links below:

Download MindFusion.Diagramming for ASP.NET, V5.4.1

Download MindFusion.Diagramming for ASP.NET MVC, V2.4

MindFusion support team is happy to assist you with any questions you might have about Diagramming for ASP.NET MVC, Diagramming for ASP.NET or any other of our products. You can leave a message at the discussion board, use the help desk or e-mail support@mindfusion.eu.. We strive to provide competent and detailed answers to your questions within hours of receiving them.

About Diagramming for ASP.NET Component: An advanced WebForms programming component that offers all the functionality that is needed for creating, styling and presenting attractive flowcharts, hierarchies, trees, graphs, schemes, diagrams and many more. The control offers numerous utility methods, path finding and cycle detection, rich event set and many useful user interaction features like tool tips, multiple selection, copy/paste to/from Windows clipboard and many more.

NetDiagram offers over 100 predefined node shapes, scrollable tables, 13 automatic layouts and many more. You can check the online demo to see some of the features in action. The control includes many samples, detailed documentation and step-by-step tutorials. Every features is duly documented and there’s plenty of code to copy. The component is not only powerful and scalable, but easy to learn and fun to use.

About Diagramming for ASP.NET MVC Control: It is a multi-purpose diagramming tool that consists of two parts: a .NET class library running on the server and a client side control implemented in JavaScript. The server side .NET library implements a flow-diagramming object model that lets you define structures such as trees, flowcharts and graphs. Every element in the diagram is easily accessible and the whole diagram is rendered as part of an HTML page by just calling the DiagramView extension method.

On the client the diagram is rendered by a DiagramView JavaScript control that draws its content on an HTML Canvas. The user is able to add nodes and links simply by drawing them with the mouse. There is also a NodeListView control, which lets users create new nodes via drag and drop.

MvcDiagram also supports various automatic layout algorithms that will make every diagram easy to understand and nice to look at. The diagram can also be easily serialized in binary or XML format. Exporting is done in a variety of formats including Pdf, Svg, Visio and more. You can read details about the components at the MvcDiagram features page.

Diagramming for JavaScript, V2.3

We are happy to share the newly added features to the latest version of MindFusion JavaScript diagramming library:

Styled text in nodes
You can use HTML-like formatting tags with the ShapeNode.EnableStyledText and apply various attributes to the node’s text. Currently JsDiagram supports:

  • <b> specifies bold text
  • <i> specifies italic text
  • <u> specifies underlined text
  • <color=value> specifies text color
  • <br /> specifies line break

Diagramming for JavaScript Library: Styled Text

Diagramming for JavaScript Library: Styled Text

Text rendering improvements

  • We have greatly improved the general text rendering quality. The component now removes scale transformations applied for MeasureUnit and ZoomFactor before drawing text on the canvas, and instead specifies a scaled font size, which helps improve text appearance in Firefox and older versions of Chrome.
  • You can draw the items’ text underlined. To enable this, set the underline attribute of the Font class.
  • You can specify Font styles via the Style instance by calling its setFontStyle() method with a combination of MindFusion.Drawing.FontStyle enumeration members (Bold, Italic, Underline).

Miscellaneous

  • You can draw items with dashed lines in browsers that support the setLineDash function. To enable this, set the StrokeDashStyle property of DiagramItem or Style to a member of the MindFusion.Drawing.DashStyle enumeration (Solid, Dash, Dot, DashDot, DashDotDot).
  • TreeLayout supports organizational charts with assistant nodes as in Microsoft Office diagrams. To mark nodes as assistants, set node.getLayoutTraits().treeLayoutAssistant to a member of the MindFusion.Graphs.AssistantType enumeration (Normal, Left, Right). Set treeLayout.enableAssistants = true; to arrange assistant nodes in a separate branch between the main node levels.
  • You can specify if separate connected components of a graph should be arranged horizontally or vertically relatively to each other by setting the multipleGraphsPlacement attribute of layout classes.
  • The type of LinkLabel.Margin property has been changed from number to Thickness, letting you specify different margin sizes at each side of the label.

You can download the trial version directly from the following link:

Download Diagramming for JavaScript, V2.3 Trial Version

We shall be glad to receive any comments, suggestions and feedback. You can write us at e-mail support@mindfusion.eu or use the help desk. You can use the JsDiagram section on MindFusion forum to post questions about the tool.

About Diagramming for JavaScript Library: Written 100% in JavaScript, this tool uses HTML5 Canvas to draw impressive diagrams, schemes, flowcharts, trees and many more. It is browser independent, easy to use and integrate into any web application. JsDiagram supports a variety of predefined node shapes, customizable links, rich event set and many appearance options.

The user interaction model includes resizing / moving / selecting and modifying any diagram element. The tool boasts an elegant API, which is documented in details as well numerous step-by-step guides and tutorials. Various samples are provided to let you learn quickly how to use the most important features of the library – check them here. JsDiagram is not only the perfect choice for creating any type of diagram in the browser – it can also arrange it the way you wish with a mouse click using one of its automatic graph layout algorithms. For more details about the features of the component, please visit the JsDiagram page.